Down's Syndrome Awareness Week - March 2018
Jacob has just turned 26, isn't interesting that Down's Syndrome awareness week follows his birthday? So how is he, and what of his life?
In 2011 Jacob turned 19, went to Leicester College for a year I think, or perhaps it was two, but then they decided as he wasn't progressing (?) he would have to leave?? Quite bizarre to be honest, as I teach people for a living the only reason they would not progress is;
a. They don't want to
b. The teacher is rubbish
Jacob is pretty easy to engage in a task if you make it interesting and as for the teacher.....
Anyway, he left, so now what?
Well we looked around for things for him to do but to be frank they were all babysitting services run by people who said they cared, but they actually were only interested in keeping the disabled adults safe (so they didn't upset anyone or get sued) and content. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs! Jacob needed more and we wanted more for him.
Amanda has loved horses all of her life and now was her time to get back involved with them and why not take Jacob on the journey too? So she, along with a friend who although had no interest in horses, she did have an autistic son who she also wanted more for. They setup "Forever Savvy" as a training centre - 2 adults with learning disabilities, 1 horse and 6 acres of land..little acorns and all that.
Fast forward 7 years and www.foreversavvy.co.uk is a Social Enterprise with three training centres;
- Cafe Savvy - A cafe in Bagworth Leicestershire
- K9 Savvy - A dog agility and woodworking centre in Bagworth Leicestershire (land rented from a farmer who has a daughter with Down's Syndrome would you believe??)
- Horse Savvy - A Horse centre in Potters Marston Leicestershire - this now has 4 horses, 15 chickens, 4 geese and 2 rabbits!
Jacob's current schedule looks like this;
Monday - Cafe Savvy
Tuesday - K9 Savvy
Wednesday - K9 Savvy
Thursday - Premier Inn - he has worked there for three years now as part of the housekeeping team alongside one of Forever Savvy's trained job coaches, more on that in a moment.
Friday - Horse Savvy. Friday evening he trains with my adult mainstream class in Ju Jitsu, then spends the weekend at his nana and grandad's house and returns to us on Sunday evening ready for his busy week.
Jacob achieved his Black Belt, graded external by official British Ju Jitsu Association representatives, and I was his uke, to ensure he performed at his best - he would get away with murder otherwise!!
The Premier Inn have been really supportive of Jacob, and we have been through three managers there, and everyone has been keen and engaged in the process. Jacob has worked alongside three job coaches now, their role is to ensure he stays safe, on-task and performs the jobs to the standard of the organisation. They will also do any jobs he cannot - like cleaning the bath, due to his diminutive stature he would just fall in :-).
I am extremely proud of his current job coach who has been with him for nearly a year now because it is my youngest son Duncan. All kids "suffer" from sibling rivalry, but I think I can honestly say that I don't remember there being any rivalry between my other two sons and Jacob, but to work together for 4 hours straight? - I did not think that would ever happen.
But I was so pleased and proud to be proved wrong.
Through our centres we have found and I have been educated that the term "slow learner" does not mean cannot learn, it just means that they learn more slowly - sounds obvious when I say it like that, but how many of us see a learning disabled adult as having reached their potential once they reach maturity?
You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.
Amanda practices natural horsemanship under Pat Parelli and they have a fantastic programme of horse psychology which also transfers to humans. They also have exams you can pass, you video your test, upload it to youtube, submit it to them and they provide a mark and critique - Jacob has passed his Level 1 - not a learning disabled adult version, but the one and only version they do!!
He is not the only one, we have another gentlemen with Down's who has also passed and a mainstream and blind lady (there is no-where else for her either that does what we do).
Jacobs life is full and engaging, outside of work he loves his laptop, youtube, facebook, shows of all sorts; Wicked, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Greatest Showman. He often comments on my Facebook posts often with great ones.
It is a truly amazing thing to have a person with Down's Syndrome in your life. Rarely expected or chosen, but ultimately a massive gift. I must say that it personally took me more than a decade to appreciate that gift, but I was shallow and self-centred, my son taught me to change that. I will forever love him for that one thing.
Happy Down's Syndrome Awareness week. Rob Phelps March 2018.
In 2011 Jacob turned 19, went to Leicester College for a year I think, or perhaps it was two, but then they decided as he wasn't progressing (?) he would have to leave?? Quite bizarre to be honest, as I teach people for a living the only reason they would not progress is;
a. They don't want to
b. The teacher is rubbish
Jacob is pretty easy to engage in a task if you make it interesting and as for the teacher.....
Anyway, he left, so now what?
Well we looked around for things for him to do but to be frank they were all babysitting services run by people who said they cared, but they actually were only interested in keeping the disabled adults safe (so they didn't upset anyone or get sued) and content. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs! Jacob needed more and we wanted more for him.
Amanda has loved horses all of her life and now was her time to get back involved with them and why not take Jacob on the journey too? So she, along with a friend who although had no interest in horses, she did have an autistic son who she also wanted more for. They setup "Forever Savvy" as a training centre - 2 adults with learning disabilities, 1 horse and 6 acres of land..little acorns and all that.
Fast forward 7 years and www.foreversavvy.co.uk is a Social Enterprise with three training centres;
- Cafe Savvy - A cafe in Bagworth Leicestershire
- K9 Savvy - A dog agility and woodworking centre in Bagworth Leicestershire (land rented from a farmer who has a daughter with Down's Syndrome would you believe??)
- Horse Savvy - A Horse centre in Potters Marston Leicestershire - this now has 4 horses, 15 chickens, 4 geese and 2 rabbits!
Jacob's current schedule looks like this;
Monday - Cafe Savvy
Tuesday - K9 Savvy
Wednesday - K9 Savvy
Thursday - Premier Inn - he has worked there for three years now as part of the housekeeping team alongside one of Forever Savvy's trained job coaches, more on that in a moment.
Friday - Horse Savvy. Friday evening he trains with my adult mainstream class in Ju Jitsu, then spends the weekend at his nana and grandad's house and returns to us on Sunday evening ready for his busy week.
Jacob achieved his Black Belt, graded external by official British Ju Jitsu Association representatives, and I was his uke, to ensure he performed at his best - he would get away with murder otherwise!!
The Premier Inn have been really supportive of Jacob, and we have been through three managers there, and everyone has been keen and engaged in the process. Jacob has worked alongside three job coaches now, their role is to ensure he stays safe, on-task and performs the jobs to the standard of the organisation. They will also do any jobs he cannot - like cleaning the bath, due to his diminutive stature he would just fall in :-).
I am extremely proud of his current job coach who has been with him for nearly a year now because it is my youngest son Duncan. All kids "suffer" from sibling rivalry, but I think I can honestly say that I don't remember there being any rivalry between my other two sons and Jacob, but to work together for 4 hours straight? - I did not think that would ever happen.
But I was so pleased and proud to be proved wrong.
Through our centres we have found and I have been educated that the term "slow learner" does not mean cannot learn, it just means that they learn more slowly - sounds obvious when I say it like that, but how many of us see a learning disabled adult as having reached their potential once they reach maturity?
You cannot teach an old dog new tricks.
Amanda practices natural horsemanship under Pat Parelli and they have a fantastic programme of horse psychology which also transfers to humans. They also have exams you can pass, you video your test, upload it to youtube, submit it to them and they provide a mark and critique - Jacob has passed his Level 1 - not a learning disabled adult version, but the one and only version they do!!
He is not the only one, we have another gentlemen with Down's who has also passed and a mainstream and blind lady (there is no-where else for her either that does what we do).
Jacobs life is full and engaging, outside of work he loves his laptop, youtube, facebook, shows of all sorts; Wicked, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, The Greatest Showman. He often comments on my Facebook posts often with great ones.
It is a truly amazing thing to have a person with Down's Syndrome in your life. Rarely expected or chosen, but ultimately a massive gift. I must say that it personally took me more than a decade to appreciate that gift, but I was shallow and self-centred, my son taught me to change that. I will forever love him for that one thing.
Happy Down's Syndrome Awareness week. Rob Phelps March 2018.
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