Spectrum youth club is a very exciting initiative that was started in September 2019. Vanessa and Lee discuss how Spectrum youth club was formed, the impact it has had on the young people attending, how they have managed to keep it going during lockdown and what the future holds.
Aidan is an 18-year-old student here at Edmund Rice College. He has attended the College for the last 7 years. He was diagnosed with Aspergers in Primary School.
“Like any 11-year-old, I was slightly nervous about starting Secondary School. What I found helped me in this change from Primary to Secondary School was that the College provided me with a full-time classroom assistant for all my subjects. My classroom assistant helped to explain my work in a way that I could understand. As the years went on, I started to feel a lot more comfortable and confident in my place within the College.
By the end of Year 12 I had achieved 6 GCSEs and decided to stay on to complete my A-Level studies.
During Year 13, the school opened its first youth club for children with ASD. I was approached by Miss Deery to volunteer as a supervisor. The club ran on a Wednesday night and it provided me with an opportunity to help other young people who were going through similar experiences to me when I was the same age.
The youth club gave me valuable experience – I went on trips and I found it extremely fun.
This week gives us all a chance to show that autism/Asperger’s/ADHD are not disabilities, but they are part of an individual’s personality.