There's a Panda in my Bellybutton

Swansea Community Farm In April 2021 Ryan began volunteering at Swansea Community Farm (Welsh - Fferm Gymunedol Abertawe). For now, he attends one day a week on a Tuesday from 10 am to 4 pm but there is a possibility that he could also volunteer on Thursdays as well also 10 am to 4 pm. About the Farm Swansea Community Farm is the only city farm in Wales set in 3.5 acres of land with a variety of animals, an allotment, wildlife habitats, beehives and a café. The animals include donkeys, goats, sheep, ducks, geese and chickens. The farm aims to improve wellbeing, build skills and create a sense of community engagement by caring for the animals, producing local food and caring for the local environment. Duties Ryan has enjoyed a variety of different duties so far. He has walked the Donkeys, Sheep and Geese from their barns out to their fields and pond. Collected eggs from the Chickens, and has mucked out the donkey sheds. He has also cleaned out the chicken coops, cleaned and refilled all...

  Worrying About the Future. Ryan said to me recently. "Childhood gave me Autism. My teens gave me cancer. What will adulthood bring?" Big worries for someone so young. So much pressure and conditioning are placed upon us about the importance of education and the set path that the majority of us will take through the system to university and/or the job market. What happens if you do not follow that path or miss so much education that the path is no longer open to you. How do you plan for the future? What options are there available to you? Ryan was excluded from his primary school in year 2 and I home schooled him for a year while we worked with the Educational Psychologist to find a placement that would suit his complex needs at the time. Due to his speech, language and communication difficulties the decision was made to withdraw him from Welsh-medium education and focus on English only which meant our choices were limited in the area of Wales that we call home. We...

A communication passport is a way of supporting a vulnerable person, such as someone with Autism, with communication difficulties when they have to transition through different events, such as changing schools, or their first job. In Ryan’s case, we made a new specific communication passport for his medical file so that all the medical professionals could learn a little about Ryan before they met him and therefore be better prepared and able to interact with him. A communication passport draws together complex information (including the person's own views, as much as possible) and formalises the information into a clear, positive and accessible format. Every passport is individual and every layout must be utilised for the specific person and audience for which it is intended. When Ryan moved from Primary to secondary school, his primary school made a really detailed tri-fold, double-sided leaflet. This was invaluable to all the teachers that would get to know Ryan in their v...