Jenny, 25

Jenny lives in London and currently works at a large department store.  She has an autism and learning disability diagnosis.  She attended college and earned a diploma in dog grooming.

arcQ completed our assessment process with her which led to her identifying that she wanted to work on her physical fitness (she is very overweight), her social connections, her mental health, and on finding a new job related to dog grooming.  Her family supports these goals and added the goal of helping her to end a highly negative and abusive relationship. She also needs assistance in developing strategies to improve her mental health.

arcQ’s Support

  • Developed a self-advocacy plan
  • Created manageable goals related to physical fitness, mental health improvement, social connection, and finding a new job.
  • Outcomes so far:
    • Jenny has been attending the gym three times per week and has dramatically increased her physical fitness (arcQ assists her at the gym typically 2 times per week)
    • Jenny has been referred for psychotherapy and attends weekly sessions helping her cope with work related stress, and working with her on her negative relationship
    • arcQ assists Jenny in domestic organisational skills
    • arcQ assisted Jenny in finding a woman’s group for women with ASD, which she attends weekly. arcQ assisted Jenny in finding a monthly social group and attended with her initially but she now attends independently
    • arcQ assisted Jenny in developing her CV and sending it out to a variety of potential employers
    • arcQ assisted Jenny in finding an internship with the UK government and also a new job with a theatre in central London.
    • As Jenny now has a new job and is out of her previous work position which she found highly stressful, her mental health is improving.
    • Ongoing support is needed regarding her personal relationships, vulnerabilities, and connecting to healthy social opportunities.
    • arcQ continues to offer weekly coaching sessions

‘Arcq has help me a lot so far. It has help me got organised.’ – Jenny

‘Alan Andrew has acted as a magnificent guide and mentor to my daughter. He has worked sympathetically with her to develop a life plan identifying how best to ensure she is able to achieve her personal and professional goals.’ – Parent of Jenny

 

Tess, 17

  • Is adopted from America but grew up in the USA. Moved with her family to London due to her father’s job
  • Tess has diagnosed learning difficulties
  • Was enrolled at an international school in London but was experiencing bullying and was not successful socially or academically
  • Difficult interpersonal relationships with her mum
  • Generally unhappy
  • She loves poetry and really wants to be in a school that encourages her passion and also allows for more social opportunities

arcQ’s support

  • Tess and her family completed the arcQ assessment
  • Areas of strength were identified as creative writing, self-knowledge, and open personality
  • Tess expressed the need to change schools which her family supported.
  • arcQ assisted Tess in finding a new school (specialist boarding school). arcQ discussed with Tess and her family her preferences and matched these to schools that would do a good job of supporting her learning profile. arcQ attended interviews at the schools and found a boarding school in the south of England that met her needs and where Tess felt very comfortable.
  • Tess was enrolled in the school and the change in environment enabled Tess to develop and grow in ways that she was not able to in her former environment.
  • arcQ supported the new school in understanding Tess’ learning profile and helped with her transition
  • arcQ went with Tess to her interviews, and spoke with the heads of the schools to ensure that they understood her unique learning profile, especially as she has a very poor working memory and needs specific strategies to ensure that she understands verbal conversations and academic instructions.
  • arcQ continued to work with Tess as she transitioned to ensure that she self-advocated for her learning support needs at her new school. arcQ visited her and her school to ensure that the process went as smoothly as possible.

‘We are so thrilled with the work of arcQ.  Mr. Alan was a tremendous resource and support to our family during the school search process for our daughter.  He made what is typically a difficult and stressful time, a well understood and successful process.’ – Parents of Tess

 

Little Gate Farm

Little Gate Farm creates opportunities for people with learning disabilities and autism to help them live fulfilling and independent lives.

 arcQ’s Support

  • arcQ developed its assessment tool to fit the Little Gate community
  • arcQ carried out 17 advocacy assessments for the Little Gate community and shared the results with the Little Gate team

 Outcomes

  • Little Gate is now using the assessment tool to inform planning for the farm and for individual members of the community

Little Gate Farm will use the assessment tool to monitor and measure impact aspects of their work, particularly in relation to independence, interdependence and connection to the world.