EX101202-06ban1

ITEM EX6b - ANNEX 1

SOCIAL & HEALTH CARE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE – 6 DECEMBER 2002

CHILDREN’S DISABILITY SERVICE

Western Corner’s Ask Us Experience

The Preparation

In September 2001 Rachel Sherratt (Western Corner Project Manager), Julie Gibbard (Social Services’ Oxon Communities Project), Gaye Pool (Freelance Drama Worker) and myself (Tracey Mumford, Community Development Worker and Volunteer Co-ordinator at Western Corner) met to discuss how we could contribute to the Quality Protects Ask Us Project. We decided to make a TV style film about what young people with a learning disability want to do in their spare time and if there was anything preventing the young people from what they wanted to do in this time.

In order to find young people willing to take part in this project, Gaye and I went to the local secondary school classes for pupils with learning disabilities, to tell young people about the film and to find out if they wanted to take part. Lots of young people were interested in joining the drama group.

Consent forms and information was sent out to parents and young people to let them know what we would be doing and to get their permission to take part.

The Drama Sessions

The original plan was to have about 10 evening sessions in which to gather enough material for the film. In the end we needed longer and used a weekend to film at the project’s Saturday Youth Group, at the Youth Centre and invited young people to come into the project on the Sunday for a day’s filming.

The evening sessions were held once a week at a local Secondary School hall for 2 hours to make the film. Between seven and ten young people attended these sessions, with Gaye Poole leading myself supporting and co-ordinating the sessions. We were supported by between one and four helpers. One of our main problems was trying to get enough staff to support the young people. Two young people were asked not to continue, as we could not find staff to support their individual needs. One of these young people was given the opportunity to provide an individual contribution and both came to our reunion.

Our Methods

Our method for finding out what young people wanted to do in their spare time was drama! We used lots of different drama games and techniques for exploring the feelings and needs of the young people. One of our ways of exploring their feelings and wishes was to create their very own soap opera, loosely based on the BBC programme, ‘Eastenders’ (these were the type of programmes the young people said they liked). The young people were given roles to play – teenage daughter/son, mother and father. They acted out situations that affect their own lives, with very little input from staff supporting them

Another method we used was making a ‘hobbies dance’. The group stood in a circle and whilst listening to music, the young people were asked to mime their favourite activities e.g. cooking, dancing, snooker etc. Each person took it in turns to show the others their activity, then everyone acted out the activity three times, then the next person took their turn, and so on.

Using the style of a TV game show, we used a silver curtain that ‘contestants’ came through to talk about themselves and their interests; they also interviewed each other. This activity was really popular, almost everyone wanted to go through the silver curtain, or help in holding it up!

Using parachute games we asked the young people questions such as "everyone who likes swimming, run under the parachute now!" (Sometimes the young people taking it in turns to suggest things themselves). This activity was popular too! Though sometimes you got the feeling that whether they like what you were saying or not they wanted to run under the parachute.

In one of the sessions the young people used playdough to create models of themselves or things that they liked (e.g. one young man made a model of himself on a motorbike), and painted pictures used as background. At this session a freelance camera operator and editor worked with the young people, helping them to film different sequences of their models and using their artwork as scenery. This animation has been put together and used as the opening shots for the video.

One young man (from the Oxford Community Project) made his own video diary. A support worker was identified. They borrowed our video camera and the young man video’d places and things that interested him. This was a good way of including him, as he would have found being in front of the camera difficult.

Another activity included young people taking turns talking straight to the camera about themselves and what they liked.

A few months later we held a Drama group reunion. Everyone said how much they enjoyed the group and spending time with their friends, and watched some of the video.

Tracey Mumford
Community Development Worker

1 November 02

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