Out of the Box
Is our pilot transition housing project for young people with autism to learn independent living skills. Based on student style accommodation, ie termtime and shared. 3/ 4 young people with ASD will move into a shared house and live independently, with shared support for two hours a day, to teach independent living skills. With sessions on money management, menu planning, personal care skills, cooking, understanding autism, social skills etc.
The accommodation will start at the end of August, to coincide with the start of term, and although they do not have to be students, we wanted young people to normalise it, almost a rite of passage. By follow a pattern familiar to them from seeing peers/ siblings leaving home and going to university
Our first house will be located on the Crichton site, close to the college and universities as well as alternative education providers.
We will prioritise young people who are struggling to engage with the outside world, and are reluctant to come out of their rooms, hence the name.
Kirkcudbright Mental Health Hub
This is in early development stage at present, but we are looking to run a project in Kirkcudbright. Where we offer a safe lunch and after school space for young people with additional support needs, to simply come in and eat their lunch, or find a quiet space to prepare for the afternoon, to just relaxing and playing on the console or PC, or chatting with staff. Post school, it might be a place to meet other young people who with similar needs or even just complete homework, if homelife is to busy and chaotic to find the space to do it. Staff will be around to chat to, on 1:1, if a young person is needing to talk to someone and be listened to. Informal counselling sessions will be available as well as group sessions exploring Autism or other spectrum disorders.
On site will be a room available for CAMHS / Educational Psychology to book out, if they have consultations.
Outside of opening times for young people, the room will be available to book for other groups- LGBT/ Disability groups/ as there is wheel chair access/ even parent and toddler groups.
Game Design Group
We would like to pilot setting up two game design clubs and find a way to tap into the students at Abertay, potentially offering summer placements/ jobs helping to run a summer scheme and a game jam to help launch it.
We recently had a successful trip to the Games Design course at Abertay University with a group of young people. Most of our young people were anxious about fear of the unknown, of going somewhere new & meeting new people but we had a fantastic experience.
You see, the lure of finding out more about the game design course was the ultimate carrot or WIIFM ( If you are unfamiliar with the term it stands for What’s In It For Me). Basically, a weighing up of an option to see whether the effort/ strain and demands of said activity are worth it.
The young people were fascinated and what was so great to see was how easily the love and fascination for games transcended their usual social anxiety and awkwardness, enabling them to chat and engage with a group of fourth year students to discuss their games, concepts, and help test them. To cap it all they looked relaxed and happy.
Infact the young people fitted in straightaway, they didn’t stand out and blended in beautifully with the students. They were able to talk about the games’ concepts and even found a few flaws when testing them, which was great.
The chat on the way home back to Dumfries and Galloway was what programming language they use and that they would like to be involved in a games club. We all loved the idea of a games jam, and the whole collaborative nature of designing a game. We believe that the social and team building skills developed in a games design club can be transferred to everyday life and a way to bring young people together as part of a game club community.
ASD Community Housing Project
Talks are initial stages at the moment, but it’s looking promising that we may be able to partner with a local organisation to create a purpose built ASD Housing Community.
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