| Success Stories: 2 |
Kris has a winning smile and a great work ethic. He is on the autism spectrum, and although he is non-verbal, Kris has a variety of successful means of communicating, including typing.  The programme Kris attended was not meeting his needs. He was not spending his days meaningfully. Luckily Kris and his parents were introduced to a farm where they began spending one day a week. Soon Kris’ sister Dara began to come as well. Kris and Dara connected in new ways when working there together and a new story began to incubate in their minds. They wanted to explore living and working together in the country. That’s when Kris’s support circle applied for and was awarded a Haadd bursary to live at the farm three days a week with his sister, on a trial basis. Around the same time, Kris’ living arrangements were disrupted. He had been participating in a home-sharing arrangement, supervised by a local agency. Without consultation or warning, the home was converted into a group home, and Kris’ home-share partners were forced to leave. This was very upsetting for Kris; it was decided he would spend seven days a week at the farm for the whole summer while his living arrangements were sorted out. At the end of the summer, Kris submitted a report. Here are some excerpts from his report: I enjoyed living on the farm. We slept in the bus made into a trailer. Every morning we go to the house and eat breakfast. We talk about what work we will do. Sometimes we go out to the field and pick weeds so the horses don’t eat them. We clean stalls and throw down bales of hay. We help in the kitchen. We visit with friends. We read stories after dinner. I had to go see the doctor for poison ivy. I like being with the animals. The cats hang around and Dara feeds them tuna. The sheep run around on the grass. They are free to eat it up. I choose to live in the country because it is peaceful. The people are kind to me. They accept that I need help to work. There is lots of space. The city is crowded and the people are stressed out. They are more sad than country people.
At the end of the summer, Kris and Dara moved to a bungalow in a quiet village close to the farm. The months which followed have been full of changes and some uncertainty, which has not all been easy for Kris. His support circle negotiated funding in the new region of the province and hired and began training a team of support workers to accompany Kris as he creates a new life in his new community. Kris continues to work at the farm five days a week, accompanied by his sister Dara most days. Without the bursary from Haadd, there may not have been an opportunity for Kris and his sister to try their dream on for size. |