Ajay's story
Peer support
Ajay is a young man with a learning disability from Newham in East London who works part-time at the Rix Centre.
“I joined the Rix Centre - Ajay says - one and half year ago, in February 2007. The first time I came into the Rix Centre I immediately liked the place and the people. I met Gosia Nowicka, the Multimedia Advocacy course leader, and I started the classes.”
Ajay found the course very challenging: “In the beginning it was a bit hard, but the more I got into it the more I found it interesting. Now I’m working as a students supporter and I enjoy so much helping people that like me have learning disabilities. I’m helping as a technical assistant too; I help the students with things like setting up their computers, logging on, and with the installation of software packages as Office. I take care of everything that concerns the good functioning of audio and video applications like Windows Movie Maker, supporting the students in creating their stories. I love to be involved with the work with Gosia and the other members of the Multimedia Advocacy course.”
Ajay is well up in to Photoshop as well: “I love that software! I like Powerpoint as well. I use it to create slideshows and document for the classes.”
To show prospective employers what he has to offer, Ajay produced a multimedia CV, using the Rix Centre’s ‘easy-build’ website templates. He went on to produce a personal website to share the skills that he has learned about getting into work with other young people with learning disabilities. This uses photos to talk about job seeking, independent travel, and handling money – all useful knowledge for his peers. “My website is the thing I enjoy the most; I included all my personal information in it, travelling, my life at work, with text, pictures, videos and sounds… al my life is there!” Ajay’s website is available at http://web.thebigtree.org/ajay/.
Working at the Rix Centre helped Ajay’s life to improve drastically. “My life changed a lot thanks to the Rix Centre. Now I’m independent, and I feel self-confident in speaking with other people. I want to thank Gosia for that, because at the beginning I felt a little afraid but now I know that I’m able to help people like me, and finally I have the chance to get a job: I want to be a website designer!”
The Rix Centre runs a number of projects that enable young people with learning disabilities to share their knowledge, experience and insights with others, using multimedia for ‘peer to peer’ learning and support.
