Did you know that around 80% of our everyday living skills are through observational learning? This includes many things that sighted people can instinctively do, such as eating, shopping, preparing food and making a cup of tea. At NCW we want to empower our students to build confidence with these everyday tasks, which can be crucial for when they leave the college.
Having experienced the same challenges firsthand, former student Emma now teaches these tasks to the next generation of students at NCW, supporting them to thrive independently as adults.
Emma’s story
Emma was born in 1978 and diagnosed with Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) when she was six months old. It was the actions of her Mum after that diagnosis which would prove to have a lasting impact on Emma’s life.
Emma explains: “When my mum realised that I was blind and got over the initial shock of it all, she decided, right, well, what can I do to help my daughter? Because she was a teacher herself, she decided to find someone who would teach her Braille, so she could then teach me.”
Emma went on to attend a mainstream primary school in London before moving to Hampshire, where she became proficient in Braille. When she was 10 years old, Emma was offered a place at New College Worcester, a year earlier than expected because there wasn’t enough support for her at the time in her local mainstream secondary school. She went on to study for her GCSEs at NCW, before going on to another college to complete a qualification in nursery nursing.
Return to NCW
Emma moved back to Worcester in 2007 to be with her partner, and they soon married and had a son together in 2009. When Emma’s son was old enough to go to school, she found out about a job opening at NCW in the activities team, organising evening and weekend activities for students.
Emma has been part of NCW’s Independent Living Skills team since 2019, where she teaches ‘Activities for Daily Living’. Emma explains: “I teach personalised lessons, typically at least an hour a week, tailored to each student’s needs and current skill levels. Tasks range from making a drink and cooking simple meals to more complex tasks like changing a light bulb, using makeup without a mirror, and managing personal care.”
Emma also works alongside other specialists within NCW’s Independent Living Skills department, teaching related skills such as money management, how to use a chip and pin machine and learning about banking, alongside laundry and clothing care, such as bed making, ironing, and how to identify the colour of clothes.
Celebrating the ‘little’ successes in the independent living journey
Emma takes a progressive approach to her teaching, starting with hands-on guidance before gradually moving towards verbal prompts and eventually completing those tasks independently.
“I think celebrating little successes is really important. And it could be something as basic as buttering your toast or being able to open a ring pull tin. The little things like that to a sighted person, you wouldn’t think twice about,” says Emma.
“Over time, when students realise that actually, they can make their own bed, do their ironing, make their own meals and do their own banking, rather than it always being done for them, it gives them a massive sense of independence. They suddenly realise, ‘Yay, I can do this!’ or ‘I’ve done this myself and not had it done for me!’. It really does just give them a massive boost of confidence.”
Emma adds: “This is one of the reasons why I love working with the students. We have days when they get frustrated because maybe they’ve not practised enough or they’ve not got the skills they hoped they’d have. But then they get days where something will suddenly click, and they think, ‘Yes! I know how to do that now,’ and that’s really rewarding for me and for them.”
