Bec celebrates 10 years working in her dream job

From a young age, our Life Skills customer Bec dreamed of following in her mother’s footsteps and working in childcare. But with cerebral palsy impacting her speech and mobility, Bec thought there were too many obstacles in her way. That’s why September 2024 was so significant. It marked the 10^th anniversary of Bec’s employment at Only About Children Concord, a milestone she reached with support from Northcott every step of the way. 

Achieving a goal

In 2014, Bec was among a group of customers from our Parramatta Life Skills service who expressed an interest in working with children. To support them to achieve this goal, Northcott formed a partnership with childcare and early learning centre Only About Children to develop Curious Kids, a supported employment program for people with disability.

“With my Northcott support worker, I did 6 weeks of training before starting the job,” Bec explains. “I started working one day a week, and then I moved to two days.” 

Bec now works Tuesday and Thursdays. She is supported by two Northcott support workers, Monica and Ghaydaa, who go to work with her, assisting her to interact with the children. On her days off, Bec is supported by other Northcott staff to plan and prepare her lessons.

From her first shift on 3 September 2014, Bec has kept a diary, recording her feelings, as well as her activities and interactions with the children and staff.

“Today I started working with the kids and OMG it was the best!” says her entry from day one.  “I was excited and a little bit nervous at first.” 

Bec’s childcare work

Bec’s lessons focus on teaching the kids about her disability. She shows them photos of her childhood, talks about how she experiences life in a wheelchair and demonstrates her methods of communicating which include using a communication board and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools.

“I’m proud to tell the kids about my disability to educate them. They are quite curious and ask me questions about how I do things,” Bec says.

“My favourite thing to do is play games. Sometimes I read to them, using a storybook printed onto A4 paper and my iPad. We also play games, such as number bingo.”

Bec says she loves every moment she spends with the children, even when they are disruptive or noisy.

“Mostly the kids are good and come to say hi. I ask them to give me a foot bump,” she says. “Some will even come up on my foot plate and give me a hug!”

How Northcott supports Bec

Bec is a long-term Northcott customer. As a child she accessed our Children’s Respite. After leaving school, she started attending our Life Skills service and accessing one-to-one support. She also receives speech therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy from Northcott.

Bec’s Northcott Speech Therapist, Ashleigh Belic, has also been heavily involved in Bec’s childcare job, working with her to find suitable communication tools to help her interact with the children. 

A proud achievement for all involved

Bec is enormously proud of achieving her goal of working in childcare.

“Most relatives and friends don’t believe it!” she says. “I always thought that I could do it, but I didn’t know for how long or what I would do with the kids.”

All the Northcott staff who have supported her along the way are equally gratified.

When Lei started as a support worker for Northcott in 2015, one of her favourite shifts was supporting Bec while she was at work. Lei now supports Bec to plan her lessons. She says working with Bec to achieve her goal is one of her proudest professional achievements. 

“Bec and I been working together for 10 years,” Lei says. “Working at Only About Children has given Bec more confidence. Before she would always ask herself, ‘can I do that?’. Now she is more confident and likes to try new things.”

Sarah, who was Northcott’s Life Skills Coordinator in 2014, supported Bec to complete the initial program and begin working at OAC. Reflecting on Bec’s achievement, Sarah says, “Looking back, the program was a fantastic opportunity for Bec and other customers to engage in casual employment in a field that resonated with their interests. 

“Ten years later, it is truly gratifying to witness the remarkable success of Bec. Her passion for children is evident in her achievement of such a significant milestone. It serves as a testament to her dedication, hard work and unwavering commitment to working with children. Congratulations, Bec!”

Bec is grateful to Northcott and Only About Children for supporting her.

“I would like to say thank you very much to Only About Children for letting me come to work with you. I am also thankful to my Northcott support workers for their help supporting me,” Bec says.

Reflecting on the past 10 years, she says, “I feel more confident, and I think I love it even more because I now know what I am doing!”

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