John’s Story
Here is a story about a peer supporter, John.
He is a peer supporter for a new researcher, Bella.
In this story, John helped Bella communicate in ways that worked for her.
John is providing peer support for Bella in her new job as a Research Assistant. They scheduled weekly meetings (a) using video conferencing technology at the same day and time each week (a).
Bella was asked by her research team to share her thoughts on the best ways to collect information from a group of people with IDD about the availability of services and supports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bella was not sure what to do.
John role modeled how to share at a team meeting by acting out (c) an example. He made sure he spoke slowly and clearly when sharing his ideas.
Bella decided she would feel most confident if she planned what to say ahead of time (b). So John and Bella developed a written script (b) of what she would share with the research team.
During the meeting, when the team started talking about ideas for data collection, John reminded the team that Bella had ideas to share (d). Bella read her script.
The team loved her ideas! Bella was proud of herself, and John felt good because he helped Bella communicate with the team