Tomi's Journey
Updated: Sep 22, 2020
Our interventionist, Nadirah, shares about her heartfelt reflections on her journey with Tomi Simpson - a charming and positive boy who always had a trick up his sleeve!
2018 was off to a great start! I was given an opportunity to work with Tomi, a charming boy who made our sessions an opportunity for both of us to learn. Despite Tomi’s different learning and physical needs, he never fails to amaze me with his dedication towards learning and his willingness to accept new concepts taught in each lesson.
Tomi started off being shy and nervous about sharing his thoughts with me. Over time, his cheeky sense of humour and eagerness to share his interests won me over. In no time, he was always telling me what happened in his day or even the weekend. That was a milestone for the both of us and our bond grew.
Story Grammar Marker
One of his goals was to learn how to share and process his thoughts when recalling his weekend as well as retelling a story in his own words. We worked on this at least once every week using the Story Grammar Marker. Using Braidy the StoryBraid, Tomi could eventually recount the many places he went with his family and friends and how certain experiences made him feel. He was able to sequence the events starting with ‘first…next and last’ and soon became comfortable retelling a story to his parents too!
Reading & Writing
We worked on blending group 1 and 2 CVC words using flashcards and the Jolly Phonics Programme. Tomi loved using these cards as he grew confident each time he was able to blend, read and remove a word from the list. Handwriting Without Tears proved to be a great tool that suits Tomi. It helped him to direct his attention towards where to start with a smiley face and broke it down to steps he could recite and follow while writing the letters on the board.
Tomi’s Supportive Team
What I was most excited about when working with Tomi was the consistent improvement he made in his goals. He had an awesome and supportive team. Mummy and their helper reinforced what we covered each week. This helped Tomi progress faster and we were able to work on functional skills such as counting money. He picked up counting in twos, fives and tens. We would role play with real money and Tomi enjoyed the game of switching roles and requesting for an amount and even checked to make sure it was the right amount.
Working with Tomi in this journey has given me great pleasure as his supportive parents and helper made it ideal for learning to take place. His perseverance and motivation to maintain his stamina through the lesson allowed us to see his continued progress over the months. Although it was sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful family as they have now relocated back to Brisbane, I know Tomi will always strive for his best and live life to the fullest with his enigmatic smile wherever he goes!
Nadirah Saleem
Interventionist