Jonathan is 23, and the youngest core member of the Ruach community. He grew up in an environment in which he received stimulation. He is therefore the most active of the four core members. He himself is looking for activities.
His vocabulary consists of about 500 words. Besides an intellectual disability he is also autistic which affects his social contacts and communication skills. He benefits from clear structure and fixed routines. Compared to other core members he likes to be on his own, or in a quiet surrounding without too many people around him.
The turnover in our staff in the past two years has been difficult for him as it disrupts the order and regularity he needs. It is hard for him to get used to new staff with their own peculiarities. Moreover, new staff will rarely have experience with autism which makes getting to know each other into an intensive process of learning: I do my best to mediate. Jonathan is very sensitive to the atmosphere around him and picks up signals of what is going on. So it is no surprise that he is often stressed, and gets stuck inside himself. In working with him it is important to stay calm and be creative in finding ways to open him up again.
On the other hand he enjoys his new life enough for us to conclude that he is in the right place at Ruach. His hobbies are watching YouTube films on the computer, listening to music on an old mobile phone, watching a flag or curtain waving in the wind. His favourite outings are: buying a chocolate icecream; visiting a young family with two children twice a week, and walking to the house of teacher Luzmilda when she helps young children with their homework, three times a week for an hour and a half.
He has found his place in the home, is appreciated by our staff and enjoys spending time with Daniel which is a pleasure to watch!