Since my last post I have helped a friend learn how to use Zoom. We both went to Movement Classes run by Unity Works at the Greenwood Centre and that is where we got chatting about Zoom.
I remember the first time we looked at Zoom she was panicking about it and I said “calm down, let me show you how to do it”. We started with me showing her how to type in the Meeting ID on the first screen, then her name on the second screen, followed by the passcode. After I helped her, she managed to do it on her own. Now she has got the hang of it, she has no problem getting on and she is able to access activities run by Unity Works on Zoom. She told me she is excited and happy now that she can use Zoom herself without any support. She said “Fatima, if you hadn’t showed me how to type in the Meeting ID, passcode and my name, I would not have learnt how to get onto Zoom”
It’s been tricky to find other people to train on Zoom because I am speaking with support workers of a company, who have said they will find clients who need help with Zoom. They have all taken a lot of time to get back to me and let me know who the clients are. At one point I was told I was going to meet a support worker to go to a client’s house to show them how to use Zoom, but that session was cancelled. I follow things up via email and often people don’t get back to me, or they say they’ve not spoken to the client yet. I contacted the manager to find out when I will be able to meet with clients. I told him I felt disappointed because nobody was replying to me or arranging meetings for me to train clients on Zoom. He apologised and said “I’m sorry Fatima that you’ve been trying to arrange these meetings, I will try and find out what’s going on”. He said he would try and a meeting for me on the rota the next week, but that actually didn’t happen for another three or 4 weeks! So I still had to wait, which also made me feel disappointed and angry.
In September I met with someone from People First in Hammersmith. I was recommended to meet with her because she was on the first leadership programme and also has a learning difficulty. She had also experienced similar barriers with professionals not getting back to her or not doing what they said they’d do, and we shared our experiences with each other. We agreed that we’d like to do something, like a video, to show professionals how it makes us feel when they treat us this way. People with learning difficulties should have choice and control just like everyone else.
Next up, I’m going to be working with someone called Sarah, who is going to help me develop a really good training package on how to use Zoom. Sarah is a Disabled trainer and I will be mostly meeting with her on Zoom. We already have a plan for what we’re going to do together, and I’m feeling happy that I’ll be working with her! This will help me work out what my offer is for the Digital Hub at the Greenwood Centre.
