One of our volunteers, who developed a serious condition when she was 12, says she wishes Dream The Change, CIC had been around when she was younger.
Sevim Soybir had a happy childhood until she started to have difficulty walking. She was diagnosed as having Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia and had to start using crutches and a wheelchair, as her brain signals being sent to her legs were not working properly.
“I was bullied a lot at a secondary school because of it,” said the 19-year-old, who was born and raised in Essex, England, as her Cypriot Dad was in the army.
“I had anxiety and depression. Suddenly developing a disability as a teenager was a strain, as you’re able to do things one day and you can’t the next.
“My friends stopped speaking to me when I was diagnosed. I am not sure why, but it could be because I got picked on by bullies. I used to tell the teachers but there wasn’t a lot they could do.”
Things improved for Sevim when she went to South Essex College where she successfully studied BTECs in Business and Admin achieving Level 2 and IT achieving Level 3.
Sevim has been using her skills over the Summer, doing voluntary work on Dream The Change, CIC's website, editing the events page, creating images and uploading content and blogs. It is helping her to develop her work experience to assist her to get a job in the future.
She said, "I’ve been enjoying doing this voluntary work. It's been an adventure and I've been learning about lots of different things, like finding out about Dream The Change, CIC and what it does to help children with special educational needs and disabilities from diverse families.
Sevim’s elder brother, Emere has autism and was also bullied at a mainstream school, but things improved when he went to a school for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Sevim also has a younger sister, Selin, aged 12.
“It would have been good if Dream The Change, CIC had been around when I was younger as their group would have supported me,” added Sevim, who regularly undergoes hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and hospital therapy.
“I’d recommend families from diverse backgrounds who have children with SEND to get involved with Dream The Change as the CIC has employees and volunteers consisting of parents with similar experiences, who can help and advise you.”
If you would like to volunteer to help Dream The Change CIC, get in touch via our website contact page.
