Louise's story
Earlier this year, we received a message on LinkedIn from Louise, sharing an update about her son, Archie and his recent work achievement.
“I just wanted to say that about 8 years ago you helped our family. You were a real turning point from a really low point. We took everything you gave us to help our son. He is flying now. I would say a big part of that is down to ADD-vance.”
We were delighted to hear from Louise, so we contacted her to find out more, below she shares her story and how the support from ADD-vance was life changing.
For Archie, the road through education was anything but smooth. In primary school, Archie experienced bullying, which resulted in him moving to a new school. Within a month, his behaviour began to escalate, and the school requested a meeting to discuss a potential diagnosis. Louise and her husband attended meetings and felt overwhelmed with what lay ahead.
The low point Louise remembers was around 10 years ago. Louise describes it as feeling “overwhelmed, at sea, and completely unequipped.” They were, she says, quite simply sinking.
Everything began to change when Louise reached out to ADD-vance. The family was assigned a support worker and over the next few months, Louise and her husband found they had to unlearn traditional parenting methods as these didn’t work and instead created more friction in the household. Instead, they had to learn how to parent the child before them so that they could effectively meet Archie’s needs whilst maintaining balance in the house. As well as coaching, their support worker also attended meetings and helped them advocate for the support that Archie needed.
When Archie moved to secondary school it brought its own set of hurdles, just as the family had anticipated. While Archie often struggled to put his needs into words, the knowledge that the family had gained from ADD-vance meant that they knew what he needed. He could have a pass for the lunch queue or excuse himself from the classroom when things became too much without having to explain himself.
Despite the difficulties that Archie faced, a spark of entrepreneurship appeared. At 12, a trip to a lavender field inspired a new passion for Archie – bath bombs! With help from three generations of his family, what started as a hobby, grew into a successful business that even earned him ‘highly commended’ at the Inspiring Herts Business Awards.
When Archie moved to college to study lighting, Louise says he found his tribe and really started to shine. He achieved the qualifications he needed and was named ‘Student of the Year’. At 17, Archie secured a prestigious Level 3 Live Events Production Apprenticeship at PRG UK.
This saw Archie leaving home and moving to Birmingham, which was a huge undertaking and his family were heavily involved – helping him find a flat, organise what he needed and sort out all the admin that comes with a new home. In Birmingham, Archie completed his apprenticeship with a distinction and today is a lighting technician working at some of the UK’s most iconic venues. He’s worked on the floor of the O2 Arena, Summertime Ball at Wembley Stadium, and supported touring West End shows and worked on rock and roll tours.
While Archie is doing so well, Louise says it’s still a team effort. He still leans on his family for help with the daily admin of life – managing sleep, organising finances, and navigating the unexpected. He still reaches out when he feels anxious, but now, because of what the family learnt all those years ago with ADD-vance, the whole family is able to deal with those moments.
He’s also giving back to his community. Archie co-organises Boxfest, a sell-out charity music event now in its fourth year. Managing the sound and tech, Archie and his team have helped raise over £12,000 for the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. Looking back at the last eight years, Louise sees the support from ADD-vance as the turning point.
“The help we’ve had has been transformative. When I think back to how our life is now versus when he was younger, it’s like a completely different person. It altered the trajectory of our family life.”
Parenting an autistic child is a massive investment of time and love, but Louise knows life would look very different without that early intervention. The tools they were given nearly a decade ago are used every single day, proving that with the right support at the right time, every child has the potential to thrive.
Together, we can make sure no family in Hertfordshire is left without support
Stories like Louise’s are why we do what we do.
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