My name is Patrick, I am 23 years old, I have autism spectrum disorder, I work here at Sunshine Butterflies in the cafe.
The skills I have learnt at Sunshine Butterflies are how to provide food for a lot of people, how to make coffee, how to take orders and money management as well as clean up and I take all those skills that I've learnt here and I can apply them to when I live at home.
Patrick initially was a reluctant attendee, attending for half a day a week, feigned illness most of the time, didn't participate but slowly gained a little bit of confidence and the nurturing care and support of the Sunshine Butterflies team gradually brought him out of his shell to the individual he is today.
Sunshine Butterflies has provided me with an environment where I've made a lot of friends, I've gained so many life skills and I've been able to break out of my social shell and become a lot more
confident and, you know, interact with some just amazing people.
It's an amazing transformation from this very introverted, anxious teenager to a mature, happy, healthy, gentle and caring individual and that's what the NDIS is helping us to achieve, it's pushing towards that area of minimal intervention, assistance to the point of, hopefully, absolute independence.