Jason King's story

As part of World Mental Health Day, the Foundation of Light would like to share the story of one of our participants, Jason King, and celebrate his progress.

After completing a learning programme at the Foundation with Ethicare, Jason joined our weekly Healthy Eating and Cooking course with the Ministry of Food kitchen.

Jason has been diagnosed with multiple learning difficulties, including autism, causing him to be very shy and disengaged during sessions when he first started the course. Many people living with autism struggle with eating, he was reluctant to try the food made during sessions.

His carers noted how, at the start of the course, he would only eat his packed lunch that was made for him by his parents and was not open to trying new things. However, his initial lack of interest in the food did not stop him from becoming more engaged during the sessions.

Eventually, after being encouraged to smell, taste, and explore new ingredients and recipes, Jason began to try the food that he had cooked. While this may seem like a small achievement, it was tremendous progress for Jason.

He has continued to go from strength to strength, remaining highly engaged in sessions, and becoming more open to trying new foods. Jason started to save his packed lunch until later and sit with the other learners to try the food that they had made.

Engaging with the other learners has allowed Jason to build new social bonds and his confidence has really grown throughout his time on the course. His tutors could see him becoming more comfortable with his surroundings and fellow learners daily.

Jason also exhibited a marked improvement in a number of interpersonal skills such as communication, listening, and teamwork. He has learned life skills that will stay with him forever and experienced food that he would never have tried otherwise.

He has already spoken to his tutors about coming back to take part in future courses and has even considered trying to become a volunteer with the Ethicare Café. Going from an initial struggle to engage, to completing the course and trying new foods, and now aiming to progress into volunteering, Jason’s progress has been nothing short of remarkable.