Leah’s Story
Posted on: 11/02/2026, by : Catherine
Being Seen and Accepted Leads to Confidence, Learning and Ambition.
A year ago, I moved to Dumfries & Galloway due to family circumstances and found myself unable to get a job. I left behind my home, familiar environments, friends, routines and the things that had made up my day-to-day life. Without formal qualifications, and no support in place I felt unsure of what I had to offer or where to go next.
Then I turned to The Usual Place, which offered me trainee experience in the cafe. Three months later, I successfully applied for their new paid one-year internship – a job which will open the door to new opportunities in my life that I hadn’t believed were possible for me.
I’m now doing both – training in the cafe and working as an intern as two separate part-time roles here.
Growing up, I’ve struggled with socialising, schoolwork and loneliness and I’ve often felt misunderstood. The anxiety of being different from other people my age, combined with the lack of awareness and dismissal from teachers and family made me hesitant to share my feelings about what was going on in my life.
As I got older, I began to wonder whether autism might be part of the reason I found things more difficult, but I was reluctant to share this, worried I wouldn’t be believed. Through high school and college, this led to low confidence and eventually leaving education without qualifications and a sense that I didn’t quite fit in.
After a long and disrupted journey seeking autism assessment and support, moving to Dumfries & Galloway meant starting all over again. This time, without formal services in place and without support or recognition of my experience, it was hard to see value in what I had already done over the years. I struggled to find work and needed something meaningful to help me stay active and connected.
Despite this, I did have some work experience which I now realise was the key to finding my way forward. Between 2017-2022 I worked part-time as an assistant in an office-based role, where I supported my manager by taking notes in meetings and preparing documents. At the time I didn’t think much of it – it was just something I did and something I tried hard in, but looking back now, I can see that I was trusted and relied upon. Alongside this I volunteered in a cafe charity for a few years until I moved to Dumfries. It wasn’t structured training like The Usual Place, but this experience really helped me find my way into volunteering at The Usual Place as some aspects are familiar and I already had some knowledge of hospitality skills and a customer service environment.
I’m so glad I turned to The Usual Place. I first came in as a customer, then noticed information about volunteering and inclusion. With support from my parent, I arranged an introductory meeting and began volunteering in the cafe, where I am now gaining hands-on experience and beginning to think about working towards an SVQ qualification in the future. Alongside this, I have a paid internship at The Usual Place in communications, information and digital work.
This has given me a purpose while gaining new skills and interacting with people in the organisation who are patient, understanding and more than willing to help with anything I struggle with, accommodating my needs.
I believe this has increased my confidence, activity, and put my past work experience skills to the test, which has made an improvement to my life and experience with The Usual Place.
As a result, I am now learning social media, marketing, updating websites and data collection and I’m using new software such as Canva, Beacon and Mailchimp. This is important because, along with the experience gained in the café, this will open more doors to potential jobs and therefore more of a chance of being employed in the future, despite my lack of qualifications.
The internship has been a completely new environment for me and as well as learning skills and being creative, I’m also being encouraged to take part in discussions, meetings and reflections about the work. Some of this has been challenging, but it’s helped me realise that I can adapt, learn quickly and contribute insights based on my own experience.
I am also gaining experience through opportunities like helping with organising and delivering events. Last October I got involved in with the Fine Dining Event. There, I helped with the paying system, with the voting system and the raffle/auction. Together, The Usual Place and The Globe Inn raised almost £10,000 to help fund The Usual Place and acquired new Friends of The Usual Place.
This organisation changes lives for the better. I am one of many examples. The Usual Place is not only beneficial but essential. It is important that both high schoolers and disabled people with additional needs get the experience they need and/or may have otherwise missed out on due to prejudices and discrimination.
After years of confusion and feeling misunderstood around autism, the support and patience I’ve found here has helped me feel seen, more confident and more hopeful about my future career options – including the possibility of working towards my first qualification. If I had access a Usual Place where I used to live, it could have helped me get a job faster and given me another chance at acquiring a qualification.
I believe The Usual Place is a great and essential organisation for young people, especially those with additional support needs, to gain work experience and learn new skills in their day-to-day lives. LEAH