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Michaela is 19. She was diagnosed with Asperger's and ADHD when she was in pre-school. She has academic delays and repeated Year 3. She also has hyper-mobile joints which makes some physical activities involving fine motor skills difficult.She went to a fantastic primary and high school that had an on-site Specialist Learning Centre and the teachers there supported her in every subject so she could remain in the same classroom as her peers.

In year 8 Michaela was fortunate that a large group of kids included her in their social activities and while this never really resulted in any close one-on-one friendships, it was great that she had a group of boys and girls to sit with at recess and lunch.  In the middle of Year 10, the Specialist Learning Centre Director called me to say that the school believes Michaela is not a candidate to complete the HSC, not even the non-ATAR version. They said the school simply didn't have the authority to differentiate the HSC curriculum like they did from years 7 - 10. My husband and I had no idea what Michaela would do in 2023. She'd done year 10 work experience at a daycare centre and absolutely hated it. In the first half of 2023 Michaela successfully completed Certificate II in Workplace Skills via TAFE virtual classroom. This was great, but we weren't any closer to knowing what she was going to do.She had SLES funding at this point so I enrolled her in a SLES program in the office of a disability job agency in Maroubra. It was very clinical and boring. The sessions were held in the office boardroom. Michaela absolutely hated it. The facilitators were nice, but mainly taught the participants how to write resumes, do job searches and be prepared for interviews. This sounds practical, but Michaela didn't even know what she wanted to do. And when you don’t know what you want to do, you aren’t motivated to actually apply for any jobs. At the beginning of 2024 someone told me about Co-Hive. I was initially reluctant to find out more because I thought it was just going to be another SLES program, but with funkier branding.  But finally just after Semester 2 of last year Michaela and I came for an intake interview with Kim and we realised right from the start that Co Hive was different.Michaela has done a few courses with Co-hive in the past year. She started with Get Work Ready, Finance Matters and Drama Dynamics. Get Work Ready, included work experience at Centennial Park, which she enjoyed. But she really loved Drama Dynamics and made some great friends including her best friend Camilla who she formed a bond with on the first day they met. In first semester this year, Michaela continued on with Drama Dynamics, but also completed the Script to Screen course. Now she's doing Employment Pathways. She has work experience at the Ted Noffs Foundation on Tuesdays and she didn't want to miss it so she isn't here for Open Day. And she's still doing Drama Dynamics every Friday!Michaela is quite independent and adventurous. When she was 16 she went on a trip to London and Paris with a supported Autism traveller provider. She also did social activities with this provider but she never made any real friendships because the participants were random from all over Sydney (and sometimes even interstate) and had nothing else binding them together.The brilliant thing about Co-Hive is that they have also have many independence getaways and social outings, but the kids who attend these have to be enrolled in at least one course with Co-Hive. This means there's a consistency of participants and it gives the kids a real opportunity to get to know each other and make genuine friendships. Michaela has enjoyed the chaperoned pub nights, Karaoke and musicals. She really loves Honey Co, a girls-only get-together about once every second month that's usually held here at the hub. It's an opportunity for girls to interact on topics of interest for teens and young adults whilst doing fun activities like make-up, baking and art.Michaela has really enjoyed the independence getaways. She's been to the Gold Coast, Berrima and most recently the Blue Mountains getaways.The other great thing about co-hive is that they put on events right here at the hub. They did one for Halloween last year and this year for Winter Solstice. There's music, food and dancing and it's wonderful to see the kids get dressed up and have fun with each other in a social way. The one thing that makes Co-Hive stand out as a disability service provider is that they care about each kid's interests. They don't think our kids should be pushed into TAFE just because they finished school in Year 10. They believe our kids - like all kids - deserve to find out what they actually want to do and what would be a good fit for them.As a parent this is so reassuring because you feel that you aren't alone in this challenging transition from high school to whatever comes after.