Written by Hayley Godfrey
Moving is daunting for anyone. But for one young man, moving from the familiar to the unknown was terrifying.
Jordan Lamb is a bright young man who loves playing video games, watching movies, going to the gym and spending time with his dogs, Milly, and Poppy, but his main passion is anything and everything to do with computers.
Jordan’s life was greatly impacted when a vaccine reaction at 18 months left him with autism, developmental delays and anxiety. This made learning difficult with areas of his brain heightened such as visual memory, while other parts were severely impacted. Therefore, most of his learning had to be done by repetition and persistence.
So, to move towns, to move states, to leave everything he knew, everything that was familiar and recognisable, including his community, and move into the unknown, was terrifying and de-stabilising.
But due to the death of Jordan’s grandfather in 2021, Jordan’s parents, Mick and Di Lamb, decided that a change was needed. The family had been holidaying at Toogoom for the past 7 years and loved it so much they decided to make it their home. Making the big move of selling their home and business of 38 years in Byron Bay, the Lambs made the huge shift in the hope of a better life for them and more opportunities for Jordan.
But this gigantic move and all that it involved, affected Jordan greatly.
Thriving on the familiar, his world was thrown into turmoil. Whilst waiting for their businesses to sell, the Lamb family moved into temporary accommodation. This all should have gone smoothly, but two weeks later the area of Northern NSW was devastated by floods and their plans were thrown into chaos.
The family were unable to stay where they had originally planned. But luckily, they had moved most of their furniture and precious belongings up to their future home in Toogoom, all safe and sound, or so they thought. A water pipe burst at their new home, flooding it and their belongings.
“I lost my bed, my desk, some clothes, and lots of my computer gear and monitors,” said Jordan.
This was devastating and delayed the family’s move as the new house now had to be repaired.
So, with everything that happened, it took seven months and four moves but finally the Lamb family arrived in Toogoom.
Now to the mammoth task of making Hervey Bay their home.
Since the NDIS is nationwide, Jordan was supported in his move, but everything was new. New connections, new relationships, new supports, and support workers had to be found.
All this takes time to be established, time to make the connections. ” We were so hopeful that this move would be positive for Jordan,” his Mum said, “There is just so much more opportunity here in a city as large as Hervey Bay than the small town that we have moved from.” One area that his parents were very keen to explore was the opportunities regarding Jordans love of computers.
But for Jordan, moving meant meeting new people, exploring unfamiliar places, new roads to learn and remember, and all this left him feeling lost with nothing being familiar.
Even the number of traffic lights in Hervey Bay was so daunting. To go from a town with none to having them on every corner was overwhelming.
In Jordan’s words, “There are 6 sets of traffic lights just to reach Woolies and come home again.”
As the weeks went by, there were so many changes that his anxiety increased and along with the homesickness, feelings of sadness and loss, he found it all too overwhelming that towards the end of 2022, after such a hard year he reached the point where his thoughts turned really dark.
With intervention from his family, the support of his NDIS psychologist and meeting Mike Radic from Fraser Coast Counselling, Jordan’s life made a positive turn.
Mike had an established gaming / counselling group where he does a fabulous job of mentoring young adults. With Mike’s help, Jordan was given a direction and this change led to him starting to build a new life here in Hervey Bay.
Mike also started Jordan into a work placement program where he could pursue his love of computers.
Jordan now links with Andrew from Hervey Bay Church of Christ and Lance from Fraser Coast TESS,. who are partners for the work placement program.
Through both programs and his dedicated new support worker, Sean, Jordan’s whole world has changed. His life has opened up, giving him a new sense of purpose and most importantly, a sense of belonging. As his confidence lifts, so does his happiness. He’s learning to communicate better and learning to work as part of a team. With all the new experiences he’s being exposed to, it’s pushing him outside his comfort zone as he’s learning new skills.
“For Jordan or anyone, it’s about finding that niche in life where you fit in and belong. We are just so grateful that Jordan is finding his at last.” Jordan’s parents said.
Mike Radic has taken it one step further by arranging a work experience opportunity for Jordan at a computer store in Hervey Bay. This is to help Jordan realise his dream of working with computers and earning ‘real money’. For the past few weeks, Jordan has been working with Ian from Wide Bay Computer Services. Ian has been impressed with Jordan’s knowledge and amazed that he has learned so much without any formal computer training. He is keen to continue working with Jordan and is even talking about paying him for his work.
The Lamb family are counting their blessings as they sit around the table this Christmas. From floods to flourishing the New Year is looking bright. Embraced and welcomed by the Toogoom community, the Lamb family are well on their way to building the a new life that they’d hoped for. They are very grateful to all the wonderful and caring people that they have met and continue to meet, as they build their new lives here in the Hervey Bay.
Jordan is now settling in, he’s happy and looking forward to 2024 and many more walks with his dogs along beautiful Toogoom Beach.
Thanks Hervey Bay and Merry Christmas to all.