Written by Jordan’s mum, Patti
Jordan doesn’t have the language skills to be able to be interviewed by people who don’t understand his communication limitations.
Behind this, Jordan is a bright young man who loves Dr. Who, action films, Harry Potter and Coronation Street. He loves to write lists.
He doesn’t understand connectives in language, he goes by the keywords, so making lists is a good way to use his writing skills, he’s got very neat handwriting and he’s really good at jigsaw puzzles.
Jordan has a fascination with language and has taught himself using Google Translate, to count to ten in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese, along with other words that interested him. Because of Jordan’s limited language, he can’t initiate conversation or chat to people, which means it’s difficult for him to have friendships.
Jordan was born in London on Christmas Day in 1994. We moved over to Bristol when Jordan was nearly three years old. Jordan went to mainstream school in reception year and then had a split placement, going to mainstream school two days a week and a special needs school for the other three days throughout his primary school years. He started attending Clifton and Henleaze Taekwon-Do lessons at about age nine.
It took an Educational Lawyer and a tribunal (nearly), when the local schools committee finally backed down and let Jordan go to the school of my choice, a mainstream school in Thornbury, just outside Bristol. These were the happiest times of Jordan’s life, he loved his school. Jordan left school having attained a grade ‘C’ in his Art GCSE.
Jordan had continued to enjoy going to Taekwon-Do throughout his secondary school years. His brother had started it twice and dropped out of it twice, but Jordan kept on going.
All the time we had been living in Bristol, I had been a single parent, bringing up two boys on my own. Knowing this, Miss Reeve, Jordan’s Taekwon-Do instructor, gave Jordan a scholarship so I could afford to send both of my boys to attend her classes. I would like to thank Miss Reeve, for all her help and the help of the other students at Clifton and Henleaze Taekwon-Do school that contributed to Jordan’s success. Miss Reeve told me years ago, that there’s no reason why Jordan shouldn’t go all the way to black belt.
Shortly after, when Daniel, my youngest, left for university, things changed, I met my now fiancé and we moved over the bridge to Newport. It’s a lot further to take Jordan training these days. In Newport, there is no PUMA Taekwon-Do, the Taekwon-Do classes in Newport are from a different organisation, which meant that Jordan would have had to start from scratch again if he went there, not an option!
Jordan goes to a farm just outside of Newport four days a week called Wellies. WELLIES stands for Wellness, Education, Learning, Laughter, Inspiration, Environment, Skills. He and other learners help clean out the animals, paint whatever needs painting, doing cementing, potting plants, building wooden flower troughs, these are just some of the activities they get up to. They even get to experience driving some of the farm equipment. Jordan has made a best friend there, Joseph, who also has Down’s syndrome and they have such a good laugh!
Seven years later, I’m still taking Jordan to Bristol once a week, plus Jordan is now part of the ‘ALL STARS’, the Indomitable spirit squad, he gets to enter in the inclusive competitions and win medals. In the last year, he received a gold and silver medal in the English Championships, a bronze in the International Championships and a silver in the World Championships.
Twenty years after Jordan’s Taekwon-Do journey first began, Jordan has attained his black belt at the age of 28. He is the first person with Down’s syndrome to do so within the PUMA organisation.
During the black belt presentation ceremony, Jordan, looking so cool in his suit and tie, confidently accepted his black belt and certificate and I could see how proud of himself he was. At the end of the ceremony, there was one last trophy on the table, the largest one of all. It was the ‘Heart and Soul’ award and it was presented to Jordan.
After 20 years of driving Jordan to and from Taekwon-Do lessons, Jordan is blossoming into a martial art superstar. I am such a proud mother.
