YAI salutes its Direct Support Professionals. As part of National DSP Recognition Week, we will share profiles of some of our valued employees. They represent all our DSPs in their commitment and dedication to the people YAI supports. 

 

Ian Thomson

 

When Rolston Thomside moved into YAI’s 22nd Street Residence in Brooklyn from the Brooklyn Developmental Center, staff knew very little about him.

 

“We didn’t know what he liked at all; we had no information or anything about him that was person-centered,” said Leanne Gordon, Assistant Residential Coordinator. “All we had was his clinical information and his annual physical report.”

Boats and Beach

Ian Thomson, Assistant Behavioral Intervention Specialist at the home, began spending more time with Rolston, who does not communicate with words, to figure out what made Rolston happy.  Soon he observed that Rolston liked boats. When Ian took him to the docks at Sheepshead Bay, his face lit up.

 

While speaking with Rolston’s mother, who is from Guyana, she shared that her son enjoyed the beach and swimming when he was young. So, Ian and Cameron Gerardo, a DSP at 22nd Street, arranged a trip to the beach. 

'Happy at the Beach'

“He was so engaged and happy at the beach,”said Ian, who worked in the field for 10 years in England and has been with YAI for two years. “He played with his feet in the sand and thoroughly enjoyed himself.”

 

Staff began decorating Rolston’s room with pictures of boats and beaches.

 

Rolston also recently joined some of the other people living in the home on a house vacation to the Frost Valley YMCA, where staff took him on a rowboat. He went on walks and watched some of his peers zipline. “He really liked being away,” Ian said.

 

“It makes everyone happy that Rolston’s having a better life and enjoying more,” Ian said. “The entire team feels really good about it.”

 

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