Shehzad lives in Huddersfield. He is in his 20’s, non-verbal and has severe learning disabilities.
Staff had tried repeatedly to find ways to support Shehzad to celebrate his faith in a meaningful way. But it was only recently that they finally had a breakthrough. United Response’s Area Manager Julia Casserley, did some research and found out that Naseer, a support worker at a different United Response service, had a similar cultural background to Shezhad.
Julia asked Naseer to carry out a specific piece of work with Shehzad and his family to find out the best ways of supporting him to celebrate his faith. Naseer found out about a local mosque Shehzad had attended in the past and now supports him to go there each week. Cleanliness is an important part of Shehzad’s faith. Shezhad is unable to remove his shoes before he enters the mosque and so Naseer helps him to make sure his wheelchair is completely clean before he enters the mosque.
Naseer said: “Going to the mosque has helped Shezhad to interact with people in his local community. A lot of people at the mosque now know Shezhad and he enjoys greeting them and shaking their hands.”
