Respect and Kindness
The joy of shopping – thanks to an amazing team
Following my story about my son James and his trip to the dentist I would like to tell you about the amazing team at Pamphill Farm Shop who have gone out their way to give James the best possible experience when he visits.
James has limited verbal ability and to help him to tell us what he needs or where he wants to go, we have a range of laminated sheets with pictures of each location or requirement.
It’s fair to say that of all his laminated sheets, the one that gets used the most is for the Pamphill Farm Shop, and it is not surprising, the team have made the most incredible effort and treat him with both respect and kindness whenever he visits.
This is one of the few places we visit where James is prepared to get out of the car. This is thanks to the team at Pamphill who come out of the shop with an Iced Gingerbread which immediately entices him to come in. They greet him by name, ask him how he is and don’t bat an eye when he reorganises a whole shelf of their goods.
When we first started to visit the shop, it was clear that James didn’t always feel comfortable – he insisted on going round the shop in the same way, but this was never an issue for the team and as they got to know him and he got to know them, it was clear that this was a relationship that was going to last.
Our visits give James the chance to experience what it’s like to shop, because he is so comfortable, he is able to browse their goods in the main shop and the butcher’s shop and even elects to go through the process of paying for what he’s selected, not something he can do in any other environment.
Danielle a member of the Farm Shop Team at Pamphill Dairy is delighted that James enjoys his time so much.
“It's wonderful to hear how much James likes to visit us here as we're always happy to see him too. It's a pleasure to allow him to enjoy his shopping experience and if that means having to pop a few items back in the correct position after he's left the shop, then that's absolutely fine with us! We hope James and family will continue to visit us time and time again.”
Learn, understand, accept
It’s testament to how comfortable James is that when we leave, he uses one of few verbal phrases – his word for Bye is Bah and the staff at Pamphill get treated to this each and every time we leave. I am so grateful to them for the time and trouble they have taken, I hope they know how much we appreciate it and what a difference it has made to James.
