RIASS Redbridge
Meetings are often used to make decisions or to come up with plans for your future.
The meetings are about you and you are allowed to say what you think and to listen to what others have to say. It’s very important for adults to know what support you need before making decisions about you.
It’s perfectly normal to feel a bit nervous about these meetings as you may have to talk in front of people you don’t know well. Most people feel a bit nervous going to meetings.
The most important thing is that you have a chance to let everyone in the meeting know how you are feeling, what is working well for you now and what you are worried about or struggling with. Of course, this doesn’t mean you’ll always get what you want, what it does mean is that you have a right to say what you think and for those views to be heard by people around you
You may like to get your thoughts down by:
Writing a list of what’s important to you and why.
Think about the things you want to happen and what you don’t want to happen.
If you like to draw, you could draw a picture of what you think would be the ideal outcome. For example, the right support in school.
You could Voice record your thoughts and views on your mobile phone so you can listen back at a later time or share your recording with others to help them understand what you want to happen.
Or ask someone you trust to write down your thoughts
At the meeting you’ll be able to say what you have prepared and ask any questions you may have. Take as much time as you need. It's important to give people time to answer you if you have asked questions and listen to what everyone in the room has to say. If you don’t understand something, it’s OK to say you don’t understand and ask for it to be explained in a way you can understand.
If someone asks you a question and you don’t know the answer or need time to think then tell them. Don’t worry if you can’t answer some of the questions in the meeting, it maybe you need some time after the meeting to process your thoughts and come up with an answer. This is perfectly OK.
Towards the end of the meeting someone will usually sum up what’s been agreed in the meeting. This is so the people at the meeting know what needs to happen next or what they must do to make sure the right things happen.