Percy Pig party for local hero
Wilfred Jenkins day at the tea party
Some people call them disabilities, Wilfred calls them superpowers. Wilfred Jenkins, 25, from Westgate, Thanet is becoming a local star for spreading joy in his community through his mix of teaching BSL and his endearing love of Percy Pig.
Compared to most children, Wilfred had a harder upbringing than many, he was diagnosed as deaf at birth and autistic shortly after. Many people would view a diagnosis like this as a setback but not Wilfred, he has always put his best foot forward and set out to make peoples lives happier.
Jenkins explains “when I was younger people used to look at me strange but it wasn’t because I was strange, it’s because I’m special. Being deaf and autistic isn’t a bad thing, it’s a superpower, it means I can talk to people without words. At school it was hard to talk to people who couldn’t understand sign language so I knew when I grew up I wanted to help more people learn.”
Wilfred has recently got involved with The Makaton Charity which is an online forum that teaches people how to sign. Jenkins posts weekly updates of how to sign the Makaton word of the week and he’s often accompanied by Percy Pig. “Signing is easy for me and I love having Percy [Pig] there, he makes me so happy and I think he makes my videos more fun if you watch at home.” M&S saw the work Jenkins was doing around canterbury to educate more people on the deaf community and reached out as a thank you and invited him to Percy Pig’s 30th birthday tea party. “It was one of the best parties I’ve been to and I even met my friend Percy there,” Jenkins recounted.
Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate. It supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention and listening, comprehension, memory, recall and organisation of language and expression for people who face learning difficulties.
Jenkins will be taking part in a Makaton marathon next month to raise money for the charity. If you want to get involved or learn how to sign, come visit him on 30th January at Westgate Hall Canterbury where he’ll be all day teaching different Makaton skills and signs.
