Students attending supported training service in Mullingar honoured for their artwork
Students from a supported training provider in Mullingar were recently honoured for their impressive artwork. Dympna Minaguchi and Colm Oxley attend Ar Aghaidh Linn, a rehabilitative training course for individuals with physical and sensory challenges, based in National Learning Network (NLN) Mullingar.
Both Dympna and Colm have visual challenges but proved their artistic talents by winning first and second places in the art competition at the Mullingar Agricultural Show in July.
Dympna said: “I like art that has a message and that draws you in. I think that a picture paints a thousand words. For the art competition, my painting was of a big, old tree. To think that someone thought my painting was worth looking at, never mind getting a prize for it, was a great boost for the confidence.”
Colm said: “It was great to get a prize in the Mullingar Show – it was a shock to the system to win. I created a watercolour that shows a man looking downwards, looking serious and sad, as if there is something on his mind. It was great to win the competition alongside Dympna. It gave us a boost. We do art every Monday in NLN and I enjoy doing it.”
Art is one of the various activities available for students attending Ar Aghaidh Linn at NLN Mullingar, which is a course designed for students who have had a setback in their lives as a result of physical or sensory disability.
Speaking about her own personal setback, Dympna said: “I used to run my own business but then I got glaucoma. I couldn’t drive and the business folded. I was nearly six years at home wondering what I’d do with myself. It was only when I began attending the NLN centre, with instructor Hilary and the gang, that I took up art.
“You can get all the courses and all the therapies in the world but all the learners in my group, we all have acquired disabilities so it’s like a family in there. You’re trying to get yourself better, and there’s no competition between students.”
Colm explained what motivated him to pursue art: “I used to dabble in art when my eyes first started having issues three years ago. I was working as a school caretaker and I lifted an object that was too heavy, and my eyesight was blurred the next day, it was like there were lines across my eyes.
“It got worse and worse over six months. I have maybe 5% eyesight in my right eye, and no eyesight in my left eye.”
Colm spoke about his NLN course: “They try and get your brain moving; we do essays, brain teasers, and quizzes. They get us to work on what’s important to you – whatever that may be, like our friends and families. The other people in the course, we all have an acquired injury or an illness. Being in there, it opens you up to what other people are going through but we can also have the banter with each other.”
Speaking about the therapeutic nature of art, Dympna said: “Being vision impaired, it does affect doing art in some ways. I can’t do any fine work, like drawing features on a face. I like art because you’re completely in it. You have to concentrate on what you’re doing in that moment, it’s immersive. You’re not worried about any other things that are happening in life.
“My course in NLN is for people with an acquired disability. It’s like a taster menu, you can try different modules. It’s helping me to brush up on my computer skills, which is great for keeping up with technology. You have somebody watching your back, and they have great patience.”
Colm continued: “I find that time just flies by when I’m painting, four hours could go by and I wouldn’t notice it. It’s the mental health element of it that I find good, getting over what happened to me. They are all brilliant there in NLN, they always give you a boost. No matter what problem you have, you can say it to them.”
Dympna concluded: “What they do in NLN is they gradually build you back up. Whatever you want to do, the staff will find a way of making it happen for you.
“The staff will only have your best intentions. There’s a great camaraderie. It’s not just about getting a qualification. You focus on learning for yourself. You’re concentrating on getting yourself to a better place. It’s about what I want to get out of that course that will make my life easier, better, more comfortable, and that I can be skilled when I’m finished.”
National Learning Network (NLN) offers certified and inclusive training courses for people who require additional support to learn, in a flexible environment. There are centres based across Ireland, including in Mullingar and Athlone. National Learning Network is the supportive training division of the Rehab Group.