From barely leaving the house to running the table
How one participant went from skipping most weeks to becoming the Dungeon Master the whole group looks forward to.
Let's call her Jess. Jess wasn't getting out much. Weeks would go by without seeing anyone outside her family. When a coordinator first mentioned our Dungeons and Dragons group, she wasn't sure it was for her. She came along anyway, mostly quiet, mostly listening.
She kept coming back. Slowly she started rolling the dice instead of just watching. Then she started suggesting what her character should do next. Then she started building whole backstories nobody had asked for, because she wanted to.
A few months in, one of the regular Dungeon Masters couldn't make it, and someone suggested she give it a go. She said no at first. Then she said maybe. Then she turned up the next week with a folder full of notes, a map she'd drawn herself, and a full session planned out.
After that day she volunteered to run a campaign in the near future and now has already begun running her own campaign.
In her words "I feel like I belong here with this group."
It's a simple line, but it's the whole point of what we do, said better than we ever could.
What changed wasn't the game. It was having somewhere to turn up to every week, with people who wanted her there whether she spoke or not. The confidence came after the belonging, not before it. Once she had a place that was hers, running the table wasn't a stretch. It was just the next thing to try.
This is what our Dungeons and Dragons group is really about. It's one of a few small social groups for adults with disability we run across Gippsland, and it works the same way they all do. A low pressure place to show up, week after week, until it becomes yours.
If someone in your life has gone quiet, this is usually how it turns around. Not with a big push, but with one thing to show up to, until it feels like theirs.
Come and say hi
Our social nights and small groups, including Dungeons and Dragons, run weekly across Gippsland and south east Melbourne. If this sounds like the kind of crew your family member is looking for, come along, or get in touch and we'll talk you through what a first night looks like.
Hello@tdacvic.com or 1800 319 581.
