As Autism Acceptance Month continues, we spoke with Mark Obligacion of Elysium’s School House service about the importance of planning and communication for the people he and his team support.
“Communication is key for all of us, and the people we support are no different in that regard. At School House we use different techniques and methods depending on what the preferences of the people we support have, or what their individual needs are. Some people use Makaton and some others use communication tablets, for example.
“These are really advanced, helping people choose different categories on how they feel, what they would like and other examples and offers options for things that are important such as what they would like to do, what they would like to eat or drink, or how they feel. They can be customised too. It’s very helpful for people who may have difficulties communicating verbally to make sure their wants and needs are properly acted upon by us as a team.
“For some of the people we support, having a really clear daily planner is extremely important, for others, it is less important. But again, that visualisation and understanding what is important to each individual is so key.
“The team know the people we support so well, and often anticipate their needs. It’s also important that we don’t deskill people or do things for them when they can do things independently or with support.
“Some of the people we support at School House bake or they make their own breakfast, for example, while others might prefer to watch others cook or cook with support from their team.
“There are no average days here at School House. People choose what they would like to do and we help make that happen. That might be cycling, swimming, hydrotherapy, walking, visiting the park, eating out or attending college. Again, it’s all about individualised choice and support. And when something is not working for a person, we are here to spot that and to help people choose something else.
“We do like to enjoy celebrations at School House and have at least one event a month to celebrate whether that’s Christmas, Halloween or Valentine’s, for example. We do this in a way that draws on the strengths of the people we support – for example we support one person who loves to read out a speech, so we support with that, but others may find certain things too stimulating. So we might have different rooms with quieter spaces for some people and others where there’s a disco.
“It’s all about the person and understanding what they will enjoy – and making sure everyone can take part, if they want to, and how they want to.”