During Autism Awareness Month, we’ve been catching up with Elysium colleagues who support people across our specialist autism and learning disability services. Kim Dew is Group Home Lead for the South East Region and Registered Manager at Felbrigg House. She tells us more about the support at Felbrigg House and the service users there.
Tell us about Felbrigg House.
Our home is in Dover and can support up to 11 men and women. We can support people from the age of 18 – at the moment, the people we support are aged between 30 and 60.
We are a residential care home based in a lovely community. What that means is that people who might need high levels of long-term support can receive the care they need. They live in a person-centred, community-based home which meets their needs and helps them be as independent as possible.
What is the focus at Felbrigg House?
The focus is on supporting people to do the things they enjoy as independently as possible. Our location in Dover is great. There’s lots to do both nearby and further afield. We’ve recently had trips to Disneyland Paris!
How does Felbrigg House support people?
I would say ‘as flexibly as possible’. We really are focused on meeting people’s individual needs. We are a residential service, which means we don’t offer nursing support. Some people have lived here for many years, which means that, naturally, their needs might change over time. Where those needs change, for example, if someone’s physical health changes as they get older, we will always try to work in a way which meets those additional needs.
How do you promote people’s independence?
Most of the people we support have challenges in communicating. All of our team is Makaton trained and we use choice cards and pictorial aids to support communication.
We promote independence in different ways; people are encouraged to clean their rooms, to do as much of their own meal preparation and personal care as possible, and there is support wherever the person needs it during the day.
We have a cook night too. Every Saturday night, one person will choose ingredients and follow a recipe and cook it. It’s a great way to both practice cooking skills and come together as a group to enjoy a meal.
People tend to choose what they would like to do on the day, and we support them to do the things they would like to do. People use choice cards to share what they would like to do; some of the favourite places people like to visit are the wildlife park at Canterbury or the local petting zoo.
Everyone has different interests, and we support people to explore those. For one person, rally driving and off-roading has not just been an activity to enjoy, but it has also helped his mental well-being.
How will you be marking Autism Awareness Month?
We like to celebrate! There will be some form of colourful celebration, which will likely involve a barbecue and a bouncy castle. We’ll invite families and friends and there will be a celebration.
Find out more about Elysium’s learning disability and autism services here.