Transitioning to a new support service can be difficult and it needs to be done right to support everyone involved- the person being supported, family and staff. Without a good transition the placement often does not work out well. At Autism West Midlands we take the time to get to know everyone involved, create a personalised environment chosen by the people we support and provide well thought out transitions tailored to meet the needs of the people entering our services. We take our time to get it right- no matter how long the process takes.
We recently welcome Cody* into The Hollies, one of our supported living services after a robust transition process.
Cody* completed some initial transition visits to the service and staff worked with him at his previous day provision. They also visited him at his football club and visited his family. He also visited the service and we arranged for him to go for a coffee with some of the other people we support at the service. Cody also had a couple of overnight stays to test out the placement and get a real feel for the environment.
There was a lot of time making sure the environment was right for Cody and that it was personalised to him as well as making sure the family were well involved with his transition. Mum came in and helped decorate his room with input from Cody so that it was exactly how he wanted it. She helped furnish the home to meet Cody’s needs and get everything prepared for his arrival. Cody was eventually able to move in with just a small suitcase of clothes on his arrival as everything had been set up and was in place already.
The placement at his new home has been a real positive life change for Cody.
Since arriving at his new home Cody has lost a staggering 18lbs through the help of healthy eating plans and new regimes. This is a real positive as weight has been a longstanding battle and was listed as one of his specific needs for a new placement.
Cody has made new friendships and improved his social skills. He even invited a friend over to his house on Sunday where they cooked lunch together and watched the footie afterwards.
A keen football enthusiast, Cody is also playing footie with another friend who has also since lost weight so he is having a positive impact on the other people we support at the service too.
Feeding back to the team, Mum felt that the transition itself was fantastic and specialised. It allowed her son to process and adjust to the move and in the end he was telling her he was ready and looking forward to it. In the past his placements have been rushed and immediate and this has not worked out for Cody and caused him to not settle well.
Mum said he was allowed time to fit in with the culture of the home and learn about the service through the visits he undertook. He got to know staff and the team were able to take time to learn how to work well with him and best support him.
She discussed how one of the management team drives him to visit his Gran and Grandad. The Granparents love this staff member, she engages with them extremely well and Cody likes being with her too. She was very complimentary about each team member and shared how great they were and how supportive they had been, how approachable people were and responsive to any queries she raised.
Mum told us that for the first time in over 4 years she is happy enough to consider going on holiday with her partner and this is something she hasn’t felt confident enough to do before. She told us how she can now turn off her phone and relax and she hasn’t felt able to do that in many years either.
Mum feels that the constant torment you live with when you have an autistic child is hard to explain but that she felt it had finally lifted for the first time ever knowing that Cody was so happy at his home with Autism West Midlands.
