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Supporting Megan to be independent

Megan is autistic and can present with challenging behaviour. She first moved into Broadview, one of our residential care homes, in 2019. She spent a lot of time in her room and only joined the rest of the household at meal times. The support team had to wake Megan up, encourage her to have a routine for her personal care and get involved in activities.

 

Developing a person-centred care plan

The service manager did a sensory assessment and an environmental assessment. This helped to understand Megan’s needs. A sensory assessment looks at how autistic people respond to daily senses. This information is then used to create a sensory profile. The sensory profile is part of the person-centred care plan. The support team use this to understand how Megan processes information and what she likes and dislikes. They also use this to create fun and meaningful activities to help her develop her goals. Support workers are provided with such tools so that they have the knowledge and confidence to provide exceptional care and support.

Megan needed time to get used to her new environment. This was challenging as she was out of her comfort zone. She was surrounded by new people and in a new house. Her support plan was co-created with her and her support team. Megan’s active involvement gave her a choice of the type of support she received. This also helped staff understand her needs and develop a routine that worked for her.

Support staff set goals for Megan and worked with her to achieve them. They encouraged her to get involved in activities around the house and introduced activities that were of interest to her. One of Megan’s favourite things to do is being active in the garden. Broadview have a beautiful garden with a vegetable patch. Here residents grow and pick their own vegetables before cooking with them! This helps to build their independence and cooking skills.

Since Megan joined Broadview, her support workers have played a key role in helping her to live a more independent life. She now gets up in the morning all by herself and carries out her own personal care, with minimal verbal prompts. She even makes her own breakfast and gets involved in activities.

 

Supporting people with autism

As a support worker, you will play a key role in ensuring autistic people have the much-needed support to help them develop routines, achieve their targets and learn independent living skills.

Voyage Care’s autism learning and development pathway means you’ll receive training tailored to the needs of the people you support. This training will help you to implement person-centred support every step of the way. Giving you knowledge and confidence and empowering you to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable people.

The role of a support worker is a varied and rewarding job. Each day is different! One day you could be supporting someone with daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning, or planning fun activities at home or in the community (in line with Government guidance). Some days you might be exploring sensory activities helping people with autism engage and develop their senses.

You’ll support people to make choices about their life and help them find confidence to build their daily life skills. You will make a difference to the lives of vulnerable people, helping them to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.

View our current vacancies.