Autism Hampshire Supported Living Services

Autism Hampshire offers direct services to over 100 adults and young people diagnosed on the autism spectrum as well as providing community based support to hundreds more across the county. All our people we support are taught and supported in homely surroundings by experienced staff fully trained specifically to understand their needs and aspirations. Teaching refers mainly to our Life Skills College (The Bridge) which provides education for young people aged 16-25 years old. Our services are person- centred (people we support always come first) and we always strive to co-produce services together with people whom we support. Co-production means equal partnership in planning, developing and actual delivery of the service. This is our goal and aspiration. Specific services we offer include: * '''Residential Care''' in spacious and dynamically managed homes in Gosport and Southampton * '''Supported Living Provision''' which is currently concentrated in Southampton * '''Domiciliary and Community Care''' which is tailored to meet specific needs of people living in their homes * '''Day Services''' which include various day time opportunities focused on developing practical skills and boosting independence We offer flexible educational packages to young adults who would like to acquire additional life skills, increase their confidence and employability prospects. This kind of support is arranged either on our college campus in Southampton or on an individual basis where we will support people living in their homes or in supported living accommodation across South Hampshire.

Our Services for Adults are designed to provide support for people with Autism as their primary or secondary diagnosis. Some of our current people we support have additional needs which include Learning Difficulties and special educational needs. We are an experienced support provider who is capable of meeting all these needs in a holistic way which simply means bringing together of all our resources so that people can lead rewarding and fulfilling lives. We understand that every individual has specific needs and aspirations which have to be met proactively and in a positive fashion offering tangible and realistic outcomes. Our philosophy and approach to providing support is person- centred and we work with each individual , their families, carers and other key stakeholders (e.g. advocates, employers, community members and commissioners), to ensure that the support packages are tailored to the individual needs. We invite people we support to tell us about a journey they want to travel with us and how they would like to be supported along the way. This approach is commonly known as co-production and is based on a simple principle: those who use the service are best placed to help us design it. In this respect our offer is directed to all people requiring specialist Autism support; please come and meet us or we will be delighted to come and meet you in your preferred setting. Let us find us out if we can travel an exciting journey together.

OurFinding out about how to use our service is very easy. Our website offers key contact details which will be also included in section 10 below. The process of determining whether you would like us to provide support for you usually begins with an informal discussion. We also receive referrals from statutory bodies like local authorities or NHS but increasingly people manage their own care and they are directly in charge of their personal budgets. Whichever route you travel, we are always keen to talk to you. Following the initial contact, we normally make arrangements for a proper needs assessment to take place so that we can better understand what sort of support a person requires. Always focusing on safety and wellbeing first, our Assessment Tool is also designed to find out about strengths and aspirations of each person. Right from the very beginning we have a direct communication with each individual in order that s/he is involved in the assessment process . We believe that co-production starts on day one. We happy to explore additional communication tools in order to help individuals in finding out who we are, what we do and whether s/he would like us to provide required support. Depending on circumstances, these steps can be taken relatively quickly. If we have vacancies in our residential homes or supported living accommodation people are normally invited to come along, explore the buildings and meet other residents or tenants.

Autism Hampshire is a regional charity which provides its services for Adults mainly in South Hampshire. At present we offer a wide variety of dedicated and person-centred support for Adults, and young adults between ages of 16 -25 years, in three main categories: *• Residential Homes * Supported Living Accommodation * Domiciliary Care Our residential homes are located in two main cluster areas: Southampton and Gosport. The emphasis in our residential care is to encourage individuals to fully participate and be involved in the day to day running of their home, enjoy community life whilst also developing practical life skills. Five residential homes in Gosport are located in close proximity to the seafront in Alverstoke, which offers stunning views across the Solent and plenty of open spaces for outdoors activities. Two residential homes in Southampton are located close to day time activity centres and close to parks and other recreational areas. Supported Living is a popular choice for individuals who want to live in their own home and receive a personalised support package that compliments their lifestyle and choices. We certainly recognise the diverse needs of people and are delighted to help them with achieving maximum independence in a safe environment. Our Domiciliary Care aims to support people in strengthening their existing skills and developing strategies that enable them to experience personal growth and meeting their aspirations. Whether your son or daughter requires support at home, in the workplace, at college, or out in the community we can support you.

We believe that, as much as possible, each person who requires support should be invited to make that decision independently. This is, after all, what the person- centred approach that we have adopted entails. Understandably, there are times when a person requiring support has to be assisted in communicating his/her views but this is certainly something we can help to facilitate through our Specialist Support Team. We always work very closely with families and carers of people as they know best what support they require. Advocates and commissioners are another group of people whom we invite to have these discussions with us. A formal and thorough assessment process follows. Assessments are always focused on best interest of people requiring support and whether we have an offer that suits their needs and aspirations. We are always very honest in letting people know whether we are capable of meeting their expectations. We are flexible and always try to adapt but ultimately it is always the person’s best interest that should prevail and we feel very strongly about that. If we feel that your son’s or daughter’s needs can be met by one of our Adult Services, we begin putting together a transition plan which involves taking all measures allowing people we support to feel at ease and comfortable throughout the whole process. The final stage of the transition process is the co-production of a suitable support plan which includes measurable outcomes.

All our services have been developed around two key principles: person- centeredness and co-production. Both of them rely on robust communication with people we support and always putting them and their needs and aspirations first. We use a wide range of tools that enable us to communicate directly and effectively with all service users. They include: * Makaton * Alternative and Augmentative Communication Tools/AAC which include ICT solutions tailored to individual needs * Sign language * PECS * Sign Symbols * Signs Support English We hold regular ‘people we support’ forums and conduct service satisfaction surveys whereby all people we support have an opportunity to tell us about what they like or dislike about our service provision. More importantly we are excited regarding the wide realm of possibilities that co-production offers in terms of people’s input in designing services. Co-production is never a completely accomplished journey and we are consistently exploring new ways in which people we support can engage as equals with our teams in shaping their future support provision. We feel this will continue to produce meaningful and positive outcomes. We ensure that families and carers of people we support have an opportunity to have their say with regards to the kind of support we offer. They know the people we support and their personal histories extremely well and we rely on that knowledge at all times.

Our Residential, Supported Living and Domiciliary services are all accessible to people whom we are able to support. Although we do not support people with complex physical needs, we are definitely able to support people with moderate health needs, e.g. epilepsy. In practical terms it simply means that as long as we are confident that we can provide the kind of care a son or daughter requires, we will make all necessary adjustments to meet his/her needs. Due to our specialism in Autism we are particularly good at adjusting our services to meet individual needs of people diagnosed on the spectrum. Whether it is a specialist mentoring support at a university of college or a tailored domiciliary support package delivered for somebody living at home or a residential placement in one of our homes, we always ensure that our support propels personal growth and boosts confidence. We make sure that people we accompany on their journey have truly rewarding and fulfilling lives. Often it means breaking down communication barriers, and in this respect we use variety of assistive technologies and support for people where English is not their first language. Where necessary, our dedicated fundraising team will seek additional funding opportunities to source additional equipment or resources in order that the people we support needs are fully met. We accept referrals from the age of 16 onwards. Contacting us prior to somebody reaching the age of 16 years gives us additional time to plan and prepare an adequate support package.

All our staff are required to attend Core Induction training which includes: Introduction to Autism, strategies for supporting communication, person centred planning, Makaton, PROACT-SCIPr-UK (which incorporates Positive Behaviour Support), Safeguarding, Mental Health Act/DoLS, Quality compliance, Health and Safety (which includes Risk Assessment), Confidentiality, Learning Styles, and Equality and Diversity. Additionally all our Support Workers undertake the QCF Diploma in Health and Social Care Level 2 and QCF Autism Unit at Level 3. We ensure that all our training requirements and policies are up to date and adequate and we have an internal audit process whereby our Training and Development Department reflects on content and format of their training sessions. One of the indications that our training system provides excellent outcomes and is valued by external agencies is the fact that we have been repeatedly commissioned by our external partners to deliver individual training modules on topics such as general Autism Awareness, Challenging behaviour and Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. We are always very keen to introduce additional training provisions to help our staff in understanding people’s needs and aspirations. This could be additional training on specific communication tools (e.g. assistive technology) or perhaps counselling or mental health awareness. Our Specialist Support Team engages in additional training provision when and where special needs occur. This could be for example linked with a transition period when we welcome a new person to support and we need to ensure that staff are properly equipped to meet his/her individual needs.

Autism Hampshire has a number of robust and strict policies which ensure that the people we support thrive and progress in safe environments across all our services. Our demanding assessment and recruitment process gives us confidence that we employ staff who are assets to our organisation and to the development of our people we support. All candidates are fully vetted and dedicated to undertaking the necessary training which creates safe and nurturing conditions for learning life skills and developing aspirations of all our service users. Before starting employment with us, each candidate has to undergo an enhanced mandatory Disclosure and Barring Service check. Additionally we require all our new staff members participate in the Corporate Induction which includes robust training in such areas as: * Up- to- date Health and Safety training including Risk Assessments * Safeguarding * Food Hygiene * Infection control * Medication Autism Hampshire operates a strict and an unambivalent Safeguarding Policy with strict protocols in place to ensure that people we support are always safe and able to report any issues that might constitute a cause for concern. We work very closely with families and carers, advocacy services, local authorities and local communities to ensure the services we deliver exceed expectations and are a safe and caring environment. Our organisation has also a robust Complaints Policy procedure where people we support and all other key stakeholders can voice their concerns and report any potential shortcomings. We are always transparent in seeking feedback in order to make our services better.

We are always willing to answer initial queries and informally discuss the possibility of providing our services. We are happy to invite parents, carers or commissioners to visit our services so that they can see for themselves what they look like in practice. We are transparent in how we conduct our assessment process which always aims at determining whether we can provide the best possible outcomes for an individual. You are more than welcome to phone our Adult Services Office when we will take your details in order that one of our experienced Support Managers can contact you and take this conversation forward. Please visit our website to find out more about our services- https://www.autismhampshire.org.uk/ For '''Residential Services:''' Contact Name: Rachel Jefferson - Operations Manager Tel: 02392 524243 Fax: 02392 589965 Email: [mailto:adultservices@autismhampshire.org.uk adultservices@autismhampshire.org.uk] For '''Supported Living and Domiciliary Services''': Contact Name: Rachel Jefferson - Operations Manager Tel: 01489 880 881 Fax: 01489 880 890 Email: [mailto:domcare@autismhampshire.org.uk domcare@autismhampshire.org.uk] This offer is accurate as of February 2015 but our services are regularly reviewed and could change. If changes occur, all information will be reviewed and updated as soon as possible to reflect a new service offer