Services / Support for Young Adults with Autism
Plans made for you.
When we start supporting someone with autism, we create an assessment of their needs. This is because some people with autism need complex levels of support from a range of professionals, whilst others need very little.
Stepping Stones can provide essential support for young adults across the autism spectrum. We believe in the importance of delivering person-centred care, whether that’s within our community living residence or for our domiciliary and respite care clients.
At Stepping Stones, we create personalised plans for the people we support, so that everyone can benefit from bespoke support catered to them. The personalised plan will take into account the person’s strengths, skills and mental and physical impairment, family and social context and educational context.
Personalised Care Assessments
Assessment is helpful to explore strategies, such as what interventions, support and timescales are most appropriate for the person. This includes clinical interventions and social support.
Ongoing assessment is also important to ensure plans are updated and reviewed as the person’s needs and circumstances change. Plans are reviewed every six months, or in some instances, sooner. We will also work with the individuals we support to ensure that they have a choice in what their support plans entail.
The support plan will need to take into account and be consistent with any other plans or care packages the person may have.
Creating the Right Environment
It is clear that people with autism experience the world very differently to others, therefore, creating an autism-friendly environment is crucial.
Once we have created a personalised plan, we can better understand the person’s needs, hypersensitivities (to touch, light or sound) and any fears, obstacles and fixations.
We take the necessary steps to accommodate each individual’s preferences. For example, someone may need soft lighting as a response to their sensory needs.
Manage change
Changes to routine and structure can be difficult for people with autism, as it is a common trigger for anxiety. At Stepping Stones, our staff build long-lasting relationships with the people they support and tailor their needs around their routines.
We make every effort to understand the individual triggers for each person and how we can combat them. We include these triggers into each person’s personalised plans so they can be avoided where possible.
Tackling these triggers may include relaxation techniques or physical activities to help manage feelings. We may also use different techniques for people who are unable to express how they are feeling.
Social isolation
Many people with autism prefer to spend time alone, which can sometimes lead to social isolation. At Stepping Stones, we’ll work with these individuals to understand what has led to their isolation and tailor their support accordingly.
Some techniques may include promoting positive social interaction, practising social and communication skills or finding local social groups and activities.
However, we never force the people we support to be introduced to these new techniques if they are not right and we will always work at the pace of the individual.
Recruiting and Training the Right Staff
At Stepping Stones, we never recruit agency staff to ensure they build lasting relationships with the people they support.
We encourage the people we support to be fully involved in the recruitment of their own carers. They are given a profile of each member of staff and may choose their preference of carer based on attributes such as being quiet, calming or funny. Each person we support is allocated a carer based on their compatibility, shared likes and preferences.
Our staff receive autism awareness training as well as the training delivered by the National Autistic Society using the SPELL framework.
What Personal Care Do We Provide?
We support those within the supported living service to carry out everyday tasks.
Training includes:
- Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped Children (TEACCH) approaches, if relevant.
- Autism and sensory issues.
- Understanding stress and anxiety in autism and their impact on behaviour.
- Autism and ageing.
The training we offer is also bespoke to the person we are supporting. This makes sure that each career fully understands the needs of their individual and how to manage their behaviours.
Choose Stepping Stones.
If you would like to learn more about our support for young people with autism, do not hesitate to contact us.