Autism Helping Daniel achieve his goals!
Daniel is a person we support at Broadview, our residential care home in Hampshire. Broadview is a National Autistic Society Accredited (NAS) service, that currently holds “Advanced” status!
Daniel has lived at Broadview since 2014. He has autism, ADHD and also struggles with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Before moving to Broadview, Daniel struggled to control his behaviours, and wasn’t able to socialise with other people he lived with as a result.
The specialist support Daniel has received at Broadview has made a big impact. He is now able to socialise with others at the home and has made huge steps to achieve his goals, like becoming more independent.
Supporting Daniel and his needs
When Daniel first moved to Broadview, he presented some challenging behaviours which meant he wasn’t able to live in the main home. Daniel moved into his own flat, which is attached to the main house. Doing so provided him with his own space while allowing him to still have the option to engage and socialise with the other housemates.
The team at Broadview began working closely with Daniel, adapting his care to his needs while letting him choose the pace of his progress. This was really important, as Daniel’s ODD means he doesn’t respond well to being told what to do. By working with him and giving him choices, he felt in control and valued, which is a much better headspace to help him achieve his goals.
While working with Daniel, his team noticed he liked giving permission during support, as a way of maintaining this control. An example of this was when Daniel asked people to knock first before entering his flat – he preferred letting people in, so they didn’t touch the doorknob. Daniel also doesn’t like his things being moved without his permission. His support team will now ask him first before moving anything or ask him to move it for them. By tailoring their approach to Daniel and his preferences, his challenging behaviours have reduced significantly, and he’s been able to progress towards further independence.
Becoming more independent
One of Daniel’s main goals is to become more independent. When he joined Broadview, Daniel couldn’t do much for himself and required a lot of support and prompting from the team. After spending time with his Support Workers though, and through positive reinforcement, Daniel is becoming more and more independent, and is on the road to moving to supported living!
One way we’re helping Daniel to achieve his goals is by encouraging Daniel to develop his daily living skills such as cleaning his flat himself and keeping it tidy. Daniel understands this is important if he wants to move into a supported living property. Daniel’s Support Worker checks his flat regularly, to ensure he keeps on top of his cleaning and tidying, prompting him when needed. Keeping his own flat tidy helps Daniel to live independently and do things for himself.
Daniel is also learning other skills to help him live independently such as food shopping, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and budgeting! With our support, Daniel can now go into a grocery store, choose his own foods and ask for what he would like. The team began by walking with Daniel to the local store at the top of the road, and once he got comfortable with this, they began to take him to larger stores. At the larger supermarkets, Daniel would pick up items from a list provided by his support team. Then, he progressed to making his own shopping list of foods he wanted! Daniel enjoys making healthy food choices, and loves picking his own meals each week.
He is also working closely with Alison, the Service Manager at Broadview, to budget his money. Before joining Broadview, Daniel’s money management wasn’t very good, and he struggled to save. Alison began helping Daniel with budgeting, setting him some achievable goals to reach. Daniel now has his own savings account which he manages himself, and he can’t wait to use his savings to book a holiday!
Helping Daniel to achieve his goals have helped to build his confidence, empowering him to take the next steps on his journey to independence!
Daniel’s flying high!
Daniel recently celebrated his 30th birthday. To mark the milestone, his Broadview family wanted to do something special for him! They began researching various activities for Daniel, and because he’s a bit of a daredevil, they bought him a helicopter ride!
Daniel is extremely excited to do this, and has recently embarked on a weight loss journey to help him reach the weight limit for the ride! Daniel started exercising at the gym regularly with his Support Worker and taking part in a weekly fitness class with other people that we support at Broadview! He is also making sure that he makes healthy choices when planning his meals for the week and has cut down on his much-loved Costa drinks. So far Daniel has lost half a stone and will soon be at his goal!
All of Daniel’s friends at Broadview will be going to watch his helicopter ride to support him on the day. His support team are so proud of how far he has come too! Alison, Service Manager at Broadview said, “Daniel is an amazing young gentleman, he has changed so much from the young man I met in 2014, he’s a joy to be around.”
Achieving his goals!
With the support of Broadview, Daniel has achieved so many of his goals and he has come such a long way. Far from the challenging young man he used to be, Daniel is now happy, independent, and confident! His next step is to reach his weight goals and go flying in a helicopter, and hopefully move to one of our supported living services!
Learn more about our specialist autism support
To find out more about how we support people with autism to live fulfilling lives, visit our dedicated webpage! Ready to make an enquiry? Fill in our quick form and our friendly team will be in touch!
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