Prader-Willi syndrome Specialist Prader-Willi syndrome support empowers Martin’s independence!
Martin is a person we support at Mason House, our specialist Prader-Willi syndrome residential care home located in Retford, Nottinghamshire.
Martin has Prader-Willi syndrome, autism and type-2 diabetes. These conditions have impacted his life in many ways. Before moving to Mason House, Martin struggled with self-confidence and faced challenges with his diet.
Martin’s support team have helped him turn his life around. His confidence has soared in a short time, and he’s developed key life-skills which are enabling him to become more independent. Martin has also found a love for new foods, helping to mix up his diet with lots of healthy choices.
Making Mason House feel like home
When Martin moved into Mason House in September 2023, he faced some challenges that had affected his self-confidence. He found it difficult to settle into a new environment and interact with his housemates.
Previously living at our neighbouring service, Esmer House, Martin’s support team felt Mason House would be better suited to his needs, with a large, dedicated space for Martin to make his own.
Helping support his future goal of becoming more independent, we were able to create him his very own space – a penthouse on the top floor of Mason House!
Already under renovation at the time, the team felt the top floor of the home would be the perfect spot for Martin.
Prior to moving into Mason House, we invited Martin to have a tour. He instantly fell in love with the penthouse and couldn’t wait to move in!
To help Martin gain more confidence in his new environment, we ensured his support team included some of the colleagues he was familiar with from his time at Esmer House.
This really benefitted Martin, and he began to forge new relationships and feel comfortable in his new home.
Martin initially struggled with behavioural issues that would make him feel stressed and overwhelmed. His behavioural issues were verbal, and Martin would often repeat things multiple times when he had concerns. Each time he repeated something he would get more frustrated.
As Martin grew trust with his team, we were able to reassure him when he was worried about something. During stressful periods, Martin’s team would explain things to him in different ways, which helped him understand and reduced his frustration.
Since moving into Mason House, Martin’s behavioural issues have significantly reduced with the help of his dedicated support team. Now, if Martin does feel stressed or overwhelmed, he uses his penthouse space to relax on his own and feel more comfortable.
It has also quickly become a haven for Martin’s many hobbies! He’s a big gamer and enjoys playing the PlayStation and building Lego sets with his support team.
Creating a person-centred support plan
When Martin moved to Mason House, his low self-confidence impacted his social interactions with his housemates and limited his independence.
Being autistic meant Martin needed a structured routine to feel comfortable – and his bespoke support plan did just that!
Helping us deliver person-centre care, our team got to know Martin, gaining an understanding of his specific needs and enabling us to tailor his support to meet them.
Taking steps to improve his independence, Martin’s team ensured he was engaging in activities around the service and out in the community, helping him develop his life-skills and allowing his confidence to soar!
Creating a healthy and balanced meal plan
A key symptom of Prader-Willi syndrome is increased appetite. This means many people with the condition struggle to feel full – resulting in overeating.
With this in mind, Martin’s support team ensured he had more structure to his mealtimes and designed an exciting weekly food menu, so he knew in advance what he would be eating each day.
We discovered what his favourite flavours were, and ensured a wide range of healthy options were included in his meal plan – with room for Martin to still enjoy his favourite foods in moderation.
Martin has made great progress with his weight, achieving his goals, while eating a healthy and balanced diet.
Discovering Martin’s passions
Martin’s support team wanted to learn more about his passions, so they could make sure he engaged with them as part of his daily routine.
Martin is a huge gamer and has a large collection of video games in his penthouse. To help him build his confidence with others, his team gently encouraged him to play the Wii Sports game with his housemates.
His competitive edge quickly shone through, and Martin now regularly challenges his support team and housemates to games of tennis and bowls on the Wii!
A man of many talents, Martin has a passion for creating his own jewellery. His support team weaved this into his routine, so he can regularly get creative. And when he’s busy getting crafty, Martin’s passion really shows – he’s even got a future goal of selling his pieces to people in the community.
Getting out into the community
Alongside Martin’s home-based hobbies and activities, he’s also finding lots of new interests out in the community.
When Martin first arrived at Mason House, his low self-confidence and behavioural issues meant he found it difficult to venture outdoors and access local activities.
Over a period of time, his support team gradually took him out into the community, with an aim to increase his confidence.
Initially, Martin went out with two support workers, so he had the extra reassurance he needed throughout the day. When he encountered stressful moments, his support team would explain the solutions to Martin’s concerns – in a way he understood.
This has helped Martin face these challenges, and he is now able to overcome his stress a lot easier.
Fast forward to now, and Martin’s a man on a mission! His progression has been amazing and he now only requires one support worker when he goes out. He has drastically reduced the amount of times he becomes stressed, something Martin is extremely proud of.
He’s spreading his wings and becoming a social butterfly! These days, Martin regularly enjoys going out for walks, visiting the local shops, and going bowling.
He also loves taking trips on public transport, regularly catching the bus and train with his support team.
With added confidence in social situations, Martin has been empowered to reach a huge lifelong goal.
Martin had always dreamed of a holiday and his support team were determined to make this happen for him! Working with him to arrange a short holiday to the seaside, Martin’s dream came true.
During the holiday, Martin had lots of fun at the arcades, and ate his all-time favourite meal – fish and chips. To make the occasion even more special, Martin was also treated to a new pair of trainers.
Going on holiday was a massive achievement for Martin. Before he joined Mason House, his lack of confidence prevented him from achieving goals like this. But, with person-centred support, and empowering Martin to set goals, our team supported him to fulfil this ambition.
Achieving his goals
When Martin joined us, he relied heavily on his support team doing things for him. As Martin became more confident in his new environment, his team encouraged him to do more activities that would develop key life-skills.
Using our person-centred approach, Martin has gradually done more things to gain confidence and increase his independence.
One way we’re helping Martin achieve this goal is by encouraging him to clean and tidy his own room.
He’s made amazing progress and now does all his tasks himself! It has added another level of structure to his daily routine, which is important to Martin’s wellbeing.
With added independence, Martin has come such a long way in a short space of time. He arrived at Mason House with many emotional and behavioural challenges, but has worked hard with his support team to become happier, more confident and achieve more independence.
The next step for Martin is to grow his money confidence!
To help work towards this, his team take him out to the shops once a week, where he is given £10 to spend. With our support, he’s gradually becoming more confident and gaining insight into what he’s spending.
To encourage Martin to save money, he has his own savings envelope. He can put money into this whenever he likes, and both Martin and a senior member of his team will sign the envelope when money is taken out.
Martin has a longer-term goal to do some voluntary work in a shop, to build his confidence with money even further.
Future goals
Martin has achieved so much at Mason House in such a short space of time, and he’s excited to see what he can achieve next!
His future goals focus on progressing his confidence and independence even more, so he can eventually transition into supported living – getting his own place would be an incredible achievement for Martin!
Another goal for Martin is to set up a market stall, displaying his jewellery to people in the local community.
Going on his first holiday was such an achievement for Martin and he wants to add more trips to his list. He’s set the goal of going to Disneyland Paris for his next holiday – but he’s not stopping there! Martin’s a big animal lover and, with the support of his team, he’s aiming to go on a safari trip in the next few years.
Until then, he has other plans for finding furry friends.
Since Martin isn’t the only animal lover at Mason House, he’s hoping that they can get a house dog soon. Even though he’d like to own the dog himself, Martin’s a generous soul and knows how much his housemates would love to share walks with his dog.
Now that he’s empowered with confidence and comfortable around other people, Martin would be more than happy with that!
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