Meet Charlotte!

Charlotte is an autistic person we support at our residential care home, The Cedars, based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. She actively engages in her favourite activities and hobbies, such as shopping, visiting the zoo, going on holiday, baking and particularly – art and crafts!

When Charlotte arrived at The Cedars back in 2012, her behaviour was challenging, which made it harder for her to focus, and this made her feel quite unsettled.

Nevertheless, the support team persevered in supporting her to feel more at home. They tried to find ways to help Charlotte discover her interests and hobbies as a way of reducing her behaviours and easing her anxiety. To their delight, they discovered her passion for arts and crafts.

Charlotte has autism, so having a routine is crucial to her wellbeing, but there was room to add some activities she enjoys to promote better outcomes for her. By making some small tweaks to her daily routine, the team have supported Charlotte to refocus her energy by incorporating her artistic talents.

Since then, she’s made huge progress and her art is dazzling…

Getting creative

Charlotte’s passion for diamond art began when she heard her support team talking about it. She wanted to give it a go and her support team noticed her talent instantly.

Ever since then, diamond art has become a big part of her routine. Once they recognised Charlotte’s passion for this creative outlet, her support team began incorporating it into her weekly activities. Every Monday, during her 1:1 support, they take Charlotte to the local shop to explore and purchase new diamond art activities.

Charlotte looks forward to venturing out into the community to gather materials for her next project! Each week, she explores various themes for her diamond art pieces, covering everything from animals to landscapes!

This new hobby brings joy and fulfilment to Charlotte’s life – while enhancing her artistic skills along the way. It’s even helped her reduce her behaviours by promoting a quiet, relaxing time for self-reflection.

Through the intricate process of creating diamond art, Charlotte has discovered a unique way to express herself and showcase her creativity.

Diamond art takes longer and requires more patience and focus than Charlotte’s other arts and crafts though. Completion time for each art piece ranges from one week to one month, depending on the complexity. But she loves it, and it’s become an extremely useful tool to help her regulate her emotions.

For Charlotte, finding her passion for diamond art has not only enhanced her artistic skills but has also helped to develop her independence.

Her support team are thrilled with her progress as a result and continue to encourage and celebrate her talent. Michaela, Deputy Manager at The Cedars, said “Sometimes she will ask for support, but other times she enjoys completing it on her own, which is a big step for Charlotte.”

Future achievements!

Since living at our residential care home, Charlotte has created many amazing diamond art pieces which are displayed proudly in the service as artwork.

Michaela said, “We wanted to display Charlotte’s art around the service for everyone to see, it is a visual representation of her hard work that she is proud of, and it showcases how talented she is!”  

But the team won’t stop there! The Cedars hope to reach out externally in the local community to celebrate Charlotte’s talents further. They’re in the process of contacting an autism exhibition provider to showcase her artwork further afield in a gallery!

Find out more!

Learn more about how our specialist autism support can help you or a loved one – fill in our quick and easy enquiry form and a member of our team will be in touch!

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• autism
• case study