looking for mencap home and care for my brother

[gillpowell]

I am struggling to find out how to find the correct type of care for my brother who has been mentally handicapped since birth due to oxygen starvation to the brain at time of birth 67 years ago.. He has prostate cancer being managed by injections every 3 months - he lived with my mother until she went into a dementia home in June . He now lives on his own as he has mixed abilities and disabilities so he can cope with meals from Icare, someone coming in to do his feet, I cut his hair and nails and telephone calls to tell when to get up and go to bed and have a bath and all bills are paid by my mother until the money runs out or she passes away. Then bungalow needs to be sold so where does he go then? He needs supervision as he needs to be told when to do things, he cant read or write or tell the time, he does not understand money or maths and limited vocabulary but he is mobile.

Can someone advise me of a website or email address that I can contact to get some information on how to get an assessment done so he gets the correct type of accommodation and care package as I am not getting any younger either and there is no one else to look after his needs if anything happens to me.

He lives in Peterborough

Thanks for any help

Gillian

[Sarah_Mencap]

Hello Gillian

Thank you for getting in touch. Please could you contact Mencap's helpline and one of the advisors will be able to have a chat with you about your brother.

It is open from 10am to 3pm, Monday to Friday on 0808 808 1111 or you can email [e-mail]

It would also be worth contacting your brother's local council so they can assess his needs.

Finally, there is a charity just for siblings (called Sibs). Here is a link to their website - sibs.org.uk/

Best wishes

Sarah

[gillpowell in reply to Sarah_Mencap]

Thank-you Sarah I will contact them today Gillian

[LDAutie]

Hi gillpowell ive got very complex classic autism,epilepsy and mild LD and since 18 have spent many years in institutional and residential care, and in the past three years I think, supported living.

You need to ask social services to come out and do another community care assessment on him and say he needs to be in a more supportive environment so he can learn to cope without his family-they will continue to let your family be carers until something big happens which leaves him and the rest of the family in a really difficult place,they did this with my mum until I reached 18,and then moved me into care.

He needs to get used to the idea of living in another environment and with other people around him and for me they did this by starting me off in respite.

Another form of living I can recommend from my own experiences,is living in a specialist college-some of them do allow those of us over 25 to live or be supported there, I used to attend a very good one but social services didn’t want to fund me in residential there as it was well out of the area,so I paid privately as a day case,they tend to only fund if within the area.

I can recommend Mencap homes, I used to use their day services (now under one a lot closer), the staff are amazing and care a lot about the service user and helping them to make their needs known instead of automatically speaking for them like many staff do in LD and/or complex autism services.

I do know of a couple of more types of living though ive never been in them myself-I don’t want to mention them as this is mencaps site not anyone else’s site,your brother will hopefully never end up in regular elderly services which aren’t designed for or well trained in LD-one of my old friends with moderate LD and epilepsy was moved into it and not surprising moved out some time later as they found her a burden (their words not mine,I’ve been called a burden my whole life so know how it must have been for her),and she now has a big phobia of elderly services thanks to this placement.

[gillpowell in reply to LDAutie]

Hi Thank you for your very informative insight to the different types of places you have lived and glad you are now somewhere you feel at home I am starting to investigate and find somewhere he will like bearing in mind he is 67 so that I dont have to find a place in a rush and get the wrong one thank you again Gill