Hi and thank you for accepting me into this group. I am, like a lot of parents in this group searching for better provision for my adult son with complex needs and ‘challenging/distressed behaviours. I cared for him at home until he was 18 and then my own poor health meant I couldn’t physically manage. I have been through several ‘care’ companies . He has been subject to some very poor care.
I now feel after a great deal of anguish and soul searching that his needs will only be met in a residential placement that will offer him some security and consistency from ‘trained’ staff rather than relying on agencies that profess to be ‘trained’ and experienced but who’s ultimate goal is to make money.
We are based in Lancashire but I will move anywhere to find the best for him, but in searches I have done, there seems to be very little provision for our young people/adults ?? Any advice woukd be most welcome 🙏
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Gotthet_shirt
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Hi Gotthet_shirt , sorry to hear about your experiences, I'm sure they're shared by many other parents on this forum. If you haven't already, you can contact our free Learning Disability Helpline on 0808 808 1111 or email helpline@mencap.org.uk if you prefer. Our advisers may be able to signpost to providers in or near your area. Good luck with the search.
sorry i always say this on posts like this but im not a parent, im 38 and have non verbal classic autism (i comunicate in AAC,PECS, makaton and typing), mild learning diasability,quite severe epilepsy etc.
since 18 ive lived in NW institutions,residential care,learning disability hospitals and unsuitable supported living,and there is one service and residential home i can recomend in manchester which woudnt be to far from you. theyre called fairfield residential, they do care for complex autism/or and learning disability.
they have a special school atached and also for the adults they are taught ASDAN towards independance at home,plus they have there own SLT-she was awesome but i dont know if shes still there. theyve also got a mini bus and they did have a petrol fiesta years ago but some plonker put diesel in it and killed the engine.
id gone threw at least one residential home every year up until going into fairfield residentials adult building, and the staff and most of the managers were awesome-theres a kids unit there as well for up to 18,youd have to get . i felt able to settle as they didnt change the decoration or move things around as we all had a lot of issues with change. they always said they got paid well and staff were well looked after by the managers which made them happy and nice to be around all the time,that home had such a huge impact on me and still does when i remember them all,i got on with everyone there because they took the time to make sure residents were compatible-the service im in now only cares about what funding theyll get, they were calling themselfs a charity for a long time when they were profiting from it,theyve got horrible services-just to start with,they dont look at compatability of service users when picking .
sorry i forgot to add abaout ff/residential,the owner of the company is one of the nicest people ive ever met, they have a farm for the service users to use andd they also run supported livng and bespoke living.
if you need further advice on this,feel free to private message me.
I don’t think any of us escape the guilt it comes with being a Mum but even more so when where in this god awful situation but many of us have had to make these difficult decisions. My sons been in care since the age of five due to his severe epilepsy etc etc he’s thirty next April. I’m sorry your now having to go through this but you’ve done an amazing g job to do it for so long and you have to think in normal circumstances he would have left home already in normal circumstances and your doing the right thing as he needs to be around others his age and to explore different experiences. I’m sure he’ll be fine and you can get him settled and know he’s ok as this is always our biggest concern for all of us. My only advice is adult social services have a Booklet of all homes but he would need an assessment to assess his needs so you know what sort of provision he would need. Always check on the care quality commission to read the homes latest care reports to ensure they’re good. Stay local as it’s so important to be able to pop in not always when they know so you can keep an eye on things and he can come home for visits as well. I would also recommend becoming a deputy for property and finance and health and well-being as it gives you legal powers as the parents I’m so glad I did that as it’s proved invaluable for us as a family. Good luck please ask questions and come here for support if needed as were all there for you and we all understand what your going through.
my son has just moved to a residential placement. It took a year of searching and visiting until we found what we were looking for. Its perfect for him. There were a few teething problems at the start but on the whole he’s settled really well. He too has severe learning disabilities, severe autism and challenging behaviour.
For 3 years previous years attended a residential college for 38 weeks of the year which has helped with the transition.
We were helped by the placement team at our local council. They have a data base of homes with vacancies. They sent out a pen picture to all those they felt might be suitable and when providers got back to them they passed on the details to me and I either vetoed them or visited. Before the placement team became involved I used to go through the big providers’ websites and email them directly. We found a placement this way but at the last minute they told us they were closing the home completely so we were back to square one.
Some of the big providers like Achieve Together, Home from Home care, voyage care, dolphin homes, the priory group, Cygnet Healthcare and sequence care all had places that we liked and we visited quite a few. I’m sure I’ve got a few more in my list !
I know some social workers are next to useless, luckily ours wasn’t!
you’re welcome. It’s been quite a journey and if I can help please feel free to ask anything. As a side note supported living is pushed a lot by social workers but we found in our search that it’s just not secure enough for those with severe learning difficulties. There’s also admin for parents like tenancy agreements, bills to pay etc. i didn’t want to do all that so residential care was the best option. My son’s package is expensive like over £5k per week but we stuck to our guns that that was the placement we wanted, what he would want and the cost was what it was due to the high level of support he needs.
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