Autism Plus

Service Description

8/11/2014

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About Our Services:

What we are called: Autism Plus

Where our service is: Dorothy House, 186b Dodworth Road, Barnsley, S70 6PD

We also have services all across Sheffield.

Our telephone number: 0114 384 0300

Autism Plus provides support to people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health issues and

we also help other vulnerable groups. We offer day services, community outreach and residential

services and supported living. We are experts in offering specialist support to individuals with

complex needs and challenging behaviour.

The person is at the centre of all our work. We work with each individual and their family or friends

when producing each support plan so that it is unique to them. We ask the individual what their

future dreams and goals are and we will produce achievable outcomes together so that they may

reach their goals in life.

We provide support seven days a week, 24 hours a day if that is what the person wants. In Barnsley,

we are located at Dorothy House that is easily accessed and we deliver residential, day service,

community support and employment support here.

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Safeguarding (Staying safe)

Our first objective is to keep the people we support safe from harm and abuse at all times. We ensure this by;

Employing the right type of person who is experienced in delivering care and support to people with disabilities

Making sure our staff are fully trained in all safeguarding methods and know exactly what to do and when

Working closely with the Safeguarding Team at Barnsley Council so that if there are any problems, they are dealt with quickly and effectively

Making sure we get to know the people we support and what they feel is important to them

Each individual has time to get used to our service. We will get to know you but you will also have chance to get to know us so you can start to trust us and become familiar with Autism Plus support workers.

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Quality

A good service puts the service user at the centre of everything we do. By coming up with

a support plan and outcomes with each person, we make sure that the support we offer is

what the person wants.

All our staff are trained so that they can offer the type of care and support that each

individual chooses. The service user is in control of the their service.

Autism Plus makes sure that the support offered is constantly at the highest level and that

it is personalised. We do this by always asking our service users two questions;

What is working well?

What could be working better?

This gives every person in our service the chance to tell us things that we could do more

of, and also the things we need to do better at. We do this for every individual.

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Service User Involvement

The people we support decide how we support them. At the very first stage, people who

access our service sit down with our staff to help design their support plan. We call this

Person-Centred Planning because the person is at the centre of everything. This means

that staff support the individual to share their wishes and their goals and then will set

outcomes to achieve them.

To make sure that we always involve the service user in deciding their own outcomes and

service development, we have regular points throughout the year when they can feedback

on how we are doing. Things like ‘Talk the Talk’ or ‘Question Time’ give service users and

their families the chance to quiz staff and speak up about how they think Autism Plus is

doing.

Our philosophy is to work ourselves out of a job by developing the individual to become

independent – we do this by constantly consulting our clients and improving our service.

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What people have said about our service

It would be good to hear from people who use your service they do not have to tell

us their name but we would like to know what they think about the service (these

include details of the source of this information (maximum 150 words)

During our most recent CQC inspection, service users were asked by inspectors about our

service and what they thought. Our service users told the inspectors that;

.

One service user said that staff;

The CQC inspectors also commented that people in our service were cared for by

qualified, skilled and experienced staff. It was also referenced that Autism Plus had an

effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that users receive.

We also have a compliments/complaints file to monitor feedback and a service user

recently stated that;

‘staff treated people with respect,

protected their dignity and had

professional, positive relationships’.

‘....were there when I need them. They knock

on the door. Staff are friendly and polite, I call

them aunties and uncles as they are like one

big family to me.’

‘She feels at ease and comfortable with

Autism Plus and is really happy with her

support.’

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Friendship and meaningful relationships Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

Our philosophy at Autism Plus is to ‘work ourselves out of a job’. This means that our key aim

is to help develop each individual we support to become independent so they no longer need

our service.

We specialise in supporting people with complex needs and challenging behaviour to make

new friends and to create meaningful relationships.

One way we achieve this progress towards a full and happy life is to support people in their

communities. We support people in their local community and help them access groups and

services that might give them the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends and

meaningful relationships.

First Routes is our employment support service and during the first stage of the service, the

First Routes Coordinator will develop a plan to build confidence so that service users can feel

more comfortable when out and about in the local community.

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Leisure Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

Our ethos is to deliver services that are person-centred. This means we involve service users

in deciding outcomes they want to achieve. With the help of each individual, we will develop

and fill a weekly support plan from scratch. This sets out what services and activities the

service user wants to do throughout the week. These activities are decided by the outcomes

an individual would like to achieve with our support.

The activities are decided with the service user and they are what they want to do. We also

make sure that each activity is easy to get to and is in the right environment for the individual.

We build every support plan around the person’s wishes and produce the outcomes alongside

them during the Person-Centred Planning process. The individual has chance at every stage

to change and choose what they want to do – the service user is in control!

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Employment Support Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

We believe that we should support all our clients to become as independent as possible. To

achieve employment outcomes and deliver the most effective support, we have created First

Routes.

First Routes works on and records all outcomes related to employment. Initially, this might

include confidence building so that the client can progress towards paid employment and

work experience. First Routes sessions may include literacy and numeracy skills, CV writing

and job search. Incorporated in this is working on the successful tuck shop at the Exchange

Brewery, working with customers, stock taking as well as a sense of achievement. Volunteer

and work placement opportunities are sourced by the First Routes Coordinator.

Our horticultural centre, Beanstalk Gardens, is a 2 acre site designed to deliver training,

employment support and work experience in a variety of roles.

We have several other social enterprise opportunities to achieve the individual’s

employment outcomes.

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Volunteering Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

At Autism Plus, we believe support all our clients to become as independent as possible.

First Routes can help people access volunteering opportunities. We also have a Volunteer

Coordinator called Debbie who helps to find people posts and training in Barnsley.

First Routes works on and records all outcomes related to employment. Initially, this might

include confidence building so that the client can progress towards paid employment and

work experience.

Volunteer and work placement opportunities are sourced by the First Routes Coordinator

and Debbie. We will sit down and help plan how an individual will volunteer and what that

might lead to for them. We see the chance to volunteer as a very important part of

someone’s development and progress towards an independent life.

Debbie helps find opportunities that the individual is interested in and that they can access

easily in their local area.

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Transport/Mobility Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

We want people to live an independent life. We will support people to travel and move

around their community.

Autism Plus staff are trained and encouraged to support individuals to use public transport

whenever possible. Based on the outcomes the individual helps us to produce, staff would

set transport/mobility goals.

Initially, this might be engaging the individual to leave the family home more easily and

helping them to get out more by walking to the local shops, for example. Our staff will

support each service user to set goals and outcomes about how they want to travel. Staff

will then support them to achieve these goals.

Staff would encourage the service user to begin to travel as independently as possible at

whatever pace is best for that individual. Their ability and how comfortable they are to travel

would be recorded in daily journals so that staff can monitor people’s progress.

We support each individual so they can access everything they want to do independently.

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Health Awareness/Promotion of Emotional Wellbeing Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

As part of our provision, we have a specialised gym called Access Fitness. We recognise

that large public facilities are not always the most accessible for people with learning

disabilities or mental health issues, so Access Fitness offers group-based or 1 to 1 sessions

that are in a comfortable and quiet environment to make the user feel comfortable. As a

result, disabled users can access meaningful exercise consistently and begin to be more

aware about their health, meet new people, get fitter and reduce stress and anxiety.

In addition to the specialised environment, our specialist instructor Jean will develop a

bespoke programme for each individual that they can follow in the gym and continue at

home. We also support the individual in accessing advice on diet and nutrition. Autism Plus

staff are encouraged to attend sessions with clients to monitor activity and report back to

Team Leaders on progress made.

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Enablement Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

The ethos of Autism Plus is supporting people to live happy and independent lives. We

want to work ourselves out of a job by helping people to develop as adults and progress

towards employment.

Each individual service user chooses what they want to do on a weekly basis and also how

we can help them achieve their goals in life. We are experts in providing support to people

with complex needs – supporting them to access new opportunities that they otherwise

wouldn’t be able to.

Autism Plus will support the service user where they want so that they feel comfortable

and familiar with the surroundings. We enable people to take part in activities they want to

and we ensure these are part of the support plan for each person in our service.

We constantly measure outcomes from those activities so that people are progressing as

adults.

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Education/Training Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

We have so many opportunities available to our service users that allow them to access

education and training opportunities. For example, at our horticulture centre called

Beanstalk Gardens, service users can come and learn about growing food and flowers,

looking after animals and cooking. We have a progression route for all our service users so

that people can progress at their own pace.

We encourage and support every individual in our service to further their training and we

have several partnerships across Sheffield and Barnsley with education and training

providers so people can train with us and build confidence initially, then we will enable them

to go and access training in an area that they are specifically interested in. We have

achieved this with Sheffield College.

At our Barnsley Centre, Dorothy House, we will also run adult learning services so that

people can learn in a comfortable environment.

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Lifeskills including/budgeting and financial management outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

At Autism Plus, we believe that we should support all our clients to become as independent

as possible. First Routes is our service that teaches our service users about independent life

skills like dealing with money or applying for a job.

At first, this might be confidence building so that the client can progress and develop as an

adult and start to access opportunities within Barnsley. As the individual progresses, the

First Routes coordinator, Dominic will incorporate work and volunteer opportunities at our

various social enterprise so people have the chance to learn about money handling and

stock taking.

Volunteer and work placement opportunities are sourced by the Dominic with the service

user’s help so that people can choose opportunities that they want to progress with. First

Routes will also help manage money at home and give advice on benefits for each

service user.

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Housing related support outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

Autism Plus has 27 years experience of supporting disabled people in their homes.

Whether it be in a large care home shared by lots of people or supported living, we will

support people to be in control of how they live.

Everything we do keeps the service user at the centre of our service. This means that we

will make every decision about accommodation WITH each individual so that they live how

they want to. Our staff will support and teach people about living independently so that

they can progress to having their own home with less and less support.

For example, we will set outcomes and goals with each user so that they are aware about;

cooking, cleaning, safety, travel, bills and benefits so that they do not become stressed

and feel happy about living in their own home.

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Other Outcomes

Physical Disability

Mental Health Learning Disability

Autism Other Vulnerable Adults

Outcome Box

We have a specialist referral team and transition team so that any service users coming to

Autism Plus will have the chance to meet staff and look at our building, Dorothy House in

Barnsley. Staff can start to build a relationship with each individual and make sure they are

comfortable looking around our services.

As part of the specialist teams, we will speak to the people who used to support the service

user so that we are fully aware of the very best way to support the individual.

Our community service offers each service user a Personal Assistant so that each individual

can be supported to be part of their local community and seek out activities that they want to

do. Our PA’s will also offer advice and guidance about aspects of a person’s life so that they

can live as independently as possible.

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Costing Model

Type of Service Cost Any additional cost / info

Low level preventative

and early intervention

services

£18.09 per hour for 1 to 1 support

At Autism Plus, we specialise in supporting disabled people with complex needs and often with challenging behaviours. Our staff are skilled and experienced to offer the highest quality and level of support.

Individual support 1:1

£18.09 per hour for 1 to 1 support

At Autism Plus, we specialise in supporting disabled people with complex needs and often with challenging behaviours. Our staff are skilled and experienced to offer the highest quality and level of support.

Building based activity

£18.09 per hour for 1 to 1 support

At Autism Plus, we specialise in supporting disabled people with complex needs and often with challenging behaviours. Our staff are skilled and experienced to offer the highest quality and level of support.

Community group activity

£18.09 per hour for 1 to 1 support

At Autism Plus, we specialise in supporting disabled people with complex needs and often with challenging behaviours. Our staff are skilled and experienced to offer the highest quality and level of support.

Specialist service

£18.09 per hour for 1 to 1 support

At Autism Plus, we specialise in supporting disabled people with complex needs and often with challenging behaviours. Our staff are skilled and experienced to offer the highest quality and level of support.

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Services

Opening Times

What we are called: Autism Plus

Where our service is: Dorothy House, 186b

Dodworth Road, Barnsley, S70 6PD

We also have services all across Sheffield.

Our telephone number: 0114 384 0300

Monday: 24 hours a day, 7 days per week

Tuesday: 24 hours a day, 7 days per week

Wednesday: 24 hours, 7 days per week

Thursday: 24 hours, 7 days per week

Friday: 24 hours, 7 days per week

Saturday: 24 hours, 7 days per week

Sunday: 24 hours, 7 days per week