Richard has an acquired brain injury, and also has epilepsy and is on the autism spectrum. He came to The Vines from a hospital setting, and has a forensic history. Since moving to the home, he has been supported to live independently, gain life skills and begin his career.
Support at The Vines
Richard's transition to The Vines began with visits to the home, gradually increasing in duration. During this time, staff from The Vines also visited him in his previous setting to establish familiarity. Previously, Richard was known to exhibit some verbally aggressive behaviour, so the team worked hard to understand his needs, and put the right support in place to meet his needs. This included a behaviour support plan, which carefully considered Richard’s triggers, behaviours, and outlined strategies which his support team use to assist him.
At The Vines, Richard receives input from a multidisciplinary team (MDT), including a psychologist, to support him and aid him in accomplishing his goals. He is highly motivated by his desire to live life as independently as possible, and has been supported with his activities of daily living, including personal care, meal preparation, and budgeting. In addition, Richard identified that he would like to seek employment opportunities, hoping eventually to become a postman. His key worker has supported him to help him write a CV, and start searching for opportunities.
Richard's positive outcomes
Since living at The Vines, Richard has made significant strides in a number of key areas. There has been a notable change in his interactions with others, and his incidents of verbal aggression have reduced significantly. Richard’s mother has explained that he now displays greater empathy towards others, can express his thoughts more articulately, and react to difficult situations constructively. He has also taken on the responsibility of ‘Our Voice’ representative at the home, representing his fellow residents and advocating for their views in monthly meetings.
In addition, Richard has also shown a lot of progress with his activities of daily living; he cooks his evening meals every day, and can now travel to his mother’s house on public transport independently. With the support of his team at The Vines, Richard has also successfully attained a job delivering newspapers, which he takes huge pride in. Taking on this opportunity has boosted his confidence, and has been major milestone for Richard on his journey towards more independent living. We spoke to Richard about his job, and he commented:
“During the first three weeks, I was supported by my keyworker and colleague to deliver the newspapers. After this, I was happy to find out that I could deliver the newspapers independently, as I had shown that I could do so accurately. Since then, I have been working six mornings every week, delivering the newspapers and groceries.”
“I have really enjoyed earning my own money, as this has helped me to be become far more independent. Whilst working in this job, I have also learnt a number of skills. Firstly, I have demonstrated an eye for detail, as I have to deliver the newspapers to the correct address. Secondly, I am always on-time for work and have shown good time-keeping. Finally, I have learnt good customer service skills, and I love meeting the people I deliver the newspapers to, as they are always nice, kind, and encouraging.”