Environment
Ellasdale Road is a three storey semi-detached
Victorian house situated in Bognor Regis within a short walking
distance of the main town, local shops and the beach. The house was
opened in July 2004 and houses six adults with an age range of thirties
to mid-forties at present.
Health and safety issues and
maintenance are managed by Downland Housing Association (now part of
the Affinity Sutton Group) and we also have a Health and Safety
representative in the home. We also have an allocated member of staff
who is responsible for maintaining a low arousal environment in the
home according to the Autism Sussex environmental policy.
The
environment is tailored to the needs of the individuals who live there
and is autism specific in that the environment is ‘low-arousal’,
structured and autism specific communication systems are in place such
as TEACCH boards and PECS (Pictorial Exchange Communication System).
The home is registered with the Care Quality Commission which carries out an inspection on an annual basis.
Staff
We
have a staff team consisting of a Home Manager, Deputy, three Senior
Social Care Workers and eight Social Care Workers. We also have a bank
of relief staff to cover sickness and annual leave.
All Autism
Sussex staff are highly experienced and have autism specific training
as well as a wide range of other training, specific to the needs of the
service users. The government also expects care staff to gain NVQs in
care, so that they are suitably qualified for the job as it is a very
skilled area of work. Over 50% of the staff team at Ellasdale hold an
NVQ 3 or above.
Service Users
All service users attend a
Resource (Day) Centre where their activities are also very structured
using similar communication systems to those at Ellasdale. Service
users enjoy horse riding, a range of arts and crafts, music therapy,
drama and bowling. They also attend college, use computers and the
internet and much more. The objective is for them to integrate in to
the community and participate in ‘meaningful day time activities ’.
Similar
activities are carried out at home and service users are also
encouraged to carry out independent living skills, which are
incorporated in to their daily schedules. Trips to the theatre, parks,
pub lunches, shopping and day trips also take place. All the service
users living at Ellasdale Road have very active involvement and input
from their parents and families who visit them on a regular basis.
For more information, please
contact us
