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The Open Door Autism
Service, which was set up on 6th December 2004, is a service offered by
Threshold South Lanarkshire. The Threshold office base is on the top
floor of Well Hall, one of the Church of Scotland’s homes for elderly
people. The work is, however, carried out with the service users in the
community, within South Lanarkshire.
Service aims & objectives
Open Door is a
specialist service set up to work with people with an Autistic Spectrum
Disorder (ASD). We provide a flexible support service for young adults
on the autistic spectrum, primarily focussing on the 16 - 25 age group.
We also pay particular attention to those at the higher end of the
spectrum who have Asperger’s syndrome or high-functioning autism. We
aim to provide person-centred interventions and support to enable the
service user to be integrated and included in the wider community. This
can include, but is not limited to, access to colleges, libraries,
social venues, shops, sports activities, churches and employment. We
also offer a number of activities that can help people with autism,
e.g. rebound therapy, using multi-sensory equipment, and a
communication skills group.
The main project has
been called “Threshold” because it is believed
that through it, people can be placed on the ‘threshold’ of new
experiences and opportunities. By calling the service “Open Door” we
have taken the analogy a step further because we see our service as
offering an ‘open door’ to new and exciting opportunities and
activities, which have previously been unattainable for a number of
different reasons.
- Open Door aims to encourage the
development of independent living skills such as cooking, personal
care, travel, budgeting, and home and personal security.
- The service works in partnership with other
professionals from a variety of disciplines such as speech therapists,
social workers, nursing staff, college lecturers, and employers etc. to
develop consistent and appropriate support.
- Open Door staff seek to identify areas within
the home and community where the service user might be vulnerable or at
risk, and will endeavour, along with the service user, to develop
strategies to help eliminate potential dangers or difficulties.
- Staff at Open Door recognise the tremendous
importance of contact on a social basis. The work is, in the main,
carried out on a one-to-one basis, but very effective work is also
undertaken in small groups when it is appropriate to do so and
beneficial to the service user.
- Our support extends to parents and carers as we
provide flexible support in service users’ own homes or within the
community. We also offer person centred short break service.
- We operate a 24-hour staffed help-line to
provide round the clock advice, guidance and support to service users
and their parents or carers.
Individual support plan
Open Door staff are
committed to providing a flexible support service as and when required,
to help meet the needs identified by service users, parents or carers.
Realising the uniqueness of every person, we provide support packages
tailored to meet the specific needs and requirements of each service
user on an individual ‘person centred approach’ basis.
Family involvement
In many instances
the service users live with their parents and/or other family members.
As a result, staff regularly have contact with family members on an
ongoing basis. For those service users who have made the transition to
living independently, we aim to encourage regular family contact and
offer support where necessary.
Community involvement
Due to the nature of
the project, the staff spend a great deal of their time helping service
users to make use of community resources.
Day support
Open Door is not a
day centre but supports people in the community, seven days a week. On
occasion this might involve supporting a service user to access a day
centre run by the council or another organisation.
Short Breaks
Over the past 5
years, Threshold has been responsible for providing short breaks for
many of its’ service users. These breaks have been very successful and
have been planned to not only provide a period of respite for parents
and carers, but to provide a break which is also designed to meet the
needs of its service users. Short breaks for service users take the
form of a ‘holiday’. This allows the service user, as well as the
carer, to experience the full benefits of the break. This allows the
service user, as well as the primary carer, to feel refreshed.
Threshold short breaks are not provided in a residential building base,
as is normally the case, but are arranged to destinations such as Craig
Tara Holiday Park in Ayr, hotel accommodation in Blackpool or even
destinations such as Mallorca or Benidorm. We provide breaks for small,
medium, and even large groups, where appropriate.
These short breaks have been provided many times in the past and have
proven very successful, resulting in a large demand for this service.
Threshold has built a great deal of expertise in operating such a
service. We would endeavour to provide a break which can cater for each
service users individual support needs and also importantly their
desires and wishes. See our Short Break Service leaflet for more
information.
See our Short Break
Service
page for
more information.
Management
Open Door is a part
of the Threshold project, which is a service independently run and
managed by the Crossreach, the Church of Scotland Social Care Council.
We work in partnership with South Lanarkshire Council Social Work
Resources who, as funders, monitor the support being provided by the
project.
Staff
Open Door is staffed
by two Project Workers – Autism and three Support Worker – Autism who
between them have a great deal of experience working with people on the
autistic spectrum. The staff group are currently undertaking study
towards a diploma in autism offered by National Centre for Autism
Studies. Staff have also undertaken relevant training courses including
Autism Awareness, Managing Challenging Behaviour, Rebound Therapy,
Using Multi-Sensory Equipment and Signalong (to aid communication).
Staff of the project meet the criteria specified by the Rehabilitation
of Offenders Act etc. The Threshold South Lanarkshire management
oversees the Open Door Autism Service.
Admission criteria
Open Door is funded
by South Lanarkshire Council and provides services for a wide range of
people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder or similar conditions. Many
service users and/or carers also purchase our service on a private
basis.
Costs
The Threshold
management determines the actual charge in each case, taking into
account the nature of the work to be undertaken.
Referral procedure
On receipt of a
referral, Open Door staff will carry out their own assessment to
identify whether the project is able to provide the support required by
the individual who has been referred.
Having satisfactorily completed the above, the project would seek to
provide service at the earliest opportunity.
If you would like help in reading and understanding these details, or
you would like more information, please use the Contact
Us page to contact one of the senior support workers:
This
information in also available in Microsoft Word format.
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