Luke’s Success Story – Ty Hendy
Luke’s Story
Luke, a 23 year old man with a learning disability from Swansea, moved in to one of the five self-contained flats within ‘The Laurels’ setting at Ty Hendy, an innovative learning disability service, based in Carmarthenshire in Wales, after his placement with a family in the community broke down.
The placement had broken down after Luke began to struggle with his day to day living. He had lost interest in completing basic daily tasks and was neglecting his personal care. He was also experiencing low moods and his behaviour had become more challenging.
The aim of Luke moving into ‘The Laurels’ was to support him to regain the daily living skills and confidence he needed to move back into the community and live independently.
When Luke first moved into the service his lack of motivation was evident. He didn’t want to do anything for himself and he would make various demands on the support team. Gradually, however the support team were able to build a positive, trusting relationship with Luke and successfully support him to turn things around.
Trained in Positive Behaviour Support and Active Support, the team supported Luke to develop daily living skills and to build a structure into his daily routines. With encouragement and consistency, Luke was soon completing his personal care, keeping his flat clean and tidy and attending his volunteering job three times a week, with minimal prompting.
The team also supported Luke to develop independence skills such as managing his finances and walking to the shops on his own. Using Active Support, the team helped Luke to learn each step of the task, from planning what he wanted to buy and budgeting his money, to learning the route and how to cross roads safely, to making his purchase, checking his change and making the journey back.
The team were then able to gradually withdraw their support, at first walking a little distance behind him and then increasing that distance until Luke became comfortable to walk to the shop independently.
Luke was also supported to join Slimming World. He enjoys attending the weekly sessions and has already lost over a stone which has given him a huge confidence boost and sense of achievement.
12 months on, Luke had gained the skills he needs to move back into the community and the team then focused on supporting him with transitioning process of moving into a supported living environment.
This began with supporting Luke with an initial visit to a supported living setting in Swansea town centre. Once it was confirmed that he could move into this flat, the team began supporting Luke to prepare for the move.
Although Luke was excited about moving into his own home, he was also extremely nervous about leaving the safety net of Ty Hendy so the team gave him lots of emotional support and encouragement, reassuring him that the reason he was able to move to a step down service was because he had developed all the skills he needed and could manage independently.
This support gave Luke renewed confidence about just how far he had come. He was able to trust in his own abilities and feel positive about the future.
During the transition process, Luke’s support team attended meetings and worked collaboratively with the new Provider, supporting Luke with meet and greet sessions and multiple visits to his new home to make sure he was settled and comfortable prior to his move. They also ensured the new Provider had up to date support plans, and risk assessments to facilitate a smooth transition.
The team also supported Luke with purchasing the items he needed for his flat and assisted him with budgeting so that he could buy the larger items.
Luke moved out of Ty Hendy and into his new home in November 2019. On the day that Luke left the service, the team held a special leaving party to celebrate all the positive goals he had achieved and presented him with a leaving gift to keep as a reminder of how far he had come.
Since moving into his own home, Luke has been using all the skills that he learned at Ty Hendy and has continued to grow in independence which is very rewarding for the team who are all really proud of him and what he has achieved.