A personalised support package helped Graham to communicate with those around him and do things the way he wants to.
Graham is supported by United Response in Richmond. He was born with serious physical disabilities, including, facial disfigurement and fused fingers, as well as a learning disability and some difficult medical conditions. Graham is also profoundly deaf and doesn’t really speak.
Staff realised that to support Graham properly, they’d need to learn how to communicate with him in a way he could make sense of. They took up training in accessible communication and began talking to him using a type of sign language called Makaton. The better they became at signing, the less he was prone to outbursts of frustration. He gradually started using the signs to tell staff what he wanted, and, for the first time, started having a say in his own life.
Then over the past couple of years, local United Response managers worked in partnership with the local authority to give Graham – and other people whom we support in the area – control of his day time budget allocation, effectively a personal budget for his day time support. Alongside this, the support team worked to create an interactive multimedia map of the community – based on our multimedia tool, About Me and My Life – to support Graham to make real choices about his day to day life.
Graham navigates away around the map with great dexterity and is able to choose his day time activity. He now goes horse-riding, to the cinema, on day trips and out for lunch. He has even showcased the multimedia tool at external events. As one local commissioner commented “I’ve known Graham for 20 years, but this is the first time that he’s been able to tell me – himself – that what he really likes is a curry and a pint!”
Most importantly, Graham’s support worker, Adam, says: “It is incredible how much happier he is since his support package has developed. Graham is a classic example of someone with learning disabilities whose appearance is deceiving. Because he looks different and can’t speak, people never understood him and assumed he wasn’t capable of being independent. But, after a lot of work and patience, the future finally looks bright for Graham. Who knows what he’s capable of achieving next?”
