Autism

We provide specialist support services for people with autism.

We can provide support at our specialist service in Darley Abbey, in our town centre hub, out in the community, or from people's homes, depending on what best suites the individual.

All our staff are at least Autism Level 2 trained. We provide 'Positive Behaviour Support' training, PBS, and Martin Dobson is our BILD registered in-house trainer. We also train and support staff to use autism appropriate strategies such as Intensive Interaction, PECs, and Sensory Integration.

PBS

PBS is a way of preventing and reducing challenging behaviour within the context of increased quality of life, inclusion, participation, and the defence and support of valued social roles.

Community Links has a Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) policy based on the values set out by BILD in the PBS framework.  This policy embraces the values of PBS; respecting human rights, increasing individual quality of life, and reducing challenging behaviours.

Our policy ensures staff receive training and support to deliver PBS. Incidents are handled with respect for the rights of individuals, information is recorded and used to develop our support in a regular cycle of learning.

Community Links uses BILD accredited Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) training and Staff are re-trained annually.

Customers who may exhibit challenging behaviour have the following paper work and assessments;

• A Community Links Support Plan/Risk assessment.
• 1 page profiles.
• A “traffic light support plan”.
• Customers who don’t use words to communicate would also have a person-centred communication chart to document non-verbal communication.

The use of PBS is embedded in our policy and culture, we ask staff to use person centred planning themselves as well as with customers.

We believe that as quality of life increases, challenging behaviour decreases so we also use other approaches to support customers such as Active Support, PECS, Sensory Integration Therapy and Intensive Interaction.

Managing and reducing the impact of behaviour falls into one of two areas;

• Customers who come to us with pre-existing challenging behaviour and high support needs
• Customers we already support whose behaviour changes or increases in frequency and/or intensity

The first group would have a support plan and risk assessment completed prior to starting, this would capture experience from previous support and carers as well as health professionals.  We build on what worked well in someone life and use Active Support to ensure they continued to develop choice and control and social participation.

When transitioning customers we spend time with carers and existing staff to ensure we had captured essential information.