Autism & Aspergers Support Ltd

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

People were encouraged to make their own decisions and choices and told us they were involved in decisions about their day-to-day life. We observed people being offered choices in all aspects of their daily lives. Staff communicated well with people and promoted an inclusive, supportive environment. We assessed a limited number of quality statements in the caring key question and found areas of good practice. The scores for these areas have been combined with scores based on the rating from the last inspection, which was outstanding.

This service scored 90 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Kindness, compassion and dignity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Treating people as individuals during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

People were unable to give us feedback verbally about their care. We observed a relaxed atmosphere in the home. Staff supported people in a timely manner and encouraged them to be independent and make choices around their day. For example, one person told us what shops they had chosen to visit on a day out and how staff were going to support them with this. Records showed staff involved people in decisions about their activities, daily living tasks and care, with support from families or advocacy.

We saw the care and support people received reflected their personal needs and wishes. Staff we spoke with could tell us about those they supported and what was important to them. This included people's individual preferences, any health and welfare issues and promoting their independence. A member of staff told us, "We offer choices around everything, these are young people living their lives, we need to support them to do all they can. Everyone is happy and well cared for." In respect to communication with people, another member of staff said, "We have full communication plans and staff are all well aware of them. There are special words we use with [person] and pictures and gestures also. We understand what he want and that allows us to offer the choice he needs."

We saw staff offering choice to people in all aspects of their daily life including food and drink, activities and where they wished to spend their day. People were seen to be telling staff their choices around food, where they wished to sit and what they wanted to do on their trip out. Systems of communication, such as picture cards were used to assist people to make choices around food and drink and menu options.

People’s support plans reflected their choices and decisions and informed staff how their care and support should be provided. There was information about their likes and dislikes, communication needs, environmental needs, what was important to them, activities, personal care, relationships, goals and aims. Support plans included clear guidance to assist staff to involve the person and help them with everyday decisions. For example, how best to present information and ways to help the person understand. We saw people's care and support plans were reviewed to account for any personal or health changes.

We did not look at Responding to people’s immediate needs during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.

We did not look at Workforce wellbeing and enablement during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Caring.