Prader-Willi syndrome Claire achieves independence as she moves into her own bungalow!
Meet Claire!
Claire is a person we support at Landau Lodge, one of our residential services in Yorkshire. She enjoys taking part in a variety of activities and hobbies such as colouring, looking at the birds in the garden and trips out to bowling, shopping, the cinema, and swimming.
While Claire is happy and comfortable in her current surroundings, it hasn’t always been this way. She has Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes behavioural challenges, physical and learning difficulties. For Claire, this means she can sometimes exhibit challenging behaviours and it can be hard for her to build relationships.
From shared housing to a safe haven
Before moving to Landau Lodge in 2016, Claire was living in a residential home where she spent a lot of time in shared, communal areas. But because she didn’t always feel comfortable surrounded by people, it was identified this setting was contributing towards her mood and behavioural challenges. Claire needed a more private space that she could call her own and safely develop her day-to-day life skills.
Claire now lives in her own self-contained bungalow within the grounds of Landau Lodge. This allows Claire to live a more independent lifestyle and encourages her to learn new skills. Each bungalow includes a bedroom, a lounge, a kitchen, and dining area, so Claire has more privacy away from other residents, but she can still access a full range of facilities and group activities in the main home. Since moving into her own bungalow away from triggers, Claire feels much safer, and her challenging behaviour has reduced significantly.
Achieving independence
It was key for Claire to have a safe space that would encourage her to lead a more independent life and help her to manage her behaviour. Since moving into her own bungalow at Landau Lodge, her support team have seen a huge difference in Claire. She now completes most daily tasks by herself with little supervision or support.
Claire and her support team have worked with a behaviour therapist and a psychiatric team to create a plan that helps her manage behaviour challenges and triggers. Her support team have already seen a huge improvement since changing Claire’s living environment and removing triggers and are confident she will continue to progress with this additional plan.
Claire used to worry about having to move away from Landau Lodge, but her team have reassured her that she is here to stay.
“Claire can often struggle with building relationships with staff, so sticking to a routine has been crucial in her progress.“
Laura Winter, Senior Support Worker
The future is family
Claire’s family are really pleased with her progress and are happy that she has found somewhere she can call home. Although they live in Scotland, she writes to them often and has regular phone calls to catch up. In fact she’s made huge progress and her next goal is to plan a short break to see them in the future!
Learn more about our specialist Prader-Willi support
If you’re interested in finding out more about how we support people with Prader-Willi syndrome to live healthy, fulfilling lives, please visit our dedicated webpage.
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