Learning disabilities Assisting Jon in his journey to supported living services
Meet Jon
Jon is a person we support at Northfield House, one of our residential care homes in Taunton, Somerset. He has vision impairment and cerebral palsy, a condition that affects his movement and speech. Despite facing these challenges, Jon has shown a keen interest in living more independently, and would love to transition into supported living services.
With the specialist help and support of the Northfield House team, Jon has not only developed his daily life skills but has also gained a sense of independence. With encouragement to pursue his passions and discover himself, Jon’s team has helped him take steps towards his biggest goal – moving on to supported living services!
Enabling Jon’s independence
Since moving into Northfield House in March 2008, Jon has actively been working towards increasing his independence. From the moment he moved in, his support team recognised how important this was to him and set to work in helping him achieve this.
Over time, Jon has made significant progress in his journey towards independence, thanks to the continuous support of his team. They’ve played a big role in empowering him to develop various life skills and establish a daily routine. This includes staying hydrated before bedtime, taking a shower before breakfast, brushing his teeth and cleaning his bathroom, which he now does with minimal support. Jon has also progressed his cooking skills by helping to prepare meals for the home.
Jon commented: “Every Saturday I help prepare and cook the main meal. The team say we can use a food planner to choose a meal and cook it for the rest of the house. Each of us living at the home has a separate cook day.”
Getting ready for action!
But it’s not just living independently that lights Jon’s fire… he is passionate about TV soaps, and this passion began at an early age. As far back as he can remember, he dreamt of one day going behind the scenes of a TV soap!
So, when Jon received the opportunity to go on a private tour of Coronation Street, one of Britain’s longest running and most loved TV soaps, he couldn’t contain his excitement! Together, with the support of his team, Jon ventured up North to walk the country’s most famous cobbled streets! The tour was made even more special as it was led by David Nilsen, an actor on the show.
Jon spoke about his experience: “One of the cast members from Coronation Street, David Nilsen who plays Roy Cropper, took me on a VIP tour as his brother used to live at Northfield House.”
For Jon, this experience was a dream come true. Plus, discovering his favourite character’s brother lived in the same home as him, made it all seem like fate!
“Before I moved into Northfield House, I had never met anyone in the TV world. My biggest ambition when I was growing up was to go to TV studios to see how soaps are filmed.
“David Nilsen helped arranged it for me, to go see the behind the scenes of Coronation Street in 2014 as part of my 30th birthday celebrations. He took me round on a personal tour.”
Since then, Jon’s support team has worked closely with him to explore more opportunities related to his interest in TV soaps. So far, they’ve managed to organise visits to the TV soap awards three years in a row. These moments provide Jon with unforgettable memories. He’s even hoping to go backstage next year and mingle with his favourite celebs!
Looking to a future in supported living services
Since Jon joined Northfield House, his team has supported him to become more independent and develop his living skills. They’ve supported his passions, setting up and created meaningful opportunities that have empowered him with confidence. With this newfound confidence, Jon’s level of support has decreased, and he’s become more self-sufficient.
Our team have provided Jon with a front door key, so he can gain access to the property. This allows Jon to enter the home freely without any dependency on others. Jon also attends his community activities independently by travelling via bus and train on his own.
His goal now is to transition back into the community and live in one of our supported living services.
To help Jon get closer to his dream of living independently, our Service Manager has arranged a trial run, which will provide him the opportunity to experience what it would be like to live on his own with support. By living in a supported living property for a certain amount of time, Jon can assess if this is something he enjoys and feels comfortable with.
With the support of his expert team, and his passion for life, we have every confidence Jon will soon be on his way to living independently!
Find out more about our residential care services
To learn more about Northfield House and how we can support you, a loved one or a client to live their best lives, fill in our quick and easy enquiry form and a member of our team will be in touch!
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