Prader-Willi syndrome How The Laurels is the perfect fit for Lottie
This week we spoke to Lottie*, a person we support in Hampshire at our residential care home, The Laurels. When Lottie moved to The Laurels, the team provided 1:1 care and worked hard to help improve her confidence, socialisation skills and behavioural issues.
Meet Lottie
Lottie is a 52-year-old cheerful individual with a learning disability, Prader-Willi syndrome and a deformity in one knee. Having Prader-Willi means Lottie can easily gain weight and has behavioural challenges.
Lottie lived in a caravan with her parents and brother, who also has a learning disability, before coming to The Laurels. She moved to The Laurels when her behaviour grew too tough for her to handle on her own.
Coming out of her shell and boosting confidence
When Lottie first came to The Laurels, She lacked the confidence to leave her annex or utilise verbal cues to communicate her needs . This meant she found it difficult to socialise with The Laurels staff and other residents.
With help from the team at The Laurels, Lottie began taking small steps to integrate into the main house. She has now established her own routine and devised meal plans with staff to aid her weight loss, including preparing her own meals! Lottie also assists in the cleaning of her annex and gladly accepts daily responsibilities.
The dedicated staff at The Laurels have put a behaviour guideline in place. All the residents at the house follow the guidelines and this has significantly improved Lottie’s behaviour.
Favourite activities
Armed with more confidence, Lottie has been accessing the main house a lot more. She enjoys socialising with the staff and eating meals with the other residents, especially breakfast club every morning.
Lottie also enjoys going out for a drive in the community, visiting the Cat café and popping to Asda. She often has a cup of tea and a cake in the café as one of her incentives for good behaviour.
On sunny days, she likes a trip to the beach. The Laurels team support her to do this in a wheelchair because of her knee malformation. This ensures she can manage long walks near the seafront.
Lottie also loves sensory activities. She likes getting her nails painted and getting messy, as well as spraying body sprays on her teddies because she loves the smell!
What’s next?
To help Lottie with her progress at The Laurels, she is currently experimenting with a ‘now and next’ board to aid her with her behavioural challenges. This helps keep her occupied with activities she wants to do and to arrange meal plans. Lottie has also started using graphic routines and flash cards to communicate with her team.
Learn more about The Laurels
Based in Hampshire, The Laurels provides loving, caring and inclusive nursing care. The home can support adults with learning disabilities and complex care needs.
We currently have two vacancies. one on the ground floor and another on the first floor. To view our available vacancies, visit The Laurels service page.
*Names have been changed for confidentiality.
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