For Parents & Carers
Otium is proud to provide a unique support service for parents of autistic adults with learning disabilities.
If you’re feeling stuck, confused, or alone with finding the right support plan for your adult son or daughter, we’re here to help.
We will tailor a unique support programme for your son or daughter that really works for them. We will consult with you every step of the way – trust and rapport is foundational to what we do.
Over the years, we’ve encountered many parents across the UK who were unsure where to turn when their son or daughter came to the end of their funded education.
We know the few years in the lead-up to their 25th birthday can be a challenging time. Conversations start around what your plans are for your son or daughter as they move out of funded education.
Although colleges and schools want to help you with the transition, when the options of ‘what next?’ are limited, there’s only so much they can do to help you prepare for this next step.
Especially if your son or daughter experiences difficulties around communication or engages in challenging behaviours, it can be overwhelming trying to find a place that you trust will help them grow and thrive.
Many parents decide that a home-based or a private programme is the best option, and Otium is proud to provide a unique, specialist service that offers autistic adults the opportunity for such programmes to be built and tailored exactly according to needs and preferences.
Read on to learn more about how we can help, or click here to book a free enquiry today.
What support options are available to me as a parent of an autistic adult? How can Otium support my son or daughter?
Young autistic adults thrive when they have a stable setup in their daily lives. Our expertly-built programmes help you cover all the aspects of life at home, at work, and in the community that your son or daughter needs.
Read below to learn more about the frameworks that we offer.
Bespoke support packages
We create, design, and implement support packages that plan out the short and long-term actions needed for your son or daughter to build a life that is as independent and fulfilling as possible.
From initial assessments and target setting through to implementing programmes and training carers, Otium will ensure you’re fully informed and supported every step of the way.
Our packages can include…
Behavioural and skill assessments – this helps us get a detailed overview of what’s going well and what needs more attention
Design and implementation of a personalised programme, with full explanation and guidance on every aspect
Training for carers/tutors – ensuring they know the very best ways to support and guide their client
Design and development of any resources that are required for the programme to make sure you’re fully equipped for it to run smoothly and effectively
Risk assessment and Behaviour Support Recommendation documents
Home Programmes
Our Behaviour Support services are tailored individually to young autistic adults and their families to build sustainable systems with the aim of improving their quality of life. They are designed to be ‘scaled back’ over time as your son or daughter progresses – our goal is to help them become as independent as possible.
Our programmes include rigorous programme development, production of Behaviour Support Plans and Skill Acquisition Plans. These documents will outline exactly how the programme will work and will show you a detailed breakdown of the progress your son or daughter makes over the course of the time we work together.
We will support you at all stages of the process as required, including behavioural and skill assessments to establish your son or daughter’s strengths and the areas where they need some more help.
We provide services attending annual progress review meetings with Local Authorities and supporting network and funding meetings with appropriate supporting documentation to evidence your son or daughter’s progress or support any requested changes in provision.
We’ll discuss what is needed imminently, as well as how your son or daughter would like their life to look in the longer term. This allows us to develop a focused strategy with recommendations for how to achieve these outcomes – giving you peace of mind that you’re investing in a healthy, stable future.
Every client is different, so your son or daughter’s programme won’t look the same as anybody else’s. However, the general frameworks we suggest as a starting point are…
Holiday or Weekend Support and Respite Cover
Does your son or daughter already have a placement that generally works well, but you need some additional guidance to supplement it, or additional support on a temporary basis?
If you’re feeling stuck for options during holiday periods, or you need additional support hours for respite or personal reasons, Otium can help develop a temporary or permanent setup.
This can also include programme assessment tasks. By this, we mean that the increased hours during a half term or holiday are used to complete necessary assessment tasks that can be used to develop programme resources to be used throughout the rest of the year.
Applications for local authority funding or placements
Found a great setting that ticks all the boxes for your adult son or daughter, but struggling with the amount of time its taking to make sure their application is as strong as possible?
Feeling overwhelmed by the admin application process, or worried that your application might not be accepted?
Otium offers professional support with every aspect of the application process, giving you confidence that you’re maximising your son or daughter’s chances of getting their ideal placement as much as possible.
We have a wealth of experience with what institutions and funding bodies look for in an application and will guide you with any aspect of the process where you’d like support and advice.
This service will vary depending on the application and the type of support required, but for a general example of one of our funding documents that we have produced at a parent’s request, click here.
We can offer support with applying for:
EOTAS funding (e.g. a full-time home programme)
Personal budgets
Education and Social Care resource budgets.
Freedom Pass applications
Disability Support Allowance
Diagnostic Assessments
Education Support Allowance
Any other appropriate Local Authority or third-party funding applications
Application and supporting documents
Life is busy. Often, the paperwork that goes into making sure your son or daughter gets the funding they’re entitled to and the support that they need can be confusing and incredibly time-consuming.
You know that it’s crucial to get it right, but when you’re overwhelmed by the process it can be incredibly frustrating. We offer support at all stages of writing and sending proposals and requests to local authorities and funding bodies, to
Unfortunately, institutions or schools tend to be limited in the time they can allocate to help with these issues. Otium is unique in offering services that specifically focus on this aspect of supporting autistic adults.
We use our expertise in this area to help you make sure that you understand exactly what options are available to you and how to get the very best chance of getting a positive outcome.
We can’t guarantee that authorities will always accept applications exactly as they’re written, but we’ll do our very best to make sure every document you send is as thorough and impactful as possible.
We are also able to help advise with appeals processes. in some cases. If you believe that an offer is not going to be sufficient to give your son or daughter the right provision for what they need, we will do our best to support you in creating a persuasive application to appeal.
Documents and forms we can help with include….
Local Authority Applications and Costing Documents
Unlike many institutions, we can support clients with creating costing breakdown documents to help with LA applications.
Otium are proud to offer an unusually high amount of detail; overdelivering wherever we can to build applications that put forward the strongest case possible on the first instance. We will give you honest advice and practical recommendations to help you make informed choices with the very best chance of success.
We can also produce supporting documentation, such as skills and behaviour plans, that will give LAs a detailed insight into exactly why and how your desired placement will be the best way to meet learning objectives.
Consulting on Selecting and Applying for Suitable Adult Placements
It can be extremely overwhelming to consider the range of options that are out there, let alone think about starting to make an application. We can offer consultation services to support you through the research and decision-making when your son or daughter is transitioning into or out of adult education, or if you believe their current placement isn’t a perfect fit.
This can include the steps to help them settle into a service change, advising on changes in living arrangements, or discussing changes in provisioned support.
At every step of the process, we will listen carefully and empathetically to what your son or daughter needs. We’ll commit to understanding exactly what challenges they’re facing. And we’ll use our industry expertise to find and implement practical solutions.
Whether the final placement is going to be with Otium or with another provider that we recommend, we are committed to making sure you’re fully supported throughout the entire process of working with us.
For costings and more information, enquire now to learn how we can help you with documents and applications