D's story
D was diagnosed with severe autism and learning difficulties, along with ADHD and epilepsy at the age of 2. He joined a specialist school at 11, but when he finished school at 16, D’s mum was finding it difficult caring for him at home. She began looking for more specialist care and found Break’s disability services for young people.
“I would’ve loved for D to be at home with me,” she explains. “But being a teenager, he was getting stronger with some challenging behaviours. I knew that he needed more support than I could give him so when we found Break and the opportunity for him to live at one of their homes, we were so pleased.”
“His biggest issue was not sleeping. I was awake all the time, which was exhausting, and it meant I struggled to not only care for D and respond to his needs, but also his younger sister who would often not get as much attention as she should.”
“But now, when he comes home on the weekends, I have the week to be able to re-set myself and look after his sister, and it means we can all spend quality time together when he is here. We do stuff like got the beach, or to his Granny’s for Sunday lunch and it’s lovely us all being together.”
“I’ve definitely seen a change in D over his two years with Break. He’s become a lot calmer and more independent. Being non-verbal, his biggest challenge is communication, but the support staff have been working closely with him and he’s started using more verbal cues to indicate what he wants. His personal care has also improved. He makes his own bed, brushes his teeth and started doing his laundry. This is all thanks to the time and dedication the staff have put in to help him not feel so overstimulated and learn how to regulate his emotions.”
Now at 18, the family face another challenge to find him somewhere to live permanently as he moves into adulthood.
“I love him more than anything and it is so hard having him away from me, but I know that it’s best for him, and for our family, that he gets the care he needs. Unfortunately, it’s really difficult to find places for those with learning disabilities once they are over 18. And the places that do come up are incredibly limited, but the staff at Break helped us every step of the way in making sure we got D into the right home.”
"I had built such a good relationship with the staff, and they knew what was important for me and D. It was this support that made me confident in our choice for him.”
“They took me to visit the homes that were available and made sure that all my questions were answered. This really put me at ease, knowing that we all had D’s best interests at heart. We looked at all the progress that other young people had made at the different homes, and we’d sit down and talk it through. I had built such a good relationship with the staff, and they knew what was important for me and D. It was this support that made me confident in our choice for him.”
“We’ve now got D into a wonderful permanent home, which I’m really happy with. I know he will love it and it’s somewhere he will thrive. It’s also just a short drive away from me which means we’ll all get to see him much more often and spend some great family time with him. I don’t think any of this would’ve been possible without the support of Break and the great work they’ve done for D and our family.”
