The benefits we are now seeing are vast. People who used very few words to communicate have developed their skills and are now saying more words and the smiles of achievement are evident for all to see.
Family’s, Care Managers and others are also telling us how great the interactions are at Ponciau.
I want to share a couple of examples with you...
When Kane went home, his mum had a balloon on a stick that she was gently tapping him on the head with (he loves this) then dad had a go. They were just putting the balloon away when Kane took the balloon and started to tap them on the head with a smile on his face. They were so excited when telling staff about this, saying he had never interacted in this way with them before. He appears to have grown in confidence and is taking more control.
To see Gill Hatton, the Senior Support Worker well up with tears in her eyes when describing to a Care Manager how the person she supports now actually enjoys his night time routine and that when he gets into bed he says goodnight, goodnight see you in the morning... he will also say nostda (welsh for good night).
Staff at Ponciau are very good at listening, observing people’s body language and creatively changing the way they do things to get it right for people. They reflect well and feedback both to the person they are supporting and to the staff team about anything and importantly they share successes.
To me this says it all. People really are getting supported in a way that makes sense to them.
Nikki Belcher
Area Manager, Shropshire and Powys