24/7 Grid for Families
As an individual or with the support of your family the first thing anyone should be doing is to assess ‘What's working' and ‘What's not working' in their lives. Without this, how do we know if we need to change stuff?
2. Plot you current support
- The next step is to take a look at where you are now;
- Have a go using the 247 grid to map a typical week;
- Notice the areas where your family have the most responsibility.
3. Now ask yourself...
- Do they need a carers assessment if there are areas they are struggling with?
- Could an OT support your or them with some assistive technology to help with the supervision?
- Could someone from the SALT team [communication] support with some pictorial step by step prompt cards to aid your independence with everyday tasks?
4. Use it to communicate YOUR needs
- Here is your opportunity to have a better conversation with the day opportunity you attend. It is part of their role to enable you and support you to attend Adult learning courses to address some of those life skills you might not have been able to pick up whilst you were at as school. If you feel you have been attending the day service for many years and still feel ‘trapped' in a life style dont want because you lack the skills then you now have the chance to change it.
- It is also important, especially if someone is in their last few years of school and preparing for adulthood that families (with the support and resources from services around them), identify areas on their grid where they can hand over the responsibility to the young person. This could be in the area of household chores, preparing meals, helping with household shopping. These are all essential Independence skills covered within the school curriculum, but it is only at home where the real purpose of these skills are put into a meaningful context and they have learned a skill for life.
- Why not think about using any Short breaks [respite] allocation available to you to practise these life skills. Most In house short break services are in residential settings and do not have the facilities or staffing levels to do this. Enquire how much your shortbreak bed is costing your LA. Some beds are over £1,800 a week.
- Use a 247 Grid to show how you would spend that money differently to achieve some great outcomes!
For families, we recommend signing up for the Standard or Premium Account.