Liv's Story
Before Moving to Stratford Lodge
Liv has a diagnosis of Autism, Severe Anxiety and Agoraphobia.
Liv had spent the majority of her school age years refusing to access education and refusing to leave the family home. She became isolated from any peer group she had and from the community she lived in.
Liv’s Severe Anxiety increased massively during the COVID-19 Pandemic and she begun refusing to wash, refusing to look after her hair, refusing to change her clothes, refusing to eat and refusing to leave the house. This included a refusal to access any support from medical professionals. As a result of this those around her became gravely concerned about her wellbeing, her lack of personal care, her weight and communication. During this period, she withdrew so much that she actually stopped speaking and developed Selective Mutism.
This went on for a number of years until she turned 18 and was referred, assessed and accepted into Stratford Lodge.
How Stratford Lodge supported Liv
Despite her withdrawal Liv is a social young adult, with a keen sense of humour and a desire to be around people. She enjoyed communicating and engaging with the team from Stratford Lodge from the very beginning of the referral process. Multiple home visits, discussions with parents and professionals and meetings with Liv supported us to build a positive relationship and when we asked if Liv wanted to give it a go living at Stratford Lodge she was enthusiastically able to tick and write yes to her social work team. Liv was allocated 1:1 support during the waking day and 1:4 at night, she was assigned a skilled and experienced key worker and we completed an Outcome Star collaboratively with the parents, carers and professionals around her who knew her best at this point. Our main focus was in three areas when Liv moved in; sleep (as she had become nocturnal in her sleeping pattern), basic hygiene (as she had not washed in approx. 5 years) and her diet/weight (as she had developed unhealthy eating patterns and was not consistent with her food intake).
The following strategies supported Liv to settle in at Stratford Lodge and make progress:
• Stratford Lodge implemented the principles of the STEP Framework when Liv moved in to the home. Sensory support, Totally inclusive, Enabling and Progressive.
• Recognising that progress would need to be steady and at a pace that Liv could manage we began by flooding her with kindness, consistency of care and positive engagement.
• Spending time with her in her room and giving her a variety of social opportunities that she had not had for many years to ensure she knew that she was valued and that we were happy to have her living at Stratford Lodge.
• Consistency was key from the outset, with a positive approach we built routines with Liv that were supportive and encouraging and any engagement she had with them was always swiftly followed by a large amount of positive reinforcement from the team.
• Liv was introduced slowly to her house mates as and when they saw each other around the home, slowly becoming more comfortable with new people.
The IMPACT of these strategies
• Due to the consistent messages and support Liv began to adapt to a more social sleep pattern, waking in the mornings and settling at night.
• Due to this she began to eat three square meals a day and her diet and palette became much more varied.
• Liv developed positive relationships with a variety of professionals in the home and from the local community.
• Within her first two weeks Liv had accepted a full body wash from the staff at Stratford Lodge, the first wash in around 5 years.
Positive Outcomes after 6 weeks of being placed at Stratford Lodge…
• Liv is now washing and changing her clothes on a daily basis, she is enjoying this and is visibly happier because of it.
• Liv is now sleeping at night and awake throughout the day.
• Liv has allowed us to wash, brush and cut her hair so that it is no longer matted and unmanageable.
• Liv is eating three meals a day plus snacks. She is eating less processed food and more homecooked meals including lots of fresh fruit and vegetables!
• Liv not see’s doctors, dentists, opticians on site at Stratford Lodge on a regular basis and in a way that is sensitive to her Severe Anxiety.
• Liv has begun speaking more, she will say a few words a day to her most trusted staff members, usually while smiling and laughing during meal times or personal care.
This is just the beginning of Liv’s journey with Stratford Lodge but already in such a short space of time the environment, the kindness and the care from our team has had a huge impact on the quality of her life.