Latham House

Latham House is a large Victorian house that has been converted to meet the challenging needs of adults with Autism and Severe Learning Disabilities.

The home has been divided into two 6 bedroom units that operate independently, each with their own Kitchen, living, dining room, conservatory, garden and single bedrooms.

Residents are supported by augmented communication, signing and gestures to enable person choice and to develop their self care and management skills. 

Individual needs and choices

Latham House Residents liaise with their keyworker to discuss their likes, interests, goals and aspirations. These could include starting a college course, having a job, wanting to cook or just having the confidence to go to the shops.

Staff support residents towards achieving their goals. This may require social stories, education on social rules, understanding body language and facial expressions. Support also includes practical skills such as independent living, budgeting, food preparation, shopping and self care.

Many residents at Latham House have a Learning Disability and little or no verbal communication. Our Speech & Language Therapists work with the residents to identify their level of understanding; they then augment all communication to a level that they can understand. This can result in the use of pictures in care plans, daily timetables, menus etc and the use of gestures and sign a long.

Lifestyle

We support residents to use local community amenities to develop
their social awareness and engagement with the local community.
These include the leisure centre, shops, library, college, volunteer groups and places of worship.

People in the home had opportunities for personal development, cultural awareness, appropriate activities, family involvement and a healthy diet; as a result the people using the service had a fulfilling lifestyle.

Education

Residents are supported by staff to develop social, vocational, educational and leisure skills in the community and within the home.
Sheridan House has a large activity room which is used for fun activities and games as well as educational activities. We encourage residents to develop their interests and hobbies, currently these include exploring different textures, computers, arts and crafts and simple games.
Currently some of the residents are undertaking a Basic Living Skills course at Barnfield College in Bedford.

Latham House Details

Personal & Healthcare support plans

Residents are supported by Brookdale Care’s Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT). The MDT works with each resident to identify their difficulties, anxieties, impairments and develops the therapeutic strategy to help the resident to work through them. This may include Social Anxieties, Social Communication difficulties, Depression, Mental illness, OCD, and more.

The home benefits from access to the hospital services provided by the organisation as Milton Park Hospital. This has been invaluable especially when service users needs have changed and more intensive input is required.

Environmental

Service users are able to choose colours for their bedrooms which are decorated and furnished to meet the preferences of each service user. Service users are encouraged to personalise their rooms to reflect their individual tasks and interests.

Residents are encouraged and supported to clean their own rooms and do their laundry, time is allocated on their timetables for cleaning communal areas of the home clean and tidy.

Staffing

Residents are supported by a committed staff team who are trained in ASD. The home has a Registered Home Manager, Team Leader, Senior Support Worker and Support Workers. Home Managers are supported by the Training and Development Academy to ensure that all staff are trained and qualified to fulfil their role within the home.

Map

†Quotes have been taken from the latest CSCI Report