Hospital is no place for people with a disability to live long term. A NSW man spent two and a half years in a NSW hospital but his mum says he is now loving living in a Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) home in Lake Macquarie managed by Home in Place.
Mum says her 26-year-old son has found the right type of housing and support that is helping him to become the man that he can be.
She says that the hospital was initially a good place for her son because she and her husband were really struggling to look after him. He was not safe in the accommodation he went into after she had to relinquish care.
“No mother wants to say that they can’t care for their child, but we were all suffering and at times it was dangerous, including for his sister,” says Mum.
She says the hospital stay helped her son to feel safe, gave him routine, and they helped him with some significant issues and helped him to eat better. But COVID 19 and a lack of affordable and suitable SDA Robust properties meant his stay was too long.
“He was effectively institutionalised. He became bored and was getting into trouble.”
After a few false starts with other unsuitable accommodation, he moved into his current home with two other residents a few months ago.
“He is loving it. He doesn’t tell me he wants to leave, which is something he often said before.”
Mum’s advice for other parents of adult children with a disability – “stay positive and be patient”.
“It is a long road, and it takes a good team to navigate the process. We are lucky we have found a good behaviouralist and a good COS.”
She can’t speak highly enough of her son’s current Supported Independent Living provider, Scope. The team worked with my son, my family, the hospital and Home in Place to smoothly transition him into his new home.
“They are giving him the proper one on one support he needs. I can see they are making great progress in helping him to better understand and regulate his emotions.”
“Unlike other accommodation our son has lived in, when I go there, he is not in front of the TV or in his room.”
“I am impressed how the management team support the workers too. They live up to the promises they make, which doesn’t always happen.”
She and her husband are getting used to their son being more settled, which she says is an unusual feeling.
“Before, our lives were always filled with chaos and drama. I was always on guard, never could relax, and was always so involved in every aspect of our son’s life.
She and her husband have a family business. “There is no way I could have held down a job with someone else before our son moved into his current home.”
“We can start to look after ourselves and our business a bit more now we know he is happy and being looked after. There are sometimes problems, but Scope makes me aware of them and how they are solving them. Before I was being rung up to come and fix everything.”
“Now we have more of a mum/son relationship, and I feel like this could be his forever home.”
“If my son is happy, I am happy.”
