Support for adults Life Choices (for autistic adults) How Life Choices works How Life Choices Coaching Works About Life Choices Life Choices is an innovative project for autistic people living in Kent. The purpose of the project is to support people to get the most out of life. There are no timescales or deadlines; our aim is to help you to identify and achieve your goals at a pace that’s right for you. We work in a person-centred way with people from 16 – 60 years-of-age. Our work aims to enable people to: Access 'mainstream' society Increase confidence Increase independent living skills Develop life skills Plan and achieve life goals Pursue their interests including arts, crafts, outdoor pursuits, exercise and leisure activities “Instead of being locked away in your room all day, your Coach encourages you to get outand be independent. Life Choices will give you the confidence to do things, and the confidence towant to do them. I have learnt how to be more flexible and adaptable. It’s taken away the anxiety of everyday stuff.” – Tony, Dartford How does Life Choices work? Step one: Once you have contacted us by phone or email for an informal chat, we will match you with a specialist and dedicated Life Choices Coach. We will arrange an Introduction and invite you to meet with your prospective Coach. If you have one, your case manager may also attend. Your parents or carers can also attend. The purpose of this meeting is for: The Coach to tell you more about the Life Choices project You to talk a bit about what you want to achieve You to both discuss how much the coaching costs You to begin to get to know each other If everyone is happy to work together, your coaching session hours and start date will be agreed. Step two: You will work alongside your Coach and meet up every week for the agreed number of hours. Your Coach will meet you in your home and work with you to identify some goals that you would like to achieve. They will work with you to identify some interests and activities that you would like to do. You and your Coach will set your own deadlines and timescales. The work is at your pace. Your coach will: • Help you to identify, plan, review and do activities that you are interested in• Act as a coach and mentor to you• Support and encourage you in accessing the activities that you want to do• Act as an advocate for you, if required. Life Choices is about you and what you want to achieve out of life. We work together to use our combined experience to get there. "It’s like you’re given a lifeline. Life Choices gives you the chance to live" - Dan Step three: We regularly review our work to ensure that you’re happy and getting the most out of the sessions. We want you to feel involved and in control of how our time is spent. We never forget that it’s your life and they are your choices. If something doesn’t work or you decide that it isn’t for you, we can talk about it and agree to do something else. Once we have been working together for a few weeks, you will be asked to sign a Contract of Agreement. How much does Life Choices cost? Most Life Choices sessions are fully or part-funded by Kent County Council. Life Choices Coaching sessions cost £23.11 per hour. Fees are payable in arrears by monthly invoice. "It was quite, quite extraordinary how relaxed and chatty my son was from the minute the Coach entered our home on day one. Starting the project has given us a step forward in our ‘what if’ plan for my son’s future. It is a sense of relief to know that he is having the opportunity to spend time with an adult who isn’t part of the family, is outside education and on a programme that is in the real world.” – Life Choices member's mum How long does Coaching last for? Life Choices is ‘open-ended’, which means that there is no fixed end date. We will continue to work with you for as long as you feel you are benefiting from the sessions, or unless we believe that you would be better supported in a different way. What types of activities does Life Choices include? Life Choices is a very personal and individualised project and people do a wide variety of activities. Activities can include: Independent living skills Travel training Work skills, including CV writing and job searching Support in employment Volunteering and community work Cooking Shopping and money handling Sports activities Arts and crafts Outdoor pursuits Life Choices is not counselling. It is also not domiciliary/personal care. If you, or we, feel that this kind of support might be helpful for you, we will work with you to access it. Our Coaches Our Coaches have lots of life experience and are all experienced in working with people with autism. Meet the Life Choices team Most importantly, we work hard to get to know you. We treat you with respect, as an adult and we never forget that you’re an individual who has their own personality and thoughts… just like anybody else. “I enjoy the rapport that I have with my Coach. We have a good understanding and I feel relaxed and we have a similar sense of humour, which helps. I enjoy the fact that we always cover something specific in the sessions and don’t waste time. I always feel like I have something practical to use from each session. I would highly recommend this project.” – Tom, Sevenoaks Why should I join Life Choices? Click on the links below to read about our achievements. Contact us to join “What my son has been able to achieve in a few months has been incredible. He now has someonethat he can talk to about anything that he wants to. He’s much happier after he’s had a session: hesmiles. It’s been utterly brilliant, I couldn’t ask for more.” – Life Choices member’s mum