Jimmy
Empowerment
My name is Jimmy, and I used to live in a residential service. In that service, both other residents and I were considered to be engaged in ‘challenging behaviour’. The service took the view that it was necessary to transfer me to a different residential service. I wasn’t given the opportunity to view the service or meet the other people living in the service. I wasn’t included in the decision in any way. I was very unhappy with the new residential service for a number of valid reasons. I got in touch with NAS, and an advocate started working with me. My advocate found that my wishes were not being listened to, instead the advocate found that the service was acting on a ‘best interests’ basis and what my family wanted.
With the help of an advocate, I was empowered, respected and my wishes were placed at the centre of the decision. It was my wish to live as independently as possible in my local community. I have moved to a new service of my choosing, and I’m focusing on building the necessary skills to live as independently as possible.
