Samantha and James’ Story
James, a non-verbal individual with autism requires fulltime support for his daily life. James has been under the care of his loving parents, who had been looking after him since his birth.
Due to their own advancing years, his parents needed to look into future plans, to continue to provide and support their son.
James’ father, Paul felt that he had given his son the very best but was concerned about his future. He ultimately knew they would eventually be in a horrible position if they did not act fast. The family wanted to find an alternative solution.
Paul was quoted "It's every loving parent's nightmare, isn't it? You have given your son your very best but, aware of your own advancing years, you're now worrying about his future security” and was not aware of another solution.
Paul was finally introduced to the Birmingham Shared Lives scheme, where James was matched with a Shared Lives Carer called Samantha, who had previous experience supporting her brother with special needs.
Now, Samantha and James now share their lives together in their Birmingham home.
For Samantha, she came into the Shared Lives scheme wanting to do it well. Samantha mentioned that “becoming a Shared Lives Carer has a special meaning for me”, because she understands that individuals in social care, are not always understood.
Samantha “wanted to do something which opened people's horizons, and It was interesting, as soon as James and I met I knew that we could make this work. We just clicked, straight away”.
Samantha and James had a few meetings prior to their match, James then stayed for a couple of weekends, and they eventually agreed to live together.
At first James’ parents struggled to get used to living apart from James. They had shared their lives for so long, where they did the bulk of the caring support together, but now have respite from the support and now can pop in for a cuppa.
James has the flexibility to spend weekends with his family in their home too. It has become a lovely arrangement for all parties.
Samantha described a weekend where “in fact, on Jamess’ mum's birthday I cooked Sunday lunch and we all spent the day here together, James feels like a brother really, and we all communicate regularly.”
Samantha continues to provide a safe and happy home for James. For many Shared Lives Carers, the scheme provides a sense of purpose, and the opportunity to build lifelong connections with their individual’s family.
For the individual’s families, the scheme can reduce a lot of stressful factors which are a part of caring for a family member with care needs. For instance, planning actions for personal hygiene and daily activities, and the planning for the future.
More stories from Shared Lives Plus
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Email: Shared.Lives@barnet.gov.uk
Telephone: 0208 359 3576