After a long and thorough process, we have some great news...
Our Supported Living Service has received an updated Autism Accreditation from the National Autistic Society.
A huge achievement, and a reason to be very proud!
The NAS Autism Accreditation Programme consists of three different awards: the Autism Specialist Award, the Autism Inclusion Award, and the Autism Friendly Award. It is the UK’s only autism-specific quality assurance programme of support and development for all those providing services to autistic people.
The Autism Specialist Award is tailored to specialist providers in the education, social care and prison fields. Being a social care provider, it was the Autism Specialist Award that we were assessed for with outcomes being measured against specific criteria that must be met and demonstrated in order to achieve one of the following stages of 'aspiring', 'accredited' and 'advanced'.
We are pleased to report that we got a mixture of 'accredited' and also 'advanced' across all the Supported Living houses that assessors visited.
A few standout words from the report (completed by the NAS Assessor)...
“Autistic people are well supported. For example, relationships between staff and those they support were very positive. Staff treat autistic people with care and dignity and are conscientious with regards to cultural diversity and differences, making sure that these are managed appropriately within the services.”
Great feedback to receive; well done to all involved for such brilliant work.
We couldn’t let the moment pass by without celebrating, and residents and colleagues did just that with a small gathering earlier this month at our HQ in Failsworth.
Good company was enjoyed, speeches were made and certificates were framed! We heard from a variety of people who have been involved in the assessment, including one of our Senior Community Support Workers Clare who had prepared this video to share in advance of the event…
It was great to hear from some of the autistic people we support, too, including Andrew (pictured below) who said the following to an inspired audience…
"I'd just like to say thank you because when I think about autism, not many people know what it is and the fact that people are taking the time to appreciate and celebrate it means quite a lot. It means that people do care and are willing to put us young people and adults with autism first. The fact that someone came to see me and interact with me shows that they care and that they want to learn and see if MioCare are doing a good job!
And personally, I would like to say that my support team are doing a good job with me and my autism, because when it comes to struggling with certain things they always give me the time that I need to be able to process and understand things."
Look out for more photos, videos and words from people we support, colleagues and NAS assessors on our social media through the next couple of weeks as we share the story.
Finally, a big thank you to everyone at the National Autistic Society for their continued work and support – we share your continued vision of a society that works for autistic people.
