Adult Homes

Rushden Home (ages 16-25 years)
Irchester Home (ages 18 years and over)

The Alderwood adult residential homes at Rushden and Irchester, Northamptonshire provide 24 hour care 52 weeks a year for those 16+ with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The homes maintain a high staffing level for five residents at Rushden and six at Irchester who enjoy the assistance of a highly structured environment to support their individual needs.

All residents access a programme of living and learning skills along with structured support for community outings.

Ethos

Alderwood provides a family type setting that supports the individual needs of each resident. The homes provide a highly structured environment using the TEACCH model, where continued learning and life skills are designed to maximize the potential for independence and fulfilment.

A low arousal environment and a focus on coping skills allows our residents to participate in a wide variety of activities throughout the year, both in the home, in the local community and further afield at the Alderwood holiday caravans. The emphasis on individual planning and care support enables our residents who have complex needs, to participate in a form of life that is not often feasible in many larger care provisions.

Facilities

The Rushden home caters for five residents and Irchester six. Both offer spacious accommodation with individual bedrooms, all with either a designated bathroom or en suite. Each home has a large communal living area, an activity room and large private gardens.

All catering is undertaken in the homes by Alderwood’s house keeper, both having well equipped kitchens. Laundry is also undertaken on site. Residents are also encouraged to participate in organised and supervised cooking, domestic and gardening tasks.

All residents have access to the Alderwood holiday caravans in Lincolnshire, North Devon and locally in Northamptonshire (link to Holiday Accommodation).

All residents have exclusive use of vehicles – Rushden has two people carriers and two cars, Irchester has two people carriers and one car which provide a very personalised level of care with high staffing ratios.

All residents have a designated phone kept by the supervising carer for all excursions out of the home to enable on call back up to be activated.

Staffing

Both homes have a registered manager along with a deputy manager, senior shift leader, shift leaders and a team of care/learning support workers. Night times are supervised by waking night carers.

Each home has a designated teacher who works alongside the residents in order to develop basic skills and oversee the ongoing learning programmes that are implemented by the team of care/learning support staff. The integrated approach to education and care is a key component in the Alderwood approach to staffing and re-enforces life skills, coping skills and constructive use of leisure.

All staff receive training at the Alderwood PDC (Professional Development Centre) at our head office in Ecton, Northampton. Also based on the Ecton site are the director’s offices, central administration and the resources department. Resources design and produce all our educational tasks and visual support systems that play a central part in the structured living that is a vital element of the Alderwood ethos.