Conversation - What this means for Ted

The conversation was led by his social worker Claire and involved Ted, his parents, sister, and advocate Tracey.

Ted chose Claire's offices as the venue. With Tracey's support, Ted shared what mattered to him, and what was and wasn't working; they reviewed his collage of what he wants for the future, and how that would look as a perfect week.

They also heard from his family and professionals on how things were going. There were concerns about Ted's cough and his black outs from excessive coughing and how this might impact his future driving ambitions.

The following outcomes were agreed:

  • possibility for Ted to regain his driving licence
  • to support Ted find employment,
  • get his own flat.

They discussed how he managed his chest and cough and what he might do to make it less of a problem.

Ted really wanted to get a job that involved driving. They talked about what he had already tried and learned about finding employment. He had been to the job centre, and had taken his CV to different local businesses. He admitted to finding interviews very difficult.

Ted is eligible for a personal budget, and it made sense to him to use this to help him get a job. To think about how to do this, Claire suggested a couple of local voluntary organisations with experience of getting people into work. Tracey agreed to help him meet with these organisations to decide whether to find work through supported employment or create a microenterprise/become self-employed.

They looked at contingencies - what if Ted could not get his licence back? They agreed when and where to review progress. They decided that Ted, his sister and Tracey were going to meet again in six weeks, hopefully with Ted's chosen provider to help him gain employment.