Let's talk about safeguarding - Guidance notes for supporters
Let's talk about safeguarding
Our two "Let's Talk About
safeguarding
Keeping people safe from being hurt, abused, or neglected is called Safeguarding.
" Easy Reads are designed to help someone with a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
understand safeguarding and what to do if they, or someone else, are being abused or neglected.
They are:
These Easy Reads have been designed to be completed by someone with a learning disability. We recognise that some people may need a little more support and this
guidance
Guidance means being given clear instructions to be able to do something well.
helps support teams with this.
Guidance notes for supporters
Preparation is key!
For some people, communication may not be as easy as it is to many others. You will know how best to talk to someone you support or work with. The idea is that the Easy Reads are completed by the person you are supporting.
This can be more challenging if there are communication barriers. It is important to know that the information recorded is not an assumption made by the supporter, but the ideas and thoughts of the person with a learning disability. Therefore, preparation is key.
As part of a kinder approach maybe the first step is to ensure that the person is happy and able to talk. Ensure you have any communication aids and tools to hand to help with recording information. Establish timings with the person, the Easy Reads do not have to be completed all in one go. Do a little at a time if that helps.
Prepare the environment so that it is comfortable and safe, provide comfortable seating. Check the lighting, some people may not stark lighting so competing the Easy Reads in good daylight may be the better approach. Maybe a drink and snacks would help relax everyone. Some people find relaxing soft music in the background may be helpful, others may prefer silence. Work with the person you are supporting to know how best to change the environment to help them.
Guess - Ask - Write
This approach is used widely in person-centred planning meetings and may prove to be useful when supporting someone with the Easy Reads. Here is a little more information about this approach:
GUESS- When someone is telling you something you may believe is important, you may want to seek clarity. This is the Guess part as it may extend from what the person has told you or mentioned to you. You can say to the person what you believe you are hearing from what they have told you.
ASK- You may then go on to ask a clarifying question to provide accurate information to your guess. Remember to use open questions as they will offer more information for you to use. Only use closed (yes/no) questions to establish accuracy and then once you have that explore further with more open questions
WRITE- Once you have accurate information you will then need to record what has been discussed.