We create opportunities for people with profound learning disabilities and complex needs, to connect with others through intensive interaction, enabling them to feel heard and valued. Our clients are people with profound learning disabilities and/or complex needs. They may find the everyday things that we take for granted – talking to friends, sharing a joke or choosing what to eat – a huge challe
nge. They often also have sensory and physical disabilities that make life difficult. What we aim to do is to cut through some of these complexities and concentrate on what makes us all the same: the need to connect and communicate with each other in a way that means something to us and that contributes positively to our emotional well-being. In practice this means getting to know our clients, normally on a one to one basis in their homes, and then developing ideas and actions that may lead to a connection being made. This might, for example, mean playing a simple game, creating a sound or a song, testing and exploring different textures or simply initiating a touch of the hand. When we meet someone, we don't know what it might be that creates a connection, but what we do know is that it will be different for everyone. We also help those caring for or supporting people with profound learning disabilities and/or complex needs explore how to use Intensive Interaction 24/7. We believe that considering the communication and emotional well-being needs of those we care for or support should be integral to their lives, not an afterthought or an add-on.
