Personal Assistant Overnight Respite

**Job details**
- **Serious Applicants only who are looking to join a positive team and family providing the best care possible for their son.**_

I am looking for 1 additional Personal Assistant to join our evening overnight respite team for my teenage son. You will work on a 2 to 1 ratio supporting him every other Saturday. That’s 31 hours per month. With two of you on shift there will be the opportunity to have a break and rest/nap. The position would be for 15.5 hours from 6pm on a Saturday evening until 9.30am the following day.

My son is full of life, loves playing with his iPad, his toybox, and is incredibly cheeky. He lights up any room and brings a smile to all those who meet him.

My son has a diagnosis of Isodicentric 15 Chromosome Duplication. This entails a number of health complications including epilepsy, learning disability and can be a little wobbly on his feet with no sense of danger.

Despite his disabilities, he tries to lead as full a life as possible. His interests include:

- Going to the Cinema.
- Trampolining.
- Watching dinosaur programs, cartoons, Rugby matches, Formula 1 and 'Friends'
- Eating is a huge enjoyment and he enjoys a varied diet
- Being out in the car.
- Going for nature walks
- Music
- Being out and about and part of life.

The right PA could make a huge difference to his life. Now he is 21, yet cognitively much younger, we want him to access more fun activities but don't want him to be held back by having to go everywhere with his old Mum and Dad.

It’s probably more important that we get on and have shared values, than for you to have a huge amount of previous experience of this type of work. If you are the right person to help us, I hope you will get a lot out of it as well. Not only will you be able to help my son to have positive experiences and gain confidence, but you’ll get variety in your time here and a wide range of valuable work experience.

Because routine is important to us, punctuality is highly important. My son in particular needs someone who is reliable, calm and able to reassure him when he needs it and who can be flexible when needed.

The hours I require are:

- 1 Personal Assistant - 6pm Saturday afternoon through to 9.30am Sunday morning (15.5 hours with a paid 3 hour nap factored into the night). This is every fortnight although there are options to work more hours as mentioned above.

The position will initially be on a 6 month trial basis to ensure that all parties work well together. We have established great relationships with past employees who remain in contact with us to this day and who have become a part of our extended family.

This position also offers 5.6 weeks holiday pay (pro-rata)

**Duties will include**:

- You will play fun games ,go out in the garden, watch TV
- You will prepare dinner/drinks and assist with eating & drinking.
- Preparing rucksack with items needed for going out.
- Assist our son to access fun appropriate activities both indoors and outdoors
- Getting in and out the car
- Assist with walking as he does not perceive danger, kerbs, steps or uneven ground.
- Assist him to get ready for bed.
- Nappy changing
- Clothing and footwear changes
- Assist using toilet
- Administering medications (tablets)
- Assisting with teeth brushing
- Assist with walking upstairs safely and getting into bed
- Tidying up the trail of toys and washing up and putting away any pots used.
- Monitoring for seizures and reacting in a reassuring manner. This can be done via the CCTV that is set up downstairs. More information regarding the types of seizure and how to manage this will be shared with you during your training.
- We monitor his health closely and you will be required to record details of any seizures and medical issues. Again this will be explained to you during your training with us.
- Administering morning medication.
- Showering and getting dressed
- Preparing breakfast and aiding our son to eat it.

This list is not exhaustive but gives an indication of the high level of care our son needs to be able to stay safe, healthy and able to maintain both a happy and fulfilling life.

**Training**:
Training on my sons specific needs will be available before you begin working with him. You should be prepared to attend any relevant training sessions we feel necessary and read any training literature provided and follow procedures we have tried and tested in order to keep both our son and yourself safe.

**Information about being a Personal assistant**

It is the job of the Personal Assistant to assist their employer in all areas of personal care and domestic support, and to act as a confidential escort, assistant and companion in the person’s social and day-to-day activities. By providing help at the right time the disabled person is enabled to lead an individual and independent lifestyle in the community.

Your employer will have a number of expectations of you which are essential for the employer/employee relationship to work suc