Mobile eye carer helping everyone see more clearly
KELLY HELPS AUTISTIC PEOPLE WITH SPECS
Reporter WHEN people with autism go to the optician, many of them don’t look through rose tinted glasses about their experience.
Now Kelly Appleby is helping to change all that and has been trained to work with those living with the condition as she visits their homes and advisers them on their eye wear.
Because autistic people see, hear and feel the world differently to others, Kelly has altered how she works to understand her new patients better.
And the Specsavers worker has completed a course developed with The National Autistic Society as they roll out the service across Tyne and Wear and Durham.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people perceive the world and interact with others. And having their eye’s tested can be a challenge.
But mobile eye care specialist Kelly, who works with an optician, is delighted to be on the forward-thinking team with the Specsavers’ home visiting service.
Kelly, 40, of Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland, said: “Autism affects more than one in 100 people, and it is vital that we are able to communicate and support someone with the condition in the most effective way possible.
“We are trained to recognise the different types of conditions, Asperger’s, ADHD and all the levels of the spectrum with autism.
“When we go to their home we have to respond by letting them know they are safe.
“With people with autism, meeting new people is a massive task and we give them the time to settle in with us You have to speak to them softly and not talk too harsh and look at how they interact with their carer and copy that.
“I love doing domiciliary and get great satisfaction with working with a wide range of people.”
Foster mum Kelly took part in the training, which is currently being rolled out across the company.
It aims to build on knowledge about the lifelong developmental disability, while helping to improve the customer experience for people with autism and their carers.
The online learning modules cover understanding autism, communicat- ing with people with autism, how ties, mental health issues or other autism can impact the senses and conditions, meaning people need difadjustments that people can ferent levels of support. make. All people on the autism spectrum
.“Kelly, who also works with the vullearn and develop. With the right sort nerable and the elderly, added: “Many of support, all can be helped to live a team members in our stores across more fulfilling life. the North East have already completThe National Autistic Society’s busied the different learning modules, and ness development manager, Sharlene it’s equally important our home visit Wright, said: “This has been a great teams have this specialist knowledge. opportunity for us to increase
“We are very proud to be involved in awareness of autism in partnership supporting The National Autistic Sociwith an organisation that is ety and we hope our training will help proactively seeking to enable autistic make the optical experience easier for people to have a positive experience people who are living with the condiin its stores. tion.” “It has been an inspiring collabora
Autism is a spectrum condition. All tion and The National Autistic Society autistic people share certain difficulwelcomes the open attitudes and ties, but being autistic will affect them minds with which Specsavers is seekin different ways. ing to enhance the lives of people on
Some also have learning disabili- the autism spectrum.”