Case Studies
BH Case (Case Study completed by BH’s carer and Family)
At the time of start, what was the situation with BH. When you start how was he at the start and how is he now.
When I initially met BH and his parents, my first thought was, “What a loving family!” I knew this the moment I met BH for the first time. I sat with his parents, who told me about BH and their techniques to dealing with his Autism, speech and language delay. BH is 15 years old right now. Based on my observations, I realised the foundation for life educational support was required. I noticed this due to his lack of progress in his word pronunciation when speaking and his lack of patience when others are conversing. BH’s family underlined their strategy for aiding BH throughout the years, which included constant praise, sign language and patience. When working with BH, I replicated and applied the strategies BH’s family provided me with.
BH’s parents were really supportive when I first started this job; they were receptive to any questions I had and helped by clearly explaining. My own child has higher functioning autism, so I was already familiar with the challenges of autism management. I told BH’s parents that her school wanted to label her, but I disagreed and devised my own techniques to help her delayed processing. Over time, I began fostering, which taught me patience, empathy, and improved my communication skills. I’ve been a foster carer for over a decade.
BH is a cheery adolescent who enjoys frequent laughter, yet he is also demanding in what he wants. BH’s parents understand BH’s moods can fluctuate subject to change and would therefore usually make a symbolic timetable with a first and next board that includes all of the upcoming activities for the day and week. In the morning, BH is encouraged to listen to music while eating breakfast since it helps him stay calm.
BH’s vocabulary is limited to only a few words; therefore, when he is requesting something of his preference, he will repeat the word until he receives it. When pronouncing certain words, such as the name of fruits, he would place a “b” in front of the word, for example, “Borange”. Sometimes BH will associate places with a persons name action or object, and unless you understand BH, you may be confused with his wants. For example, he may ask for food as soon as he enters the car. When BH is not at school, BH’s dad, as a carer, has to go to different places to occupy his time. This can sometimes take away the parents attention from BH’s brother.
What actions you have taken to achieve outcomes also need to mention what was the focused outcome.
Working with BH for a few months has taught me what to do and how to help his parents with his needs. BH follows a strict routine, so maintaining consistency is critical. He is highly friendly, always smiling, and appreciates it when others smile with him; therefore, I take delight in positive reinforcement and welcome him with excitement and joy. BH loves music, so I made a conscious decision to watch his favorite videos with him, demonstrating interest in what he enjoys. He has old music video of people singing and signing nursery rhymes and lullabies. The fact these video’s are outdated demonstrates the significance of consistency and sticking to a routine, because changing the videos to something more current will upset him. BH also has a storybook collection that Dad and Mom would encourage me to read to him. BH’s attention span has improved when listening to others read to him; previously, he was not interested in listening to his parents read, but after a few sessions with me, he will now listen to his parents for a short period of time.
Dad then informed me that he could read the same story to BH. So I continued to use this technique, and he became more interested, allowing me to move on to other stories. I’ve now read him six different ones. When we go out, he exhibits self-stimulatory actions, rocking repeatedly while repeating a few words from nursery rhymes. When mum or dad need to go shopping, I will stay in the car with BH to prevent him from throwing a tantrum because he cannot obtain the stuff he wants, such as chocolate biscuits or a T-shirt. We had an incident where Dad took him into Tesco’s and he associated Tesco’s with a tee-shirt, he then threw a tantrum, resulting in Dad having to take him back to the car. The nursery rhymes come in handy when trying to distract BH. His favourite song is old Macdonald had a farm. He would now request for me to sing Old McDonald by singing ‘E-I-E-I-O’. He will keep repeating this phrase until I join in singing. He can also recite the names of several of the animals, including cows, horses, and his favourites, sheep, and make some of their sounds. He like other songs, such as Patter cake patter cake baker’s man, and when I speak his name, he laughs and repeats the phrases at the end.
BH’s parents now feel comfortable leaving BH with me since BH will tell me if he needs to pee, and he adores his football coach Louis, whom he has known for several years and would take him to the toilet if necessary. So, if we’re on the football pitch, which we do on Saturdays or during the holidays, they can now leave BH with me and take his brother elsewhere, or if mum comes, she can relax while he’s on the pitch with me.
I am particularly pleased with his improvement because I have been told by the folks who organise these events how much better BH has been recently with my assistance; the same is true when we travel to the farms or other activities. BH now wants me to accompany him, and I am delighted to do so. I have discovered that he enjoys playing ball, and there is a basket-ball net already put up in the garden. So when I arrive BH would say ball, and I’d say yeah, we’ll play soon, if you get dress and have your breakfast first, and he’d swiftly do this.
He is now paying more attention as I use more words to communicate with him., and tends to listen more. When we were playing ball, I would yell catch, and he has grown so accustomed to hearing this term that he now recognises it. If I say, “Now score, put it in the net,” and I put my ball in the net, he will say me, and I will respond, “Yes, you,” and he will now know how to put it in the net. When he scores, he always laughs heartily. Mum and Dad now comes out to observe and watch him, and Dad occasionally joins in. Mum has also stated that she will check if they can persuade his school to implement this game for the kids.
I believe that my presence has greatly aided the family, as Dad and Mum can now spend more time with his brother, who I can see is also very helpful to BH, and as Mum stated to me, she was feeling very sorry for his brother and the lack of attention from them despite their best efforts.
BH has been put on stronger medication, which is a trial, as Dad said to me. He also stated that as he has gotten older, he has tested them more, and I can see this from the demands he places on them. They have to take it in their stride, especially Dad, who is often exhausted because BH doesn’t sleep well and he has to stay up with him while Mum works full-time. I appreciate his parents’ hard work and the way they have dealt with BH over the years, and now that I can give them a little more time, his brother is also a little happier, because if he comes cycling, to the farm, or on some of the other trips when school is out, he can spend more time with mum or dad.