Case Studies
Jack’s Story (told by his mother, Anne)
As a family in the last twelve months we had become very isolated. Jack was being cut-off at school and family and friends had stopped visiting. It was a constant struggle to keep fighting for help so that our child could enjoy the things other ‘normal’ children do at his age (11), but the lack of specialised resources for Jack’s disability were not available and so his challenging behaviour became more difficult to manage. Jack’s previous school could not meet his needs and holiday periods were such a stressful time because he required the structure of going to school to help keep his life predictable and safe, a trait of autistic conditions.
Our other son had started to spend a lot of his time in his bedroom while my husband and I managed Jack and his increasing challenging behaviour. This is not how I had wanted my children to grow up. Even when Jack’s disability was officially diagnosed we continued to try to ensure he engaged in activities as much as his disability would allow him to. My husband would be with one child and I with the other and so therefore we didn’t get much time together but as long as our children were happy we were.
Living Ambitions have helped our family to start living instead of just existing. Jack now attends Oliver House School, which part of Living Ambitions and this helps Jack have a predictable life. The school has specialised staff who are experienced in working with autistic children. Their approach to teaching is all geared towards the autistic learning and the staff are caring and friendly which gives the school a lovely atmosphere.
Jack has benefitted enormously and his challenging behaviour has reduced greatly. Jack’s teacher e-mails a weekly report regarding his achievements and sends photos of Jack taking part in activities which I keep in an album. I can’t believe the progress he has made in such a short time. He even does schoolwork at a desk, something which he found very difficult at his other schools. Oliver House School also take him on lots of outdoor activities, swimming, cycling, visits to different places, etc.
Jack also stays in a residential children’s home which is part of the Living Ambitions group and so receives the consistency he requires in all areas of his daily living. The staff in both the home and also in Oliver house School work closely together to ensure consistency in Jack’s routines. They are friendly, caring and welcoming and I cannot believe how Jack has settled into the children’s home and school so quickly. The first night he slept at the home we couldn’t believe he did so without any upset. He had never stayed with anyone else but us. The staff in the children’s home work very hard to ensure Jack is happy and cared for and teach him independent skills besides getting him out into the community, going into shops, walks, swimming, cycling, they even took him to Blackpool to see the lights. They telephone us every evening to give us a run down on Jack’s day and what he has been doing. We appreciate this so much.
Jack’s challenging behaviour has reduced enormously. He shows his emotions through his behaviour and each time we visit we can see the difference in him. He is relaxed and happy.
Jack needed something to happen otherwise he would have continued to be isolated and would not reach the potential I know he is capable of. We cannot thank Living Ambitions enough as now our family’s future is bright. I would recommend this provision to any other parents and families in similar situations.
Katy’s journey to college
Katy is in her second year of college and loving it. Until the start of the new term she used to travel to school on local authority transport but found it really embarrassing and because of the time she arrived at college didn’t get much time with her friends before classes started.
Independence and confidence building work had already stated with Katy prior to this through visits to the local shops on her own and gradually going further a field although always on foot.
From a series of meetings a joint decision was made between Living Ambitions Transition Staff, Katy’s parents and her social worker directed work on a program to prepare Katy for travelling to college alone. This began with Katy working with her keyworker to memorise her new journey, learning was bus number she needed, what stop to get on and off and what time the bus would come.
To build Katy’s confidence she practiced the route with her keyworker over and over until she felt confident. Katy also learnt about personal safety to make sure that if anything does happen she knew how to get help and always carries a mobile phone in case anything does go wrong!
Katy has gained so much confidence and pride from this program and is now able to have the time with her friends before college starts which is what she wanted all along! We are now looking at developing this to enable Katy to access more activities to further increase her confidence and independence.
