Case study 8

Louis is the second child in the family; he has an older brother who he is very fond of. His parents are both in contact with him and he visits them on a regular basis. During his visits Louis would enjoy dinner with his mum and dad and when needed, his mum would cut his hair and nails. He would then return to the Autism Care UK development along with the staff, who normally stay with him throughout his visits. 

Louis was diagnosed with Autism in Nottingham at the age of three. He is non-verbal and also has Epilepsy, profound learning difficulties and challenging behaviour.

Louis traveled daily to a specialist school from the age of four to the age of eight. Until the age of eight, Louis still lived at home with his family. From the age of eight to 16 he went to another specialist school in Sunderland, and Louis still remained at home 19 weeks a year whilst attending school. At the age of 16 he went to a residential college where he stayed for the following eight years. Due to the escalation of his behaviours at the age of 24 he was sectioned and he spent four months in hospital locally until a new placement could be found for him. This placement was in Louth, where he spent six happy years.  He moved to Autism Care UK in September 2010.

To help Louis to make a smooth transition into Autism Care UK, a core team of staff was set up. They visited him at his old placement to get to know him and for him to get to know them, making Louis more comfortable once he moved to Autism Care UK. His care plan was also completed before his transition so all staff members could read and become familiar with it again to ease Louis into his new home. 

TEACCH was set up so that Louis could see what he was going to be doing, to plan his day and to aim to prevent any possible anxieties.

As Louis had spent a lot of time in his room, ACUK felt it would be good to encourage him to do some activities and eventually to spend sometime with his peers. This is still in progress, but Louis has been walking three times a day, taking rubbish to the bins, helping tidy and clean his bedroom and taking his dirty laundry to the washing bin. These skills are also helping Louis to become more independent. ACUK introduce positive rewards to help Louis through the transition period. He chooses these himself using a choices board, this has two choices at a time e.g. an apple or yoghurt, Louis then chooses before he takes part in an activity ready for completion.

Louis does not like to wear clothes when he is in his room, which is his personal choice but when in the corridor going to the toilet, he is aware that it is necessary for him to wear them. This has been approached by putting a picture of pants on his TEACCH board and the member of staff reminding him to put them on when he comes out of his room.  This is working well and verbal praise is given to Louis each time he completes the task.

Louis is also working towards some O.C.N.’s. At present it is making a snack and has been able to make himself sandwiches, which he really enjoys. To progress Louis further other O.C.N.’s are being looked into for him to participate in.

Louis has also been on trips out for lunch and dinner which he has really enjoyed and it will be the start of trips to special places e.g. the pub, walks, etc. and home visits will continue at regular intervals.

A holiday has been arranged for Louis to a local holiday centre where the aim is for him to go with two staff and spend a night there.

Louis is becoming more independent and coming out of his room more often. He feels safe and secure in his new surroundings.