Jonathon came to my service after a series of placement breakdowns had culminated in his detention in a secure mental health facility that was wholly inappropriate and not at all equipped to meet the needs of this young man with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder.
Case study 2
Jonathon came to my service after a series of placement breakdowns had culminated in his detention in a secure mental health facility that was wholly inappropriate and not at all equiped to meet the needs of this young man with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder.
Jonathan was being shadowed by three burly male mental health nurses in a baron environment devoid of stimulus and activity poised to restrain him the moment his behaviour escalated which given the setting was inevitable.
Jonathon was admitted to my service for a period of intensive treatment and assessment. Upon admission his behaviours were at times highly volatile. We commenced the functional assessment immediately, an extensive historical records review combined with collection of fresh data pertaining to Jonathons behaviour, likes, dislikes and preferred communication styles soon gave us a clearer understanding of why Jonathon had been presenting with behaviours that challenged the services he was residing in.
It wasn’t rocket science, we developed a proactive schedule of daily meaningful activities for Jonathon to participate in, some where contingent on his behaviour and some were not. We implemented positive behaviour support strategies for staff to follow in a crisis to bring about a quick end to incidents so that everyone could get back to the daily schedule.
Jonathon was an active and fit round man who had energy to burn so we channelled that energy into fun stuff like swimming, trampolining, running, long walks. A tired Jonathon was a happy Jonathon at the end of the day, the impact of some structure, opportunities to exercise meaningful choices and to above all be listened to by others who cared enough to work through the frustration and anger Jonathon felt at times had profound results.
**Notes, client name and details have been modified to maintain anonymity.
Comments