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Supporting the family of an Autistic child

December 17, 2010

Background

A child with autism can often prove a challenge for families. Over the Easter period of 2010, an autistic child was referred to Core Children’s Services by his social worker as an emergency. The family was at crisis point and in need of some immediate family support.

Supporting the child and the family

Support was requested initially for five evenings a week. This was to support the child after school, helping with bathing/dressing, encourage him to look after himself. It would also provide him with some occupation while his parents could spend time with his brothers and sisters. Support was also required at the dinner table as there was much improvement needed in this area.

The support worker from core Children's Services developed a good relationship with the autistic child and helped the rest of the family to put in place structure and routine into the child's life.

Outcome

At first, the autistic child didn’t listen to simple instructions or requests and didn’t play with his siblings without arguing or breaking things.

Now, he's much calmer and, due to the support worker's influence, he responds well to boundaries - especially when the support worker backs up what parents are saying. The child even tells the support worker when something is good /bad right or wrong; with encouragement he interacts well with his siblings and socialises better with others. He engages well when having one to one time and his general washing/bathing has improved considerably.

The support has now reduced to three evenings a week and one day a month to support on an activity with the family with a plan to reduce further in the New Year.