Getting the right care package can be so important – not only for the child or adult being cared for but for the family too.
It can make all the difference to the well-being of the person being cared for and their family, which in turn can influence the health of those involved.
The BBC Report
The BBC reported recently on the story of an autistic teenager who was being cared for many miles away from his family. The family of the severely autistic teenager says it is hopeful he will return home to Cornwall after a minister criticised his care plan.
Josh Wills, 13, from Redruth has been a resident in a specialist unit in Birmingham for more than two years. Autism is a developmental disorder that can cause problems with social interaction, language skills and physical behaviour. People with autism may also be more sensitive to everyday sensory information.
Josh’s condition is so severe, he has been cared for in a specialist unit in Birmingham, five hours away from home. Care Minister Norman Lamb has asked for Josh to be moved closer to Cornwall as soon as possible, however NHS Kernow said his needs could not be met in Cornwall but now hoped to bring him back as soon as possible.
Mr Lamb asked Cornwall Council and the NHS to work together to ensure he could move closer to his family, as soon as safely possible and has also asked for a progress report by the end of August. Trevor Doughty, Cornwall Council’s corporate director of education, health and social care, said: “We can’t promise an exact date, [but] I hope we’re talking about this year.”
“We’ve got to get this right. We have learnt lessons from this.”
Peter Stokes, from NHS Kernow, said: “I think everyone can be reassured that we are putting a care package in place. We could have done things better at the beginning.”
Sarah Pedley, Josh’s mother said: “I think it’s clear there’s a pretty solid plan in place and hopefully by the end of the year Josh will be back, I hope. I’m a lot more hopeful than I was a while ago.”
Josh has spent 18 months away from his family because he could not be cared for in his home county. His parents Sarah Pedley and Phil Wills, who have travelled a total of 40,000 miles to visit him started a petition to bring him home after they learned he could be moved long-term to Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.
Ms Pedley said: “You can’t suddenly take a child’s life away with no preparation, to be dumped in a completely alien environment without his family. It’s left him quite traumatised.”
Beverley Dawkins, of learning disability charity Mencap, said: “This is a very loved young boy who loves the time with his family. He has some complex needs… and he did need the specialised services, but that time has finished and he needs to have a service designed for him near his family.”
NHS Kernow, which has met the family, said: “We are working towards bringing Josh home as quickly as we can.”
Research
To people with autism the world can appear chaotic with no clear boundaries, order or meaning. The disorder varies from mild to so severe that a person may be almost unable to communicate and need round-the-clock care. Research has revealed that people with autism have brains that function in a number of different ways to those without the condition.
One recent study suggested that people with autism tend to have far more activity in the part of the brain called the amygdala when looking at other people’s faces. The over-stimulation of this part of the brain that deals with new information may explain why people with autism often have difficulty maintaining eye-contact.
Specific nerve cells in the brain, called neurones, also act differently in people with autism. Mirror neurones help us mimic useful behaviour so we can learn from others.
Brain imaging studies suggest that the mirror neurones in people with autism respond in a different way to those without the disorder. This could partly explain what many behavioural studies have already shown – that children with autism can find it difficult to copy or learn simple behaviours from others. Scientists have suggested with social interaction could have a knock-on effect on language learning.
More Information
To read the full story visit the BBC news website
Written by Rachel Harrison on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services.
