Case Study: Amanda’s Journey to Recovery (A Clinician’s Report)

I entered into this position rather new to working on a home team. Having worked in a centre environment for the past 7 years I didn’t know what to expect or how I was going to structure my sessions. I also had not worked with many children who were as young as this child and was looking forward to the challenge of modifying my teaching around someone her age. 

The first day always presents its own challenges when working with a new consumer. I found that the challenges were more centered on finding ways to pair with the consumer when the highest reward, the parents was available. I had not experienced this in the center as eventually the child would accept rewards from you as their parents were not available throughout the day. I found that I needed to pair longer each day and that using the parents to facilitate the pairing at the beginning worked very well. Although the pairing took longer, the consumer now will go with me to the table willingly and will play with me during downtime.

After around a month of pairing (developing rapport and connection with the child by having her make a positive association between you and something “good,” typically by giving the child a reinforcement as a freebee.develop rapport and connection with the child by having her make a positive association between you and something “good,” typically by giving the child a reinforcement as a freebee), communication and play skills we slowly moved the consumer up to her bedroom for programming. This was such a smooth transition and I found that when working with the consumer up in the room there were less distractions and less interruptions due to lack of movement elsewhere in the room. Since moving up to the bedroom I have seen huge strides in all programming.

This has been such a rewarding experience thus far. The consumer has learned to drink from a straw, take off their own pants and is gaining pre-language/communication skills that they did not have prior to intervention. I am excited to continue to work with her and help her reach her fullest potential. Teacher expectation of their students can have an advantageous or a negative effect on the progress of the child they are working with. The expectation one has for those they teach actually influences their performance. I keep this in the forefront of my mind when I work with each child, and expect each child to aim towards new heights and meet new goals. I know that this consumer can meet their goals and can learn what we set out to teach her.