A new project spearheaded by a Prior's
Court member of staff is exploring how
young people with complex autism
can better recognise body parts and so
better explain if they are feeling pain.
The 'Body Awareness/Association' initiative was
proposed by Pari Jevant, one of our Graduate Autism
Practitioners who has been on rotation in different
departments across Prior's Court.
Pari noticed that while some Prior's Court young
people were able to identify body parts when
prompted, they did not necessarily have a clear
association with those body parts. This can impact
other areas of their lives, such as being able to
communicate
if they were
feeling pain.
To address
this, Pari
developed a
project to help
young people
associate pictures
of body parts with
their own body parts
as to eventually be able to
communicate pain in a specific
area.
Pari worked with our Speech and Language Therapy
team to gather resources to be able to use a variety
of methods to help our young people, including
communication boards and PECS books.
This has also led to the creation of an illustrated
children's story book called "Ouch!" which Pari has
worked on with graphic designer Megan Griffin.
Pari said: "This project has the potential to
significantly improve the ability of our young people
with autism to communicate and express their needs
and desires. It's an issue that can have a big impact on
their quality of life, and I'm excited to see the progress
and results of this initiative."
/priorscourt @PriorsCourt @priors_court Prior's Court Foundation
Body parts and pain recognition project
spearheaded by graduate team member
Two young people from
Millington House have
celebrated their successes
recently, overcoming
pandemic enforced barriers.
Young person William had a
successful overnight visit home in
December - his first since March
2019 when he came to Prior's
Court.
A home visit was planned for 2020
however the Covid pandemic
came, and visits had to be put on
hold. In 2022, staff arranged for
William to go to his mum's home
for a short visit so he could get
used to the environment. This was
very successful, so another visit was
planned for a longer period.
William went home for an
overnight visit in December and
both him and his mum had a
wonderful time. William also spent
some time with his nan.
Jo Lovelock, Millington House
Manager, said: This was a huge
achievement for William because
he hadn't been to his family home
for three years and hadn't stayed
overnight anywhere apart from
Prior's Court."
And William's housemate Tiffany
had a successful trip out into the
community, visiting Tesco with two
staff members.
Tiffany loves going out into the
community and going on the
minibus, but during the pandemic
Tiffany's
access to the
community
had been
stopped,
meaning
once off-site
visits had
started again
Tiffany struggled
to transition onto the
minibus.
Jo said: "This was a huge
achievement for Tiffany as
transitioning can be difficult for
her. She coped very well, walking
around the shop and choosing
some clothing and some snack
foods. Tiffany paid for her items on
the self-checkout and walked back
to the bus.
"We are all so pleased with how
well both visits went for Tiffany and
William, thank you to the staff who
supported them."
Successes out in the community