Background and setting
Ali is 4 years 4 months. He has learning difficulties, though, given his age, and other disabilities, it is not clear how significant these are. Ali received a diagnosis of autism at the age of 2 years 6 months. There were no concerns about his vision until he was about 3 years 6 months; his vision then deteriorated rapidly and by the age of 3 years 11 months he was assessed as having very little vision: he reacts to light / dark and is aware of large objects.
Ali attends a special school for autistic children where he has additional support. He has a designated teaching assistant (TA) who knows him really well.
The school ensures there is close contact with parents.
Communication skills
Ali's communication skills are limited. He responds to clear, short spoken language (eg "stop", "wait"). Staff augment their spoken language with hand-under-hand demonstration and objects of reference. In addition, staff use reduced and simplified spoken language, eg to refer to his current experiences.
Ali appears to know his usual routine. By keeping to the routine, and using of objects of reference, staff support his understanding of what he is required to do / what is happening next.
Expressively, Ali requests through actions. He communicates distress, frustration (eg when he fails to get his own way) and anxiety through crying and movements.
To facilitate expressive communication, staff constantly provide Ali with a responsive environment. An aspect of this is that staff respond positively to Ali's emotions.
Sensory needs
Ali is sociable when he feels secure and relaxed, and enjoys interacting with familiar members of staff; he particularly enjoys rough and tumble.
Ali has a lot of energy and is physically very active during the breaks in the school day. If he becomes restless towards the end of the school morning, the TA takes him outside again so he can have additional physical exercise and use up more of his energy climbing the mounds and crossing the wobbly bridge.
When Ali becomes stressed, staff use one of several sensory integration activities to calm him. These activities were contained in advice from the occupational therapist. Staff also employ these strategies when he becomes overactive and it is not appropriate to take him outside for additional physical exercise.
When Ali is presented with a task, he quite often fails to engage with it initially. On these occasions, staff prepare him to work.
Ali is described as tactile defensive and generally avoids messy activities. However, he has not yet learned to use cutlery, but finger feeds, including items such as mashed potato, vegetables in gravy and yogurt. For the present, the occupational therapist has recommended that staff do not provide Ali with messy tasks.
Mobility and independence
In order to promote Ali's independence skills, staff avoid crowded situations in the cloakroom.
Ali is physically mobile; he moves around by feeling with his hands and feet, and appears to use hearing and smell. He sometimes relies on a sighted guide (eg in unfamiliar settings). As yet he does not receive formal support from a mobility officer. However, staff are conscious of the need to promote his independence when he is navigating around familiar environments. Thus they wait and provide time.
When he is using the outside play area, staff use heading off and gentle guiding to ensure Ali's physical safety.