Case Scenario: Darren
Darren is a 42 year old autistic man with moderate learning disabilities. He lives in a supported living home with two other men. The home is run by a national charity and staffed 24/7 by a team of support workers. Darren attends a day centre on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Thursdays, he is supported to do his shopping when the supermarket is fairly quiet. On Saturday morning, Darren's mum visits. Darren becomes very distressed if there are any changes to this routine. Recently, Darren has started to put on weight. He has also taken to lying on top of his bed with his knees tucked into his stomach. His keyworker is worried that Darren might be in pain. He wants Darren to be seen by the GP. However, the last time, Darren was supported to attend a GP appointment, he experienced behaviour that challenges and returned home without being examined. Darren will need support to communicate with the medical professionals. His keyworker would also like Darren to get involved in some sort of exercise. He talks to his colleagues, Darren's mum and Darren himself to work out how best to support him.
Case Scenario: Josh
Josh has an autism diagnosis. He is 16 years old and attends a mainstream secondary school. Josh communicates verbally. He has a good vocabulary. However, he interprets spoken and written text literally. Josh is hypersensitive to noise. Sometimes, he asks to go to the sensory room. This helps him to relax when he is feeling overwhelmed. Josh is extremely interested in computers. He spends many hours a day learning everything he can about them. He is keen to share his knowledge with his peers even in lessons other than IT and at breaktime. Josh appears unaware that his friends want to talk about other topics. Josh has been talking to his IT teacher about how he can work with computers when he finishes school.
With reference to Scenario: Darren and Scenario: Josh:
A) Summarize the entitlement of the autistic individual to access facilities and services.
B) Outline ways in which community support organizations can work with individuals and families.