Case Study - GY

This case study is about a person we support attending a multi-media advocacy course at the Rix Centre.

One of the people we support attended the RIX Centre Multi-Media course and fed back to his housemates how good it was. GY seemed very interested and was supported to apply for the course.

GY attended the course over a period of 13 weeks. The aim of the course was to get individuals with learning disabilities involved with new technology so that they could be assisted to communicate their preferences, wishes and dreams. Individuals were supported to create a person-centred plan using a range of media including, music, photos and films.

The course started by exploring the principles behind person-centred planning and advocacy during seminar-style workshops. During these sessions, all individuals discussed what they knew about choices, advocacy and person-centred plans. GY was supported by staff to draw his circles of support and highlight his dreams and wishes.

The practical sessions involved learning how to use multimedia to capture and communicate life choices and personal preferences. GY was supported by staff to create a multimedia personal presentation using his own pictures, music and movie clips. These were collated over the course of the training and ultimately put together on a PowerPoint presentation. GY and his support worker spent several weeks deciding how his presentation would look and what sort of things it would contain. Ultimately they created a presentation with several chapters, including; memories, activities, likes, dislikes, dreams and future goals. GY made photo stories within these themes and recorded his own voice to narrate the stories he created. His support worker assisted him also by making films of GY’s family and friends discussing what he means to them.

During the whole process, GY was selecting the backing music to accompany the presentation from his own CD collection. At the end of the course, GY attended a graduation ceremony attended by his close friends and family. During the ceremony, all participants were able to show their finished presentation.

GY fed back that he really enjoyed the course, to the staff who support him and his sisters.  He enjoyed attending the university and being with all the students there. He especially enjoyed the feeling of being a fellow student at a university. The breaks were plentiful and there was a good variety of food and drinks on offer.

GY benefited from the course by being asked to think about his life and the person he is and wants to be. Also because GY had complete input into every part of the presentation it meant that it was completely person-centred and a true example of self-advocacy. 

There were three main goals set for GY when he made his initial presentation:

• To attend an exhibition snooker show and meet famous snooker players – this has been achieved.
• To have his activities board updated in his room so that all current activities are represented – to aid memory and knowledge of what day of the week it is – this has been achieved.
• To find an opportunity to go dog walking as GY loves animals, especially dogs and would benefit from regular walking of small dogs – not achieved and is ongoing.

Whilst on this course GY was being assessed as part of the dementia screening pathway. Being able to work on something that facilitates memory and personal choices is really important to him. Since graduation GY has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. The person-centred plan that he made himself will give GY easier access to his own choices and personal memories.  It will also give his present and future support staff a detailed idea of who he is so that he can be supported appropriately in a person-centred way.

The Occupational Therapist and Psychologist are working with GY and his support staff are using GY’s presentation to get an idea of who he is and what his likes, dislikes and preferences are as well as get an understanding of his life and current level of skills. This will be important for GY as time goes by as he will find communication and memory more difficult. His plan will help with this and will trigger his memory and his needs, choices and preferences are visual. GY plan will continue to grow with more input from the OT and family members.