Jonathan's Story
“It’s amazing for us to be able to see how well he engages in his sessions here, all he’s done is ask if its farm day, he looks forwards to coming here all week”
“We saw how quickly he was able to calm down when he got angry, he really listened to you”
Jonathan's Parents
*name changed for anonymity
​About Jonathan
Jonathan is a 5 year old child with suspected ADHD and Autism, who is currently working 2-3 years behind age related expectations. He struggles to understand his emotions, feelings and those of others. Jonathan struggles to engage with learning and social experiences that are not his own agenda or fixation. Jonathan prefers interacting with adults rather than peers. He gets frustrated when he is unable to pronounce a word or says the wrong word and the listener has not understood what he is trying to communicate. As Jonathan’s level of frustration and dysregulation increase, he finds it more challenging to formulate his thoughts into words. He can get very dysregulated very quickly and find communicating what he needs very difficult. He will scream and cry and lash out, sometimes physically displaying his feelings by hitting out, throwing chairs, and lashing out at the people caring for him.
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At Stable and Wild
Jonathan took time to come out of his car, with his parent sharing he had become dysregulated in the car, how they felt he may have a meltdown again but hoped he would engage with the session.
Within this space coach suggested an interactive activity using pictures of various animals and places on the farm, encouraging Jonathan to choose the pictures for the places he would like to visit, creating a plan for the session ahead. Jonathan was forthcoming with this exercise, picking up the photos and sharing short stories with his coach of the previous times he has visited these spaces, demonstrating improved communication skills in engaging with his coach.
With this plan for the session on a clipboard to support Jonathan in his engagement, and giving guidance for the session ahead, his coach encouraged Jonathan to reflect on the space he would be working towards, and kept a reminder of this throughout the session, so that Jonathan was aware and felt supported of where the session would be at all times. This appeared to encourage Jonathan in his engagement and supported him to remain regulated throughout the session.
Impact Measures and Outcomes
• Jonathan feels he can engage more with adults and peers
• Jonathan’s communication skills have improved
• Jonathan can recognise his own feelings and has developed strategies to manage them