Aimee, 15, who lived at home with her mother, had recently been diagnosed with Autism and was on the waiting list for support from CYPS (Children and Young People’s Service). Her anxiety increased when a close family member received a cancer diagnosis. She also struggled at school, finding the demands of school, and the school environment, extremely difficult leading to frequent absence and emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), and found it difficult to make friends.
Aimee’s mother found her behaviour challenging, it impacted her own mental health, and she struggled with her parenting. When the relationship broke down altogether, she reached out to the MASH team (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub) for support who made the referral to Key’s Intervention and Prevention team. A holistic and multi-pronged approach was required to tackle the complex issues involved.
Intervention commenced by addressing the relationship breakdown between Aimee and her mother. They completed soft mediation, and a plan was put in place to enable them both to communicate more effectively to avoid future conflict. This was a successful start, and their relationship began to improve.
Positive parenting sessions supported Aimee’s mother to get an understanding of her triggers and develop strategies to respond to Aimee’s meltdowns in a calm manner, preventing escalation and conflict.
Aimee struggled in a busy and noisy environment at school, she experienced extreme anxiety and was unable to regulate her emotions which teachers perceived as defiant behaviour. She had been informed that she would not be able to attend the leavers’ prom if her behaviour and attendance did not improve.
Aimee’s key worker liaised with the school’s SEND team (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) to help Aimee secure the support she needed to thrive at school. Despite some initial teething difficulties, incremental improvements began to be seen on implementation of the SEND plan.
Unfortunately, Aimee’s progress was set back after she was the victim of a serious incident at school; she was threatened by another pupil and on her return to school the perpetrator continued to intimidate her with non-verbal communication, so she refused to go back. Her key worker facilitated meetings with school and supported Aimee to attend school and feel safe about doing so by ensuring a rigid safety plan was put in place.
Once Aimee was attending school regularly, it was noted that she was a high performer, but her negative experience had put her off furthering her education. She was referred to Key’s rising stars program and received support researching careers, cv writing and exam stress strategies to find something she would enjoy doing and has since applied to South Tyneside College to study health and beauty. She also made it to her Leavers’ Prom after meeting behaviour expectations.
Aimee attended Key’s educational youth programme to address her feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Though she struggled at first, she succeeded in adapting and enjoyed making close friendships with two other girls which have continued after the sessions ended. She has also agreed to be an ambassador for the next cohort to demonstrate to peers that it is possible to overcome barriers and achieve your full potential.
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*Please note that names may have been changed and stock photography used to preserve the anonymity of this young person
Photo by Alex McCarthy on Unsplash