Home-Start HOST is a local charity of trained volunteers and dedicated, experienced staff. We help families with young children flourish during the years of early childhood, supporting parents across Tameside, Oldham, Stockport, Bolton & Glossop.
Mum has a 2-year-old non-verbal son. Mum is concerned and has asked for him to be assessed for autism, but due to his age has not been able to access this. He does not make eye contact and will put anything into his mouth, so Mum feels that she has got to be vigilant 24/7. She does not know whether he has listened to her instructions and the little one has ended up in A&E a few times due to putting things in his mouth he should not. Mum does not have support from family, and she is struggling with her own mental health.
A volunteer was matched and Mum opened up about family issues, including the breakdown of the relationship with her family – she has lost contact with her mum, brother, sister and auntie which she was previously very close to. Mum has said traumatic childhood events has led her to seek GP support who has referred her to online counselling. Mum talked about a lack of support as there had been a breakdown in trust and has led her to have trust issues with other people now.
Mum is feeling really frustrated with health services over her son and trying to get him a diagnosis. She feels like she is being “fobbed off “and is not being supported. She has still not met her Health Visitor in person and after speaking on the phone, Mum felt that the Health Visitor had been very dismissive of her concerns.
Mum gave us consent to speak to her Health Visitor on her behalf and see if we can maybe open lines of communication to help her get some support over the child’s development. Mum had previously said her son bites and chews anything he can, including walls, doors, books, paper and then puts the pieces up his nose. He also chews underlay of carpet, rugs, clothes which means Mum constantly must watch him for fear of him hurting himself. Mum told me last week he took feaces out of his nappy and ate it. This has all been reported to the family’s Health Visitor and he currently has an appointment with the GP for bloods.
Mum's son played with the toys we brought and he enjoyed the cars. He played well but then sat chewing the cars and ended up destroying a book by gnawing on the spine and pages. Mum explained he doesn’t have any books as he eats them and they have all been destroyed. Mum said all toys have been destroyed by him. We have joined them on park visits to help mum to build her confidence in taking him out a little more and have stressed the importance of outdoor and active play by supporting him to go on the swings etc.
Mum is very reluctant to take her son out and was reluctant to attend the library as she said he would “kick off” so we have been accompanying them on visits in order to build confidence. We have also supported them to access the sensory room.
We have encouraged attending nursery and Mum is now feeling happier with her son’s progress. She says he seems to be picking up words since starting nursery and is benefiting from more of a routine.
Mum has said she looks forward to her weekly visits from HOST as they have given her a chance to off-load her feelings.
A meeting has now been organised by the nursery and the Health Visitor is also attending. We will continue to support the family and will report on our observations to the Health Visitor so that we can help to build a bigger picture as the child continues to develop and make sure the right support is in place from the relevant professionals as any additional needs become more obvious.