Little bee

My son has recently turned 5 years old.  He is an adorable little boy with an “infectious” smile. Incredibly mischievous and is always giggling away. He doesn’t respond to his own name and is “in a world of his own”.

He loves to play with cars and enjoys soft play areas. In December 2022 he was diagnosed with severe Autism (non verbal) and a Learning Disability. He has significant difficulties with social communication and interaction. Due to his risky behaviour and impulsiveness he is currently on a waiting list to be assessed for ADHD. He is unable to understand language or gestures and is unable to get his needs met which leads to melt downs and him being frustrated.

His needs are presenting as significant, complex and long term and he requires a high level of individualised support and supervision to make progress and to be kept safe.

He has no sense of danger and is constantly looking at opportunities to run away from adults, parents and home.  He on occasions has ran onto a main road and nearly came under a car, he also has attempted to jump inside a pond without realising the harm this would lead to.

We are increasingly worried about his impulsivity and his inattention, which leads him to behave in ways which puts his and others safety at risk.

He presents with sensory processing difficulties. Specifically, he is a vestibular seeker, this means he likes movement, seeks movement to regulate and also seeks being in high places by climbing up. 

The situation is difficult at home because he is limited to indoor play as the back garden has no suitable fencing to keep him safe as he runs off onto main roads and moving cars. At home he is seeking activities which are not appropriate, he pulls and bites his siblings and throws thing and spill things around the house. He is constantly climbing onto the lounge mantelpiece and radiators and jumping onto others off dangerous heights. As soon as he enters the kitchen he puts the oven on and puts his head inside and has tried to toast his fingers and smashes  the crockery etc he is presenting with very challenging behaviour and requires a high level of supervision to keep him and others safe. This has lead to us being exhausted and not being able to give ourselves and the other children much time.

At home it is not possible to provide a high level of environmental consideration, particularly around safety because it is a family home with many other young children who all need to be able to access the kitchen, bathroom and their parents.

A safe elevated space sensory garden would be a dream come true, in which he can play, run and climb. At the moment we cannot leave his side and all of our time is spent on trying to meet his needs and understanding what he wants and trying to engage him in activities and keeping him distracted and trying to avoid distress and melt downs which lead to him kicking and screaming uncontrollably. We are unable to take him out doors to places socially, although he enjoys being outside due to safe guarding concerns and his risky challenging behaviours.

He seeks sensory input from the visual, auditory, vestibular, olfactory (smell) and tactile senses which may be seen as “stims” and provide him with comfort, predictability and can be calming and regulating. 

A sensory garden would be able to meet his needs and help him self-regulate in the hope that this would give him some quality of life and the rest of the children can spend time with parents.

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