Background
Meet Joshua, autistic man, multi-talented musician, and a regular visitor at our Northamptonshire Centre. He has been coming to the centre since February 2021, and visits on Thursdays and Fridays.
Joshua also has an OCD diagnosis. Over the past year or two, he has been struggling with routine changes and adjusting to the ever-changing coronavirus restrictions.
Joshua is a talented multi-instrumentalist and had previously played the drums in his school band. However, recent changes have caused Joshua a lot of anxiety, and during the past year he stopped taking part in his usual activities - including playing music. Joshua has been a keen drummer in the past and has his own keyboard. He was also a member of his school band.
Getting support
Since Joshua started to come to the Centre, things began to improve. Our staff worked with Joshua to help him manage his anxiety and gradually regain his independence. Thanks to their support, he is now back to playing music and enjoying his usual hobbies.
Joshua’s parents chatted to us about how the service has supported them as a family. They told us:
‘The service has involved us in the decision-making process, accommodated us, been flexible and gone above and beyond. For example, when Joshua refused to go one day, staff members came back after a few hours to try and pick him up again, and succeeded the second time around.’
‘The staff are patient with Joshua. As a service, you have shown empathy in how you treat Joshua and us as a family. When being picked up and dropped off, we have seen that staff are patient with him. He seems to enjoy coming here and gets on well with the staff.’
