Collaborative Discussion – Finley

[admin]

In patients with autism and learning disabilities, behavioural changes can overshadow changes in health.

Reflect on how you as an individual could take this learning forward into your practice. Contribute to the collaborative discussion by also replying to two other posts from your cohort.

[Example Student]

Test

[Diana Margaret Thornton]

Learning to take forwards:

To have an awareness that when it comes to autism and learning disability (LD), behaviour can get in the way of diagnosis. Behaviour always serves a purpose and is either a coping mechanism or a way of communicating that something is wrong. In order to be able to communicate successfully with someone with either of these diagnosis it is important to have a strategy for communication where you can use effective techniques whilst minimising sensory stimulation and providing a calm, quiet, safe environment in which to have conversations and provide treatment. Obviously this is in an ideal world and all any of us can do is employ what we have learn to do the best we can, remembering that making changes to the environment may be key to better communication with someone with autism or LD.

[Yaa Asare]

I agree with you @ Diana. Making reasonable adjustments, empowering family and carers so they can notice when people with LD and autism are ill so appropriate help can be offered in time will help in providing good care for them. Also challenging inappropriate prescriptions and providing alternatives to medication will all contribute to better care for people with LD and autism. Health promotion, providing vaccinations, and liaison nurses to help healthcare professionals to understand people with LD and autism better will contribute to the delivery of good healthcare for them.

[Lydia Young]

Holistic care is essential for patients who have learning disabilities/difficulties or additional needs like Autism. This is because they can see the world as black and white, meaning everything around them is as they see it; if we use technical terms or assume they understand our behaviour, it can be misinterpreted to them. We have to learn how the patient understands information and what their sensory triggers are (noise, bright lights, not having eye contact) whilst also understanding their body language (typical trait in Autism is not giving eye contact or being hesitant in their words which can be assumed as rude to the public). All these can then be used to ensure the patient feels listened to and can get to the bottom of the issues at hand.

[Paul Sunny]

As a nurse, we need to learn to see past only the challenging behaviour patient shows. Like in Finley’s case, patient may not know how to express their pain or their needs. We need to learn to look at the patient as a whole and not just focus on their negative behaviour or challenging physical behaviour. Better understanding and awareness of mental health issues is also useful. Also need to reflect on our communication skills – can we adapt it to diferent patients with different needs? Can we actively listen to the patient and make effort to connect to the patient? This might mean using a different tone of voice, speaking in clear and simple sentences, using a different form of language, or even changing the environment or taking them to a different location where they seem more calm. We can also check with family/carers about what the patient’s normal behaviour is to understand more about what is different and why that may be happenning.

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