Celebrating Addison

Addison is being celebrated on World Autism Awareness Day for his incredible progression in just 8 months.

In our experience, foster carers often find it difficult to verbalise the support and care they provide even though they are changing and improving the life of a child. Addison’s foster carer said, “It opens you to what the world can offer them and what they can offer the world. It’s a real privilege to work with these kids.” Addison arrived at his foster carer’s home as an emergency placement during the peak of lockdown and was understandably daunted by his new environment.

Addison had not experienced a bedtime routine, and this is something his foster carers worked on immediately. After one week of his foster carers implementing a structured bedtime routine, Addison realised that having a bedroom to call his own along with a regular story time wasn’t so bad.

Another challenge Addison’s foster carers faced was getting him to eat at a table with cutlery. His foster carers worked with Addison to establish a consistent routine whilst utilising praise and encouragement tactics. We were pleased to hear that Addison will now sit at the table for a full meal and enjoys his food.

Being non-verbal, Addison would show his frustration and anxiety by head banging, chin banging and hand biting. His foster carers have worked hard to stop Addison from reaching the point where he becomes overwhelmed and needs to use these actions. To curb the hand biting, his foster carers introduced a chew buddy which really helped in those early months. 8 months on and Addison is much less anxious and therefore does not display these behaviours as frequently.

Addison’s foster carers will communicate with him by using pictures or showing him the objects they are referring to. Addison has adapted well to a structured environment and likes to play with sensory toys and for his foster carer to sing to him. Addison’s foster carer said “I’m arranging piano lessons for Addison as I believe he has a flair in that area and it will give
him the opportunity to flourish.”

With the help of his foster carers, Addison has recently overcome his fear of steps and they were extremely proud when he naturally climbed the steps of a slide in a play park. Addison’s foster carers said, “We are extremely proud of Addison, he is quite inspirational.” Credo Care’s Autism Behaviour Specialist said, “Addison has made remarkable progress in his short time with his foster carers who have understood his needs and been reflective about how to not only meet those needs but also to find ways to help Addison to reach his full potential.”

For another celebration on World Autism Awareness Day, read about Casper’s Story. If you would like to find about more information about Autism, you can visit the Autism Society’s website.