Client Case Study: “Everything”
Matthew, 22 years old, sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury following a road traffic incident when he was 18 years old. He had been at college studying for his A levels but had not returned to full time education since the incident.
Matthew was living at home with his parents but
was struggling to maintain both friendships and
jobs. He was low in mood and felt that ‘everything’
had changed for the worse.
Emma spent time talking to Matthew and his family to find out
what they perceived to be the problem areas and was not
surprised to hear that they both had very different perceptions
of what was causing the problems.
Matthew agreed to complete an AMPS assessment and,
with support, chose to carry out two of the AMPS tasks:
making a pot of tea and serving it with biscuits and changing
a duvet cover.
Each task was conducted following a clear discussion
regarding exactly what was expected according to the AMPS
criteria, where items were located and how they were to
be used. The assessment was conducted at Matthew’s
house so he was familiar with the set up.
Emma scored the tasks using the AMPS score form and referring to detailed notes made during the task observation.
By analysing the scores and reports Emma was able to see that Matthew struggled on almost every motor skill component of both tasks regardless of difficulty level, and that Matthew’s process skills scores were lower than anticipated on complex tasks but much better on simpler tasks components. This indicated to Emma that Matthew needed to be in environments where he was not stretched too much, where each component of the task he was asked to do were well within his range.
She completed two other standardised assessments with Matthew which he thoroughly enjoyed doing. The TASIT indicated that Matthew was slow in responding to other people’s facial expressions and body language, meaning that he was likely to respond inappropriately in social situations. Matthew was extremely surprised by the results of this assessment but conceded that the scoring was correct and agreed to work with Emma on developing his ability to respond more appropriately.
He also completed the LOTCA which identified that he was able to learn new things, a real plus and a find that encouraged Matthew to return to college, where he is now enrolled on a photography course.