“Our caseworker is a perfect fit”
February 13, 2012
Newton, Iowa – An inventor at heart, 11-year-old Levi loves showing off his latest creations to his LSI caseworker, Shane.
“The first ten minutes of every visit are showing Shane what’s he made,” said Levi’s mother Dawn. “Shane will say ‘Oh, that’s awesome. Have you thought about adding this?’ Shane seems to know how to talk to Levi on the same level.”
Talking on the same level is important for Levi since he is usually non-verbal with strangers.
However, now with Shane’s help and LSI’s services for people with disabilities, Levi is inventing a whole new skill set for himself.
“They’ve worked on relationships with friends and understanding social cues,” said Dawn. “Now they’re working on scheduling and getting Levi ready at night for the next day instead of hurrying in the morning. They are making a book piece by piece of everything Levi needs to do. Shane takes things Levi likes to do and integrates them to achieve a goal.”
In one instance, Shane’s creative approach helped Levi learn how to positively handle conflict with other kids.
“Levi was going to the park, get in fights with kids and it would always become physical,” Dawn said.
Shane came up with a solution involving one of Levi’s favorite games – role-playing.
“Shane took Levi to the park, and the game was that Levi had to keep Shane safe,” Dawn said. “So, Shane would walk in the middle of the road or kick a bottle or pick on an imaginary kid, and Levi would signal whether it was good or bad. Levi enjoyed it, and it helped him understand because he has not had one problem there since then.”
Shane used the same approach when Levi had occasional fits, reversing the situation so that Levi had to give Shane a thumbs up or thumbs down for his behavior.
“Showing him scenarios really helps him,” Dawn said. “Shane blends so good with Levi. He came in and used what Levi is good at to help him understand. As a parent, I’m so happy to have someone on the outside looking in. I can’t always explain it to Levi in a way he’ll understand.”
“Shane is the perfect fit,” she added. “If he doesn’t know an immediate answer, he’ll say ‘Let me think about it,’ and he always comes back with a ‘Let’s try this.’ That’s something LSI does so well. I can tell them something about my child, and it never ever surprises them, and that’s my favorite thing. They treat Levi just like another kid.”
That level of trust and comfort has helped Levi open up to communicating with new people.
In fact, last month Shane e-mailed some incredible news to his LSI team: “HE DID IT! Levi talked to me for the first time. We are all so excited here.”
Sometimes just a few words can say it all.
Learn more about services for people with disabilities.
