Reflective Communication Assignment

2754 Words12 Pages
My placement was held in a community home that caters for individuals with intellectual disability, challenging behaviour, down syndrome, cerebral palsy and mental health issues. The environment consists of five full-time residents; four of which are female and one male. My role as a social care practitioner was to shadow the staff from the organisation with the aim of gaining new skills and to develop knowledge and understanding of my potential role as a social care worker (The Institute of Technology Tralee 2013). Two clients and I were present in the room in which the incident occurred. The two clients who were present were C and R. C, a female resident who has a moderate intellectual disability, challenging behaviour as well as anxiety disorder and depression. C can verbally communicate but on her own terms and as a result of this chooses to stay non-verbal a vast majority of the time. When non-verbal C communicates through gestural or physical prompting. When C’s mood is on a high or is highly anxious she tends to communicate freely, but most of the time this communication is incoherent and irrational. When C is anxious or upset she tends to self-harm. C can come across as being quite intimidating; although she will never harm anyone in the house. C has had quite a troubling past but her family choose not to talk about it with the staff at the organisation. As a result of this the staff only get vague ideas of her past. When C becomes highly anxious at times she may