Case Study

Badia is a lovely, quiet Arabic lady with three young children, Ahmed who is 3 and a half, and twins girls who are 26 months old. She is always very patient and gentle with all three children, but seems completely worn out. She hardly speaks when she attends the parent and toddler drop in centre. The centre manager and staff are a little concerned about Ahmed who seems to be sad a lot of the time. He tends to stay by one particular staff member, Chaman, and just follows her around. He rarely speaks to her but appears to be settled when she is close at hand. When Chaman talks to Badia, his mum explains Ahmed has been quiet for a long time now, and that the traumatic arrival of the twins may have made him feel left out. Badia says she does not know how to get Ahmed to talk about how he is feeling. Chaman and the manager decide to start having some story session with puppets, where the children can make up a little story and say how they are feeling through the puppets. Chaman gets a puppet to read a story about having a new baby brother and afterwards the ‘puppet’ talks about how he feels about the new baby. In the first three sessions Ahmed says nothing but plays with the puppet, but on the fourth puppet story times Ahmed’s puppet says ‘I want to have the cuddles, not babies’.

1. Why do you think the centre chose to use puppets?
2. Why is it important to find out what the child had on his mind?
3. How would the mother have been feeling?
4. How will finding a way for Ahmed to express himself help him in the future?

It is rare that there is just one way to respond to a scenario or situation, so do not consider that the response you have chosen to this scenario will be judged as right or wrong. Share your scenario with a work colleague and ask them to tell you if they think you have responded appropriately. Ask them to challenge your response if necessary. You do not need to submit this task for assessment unless asked to do so by your tutor.