An amazing journey of progress

Gracie is a happy 21-year-old who accesses Therapy services and participates in Everyday Life Skills at Northcott Seven Hills. She has Down Syndrome, intellectual disability and uses limited speech to communicate.

When Gracie came to Northcott, she wouldn’t do many things by herself. She tended to follow others and wait for things to be done for her. Her communication skills were limited and she needed assistance with self-care, including personal care, dressing and grooming. Her fine and gross motor skills were limited and she struggled to walk and balance safely.

Fast track to 2022. With a dedicated team of support workers and therapists working together to develop her skills and strength, Gracie is doing more and more things for herself.

“Gracie is such a great example of progress. She has shown us that her potential was so much higher than anyone would have dreamed for her,” say Kat, her Northcott Speech Pathologist.

Northcott’s support

Gracie has accessed occupational therapy and speech pathology services from Northcott for several years, working on her communication and how she expresses herself, self-care tasks and mobility skills. Her funding has also allowed her to see an allied health assistant who continues her therapy plan supervised by her therapists. Gracie’s support workers also continue therapy activities with her during the Everyday Life Skills service.

This consistent and frequent support is a key reason Gracie’s skills have developed so rapidly, say her therapy team. Additionally, Gracie has a real drive to improve and be rewarded.

“When she has success, that’s a driver for Gracie. The more she does, the better she gets, and the more she wants to do. A small taste of independence is enough to make her want to strive for more,” explains Donna, her Occupational Therapist.

During the COVID lockdown in 2021, Gracie continued to attend our Seven Hills centre-based Life Skills service, where she was able to access one-on-one support. With her support worker, Gracie practiced her therapy activities, re-enforcing her skills and making progress.

Gracie’s progress

Gracie’s skills in all areas have grown significantly. Her team is immensely proud of how far she has come.

“Gracie has achieved lot. The one-on-one support definitely made a difference. She has improved in her communication, in her personal care, her social skills, and in her learning. There are so many improvements that she can be proud of,” says Kristen, Northcott Support Worker.

“Initially, Gracie wasn’t able to do certain fine motor activities that required some dexterity such as twisting and turning knobs, nuts and bolts. Now we’ve reached a stage where she’s able to hold a writing tool really well and do fine motor activities such as zipping up and closing a resealable bag,” says Renee, a Northcott Allied Health Assistant.

Gracie’s communication has also flourished, explains Kat, who, as her speech pathologist, introduced a signing environment for Gracie and her support network.

“When I first started working with her, Gracie’s communication wasn’t particularly present. She wasn’t really intentional with her communication. The support workers had to do a lot of interpretation with her and they weren’t always sure what she meant.

“Now, after Key Word Sign has been taught to all the support workers around her and she has realised that not only do they understand what she is saying, she understands what they are saying, it has been a huge change,” Kat says.

Donna, Gracie’s Northcott Occupational Therapist, has led improvements in Gracie’s mobility, giving her the ability to now walk wherever she wants to go.

“Gracie’s trajectory has just been up and up. One of the goals Gracie’s mum has is to see Gracie living independently in supported accommodation. When I first saw that goal, I didn’t think it would be possible. Now, I can see that happening in a couple of years because Gracie is improving in all of her skills. I can see that it’s now an achievable goal,” says Donna.