Reference no: EM133416159

Case Study: Sam is a 22 year old man that is highly involved in his local community. He is described as an outgoing, good-humored person. Sam has Down's syndrome and he lives at home with his parents who are both in their seventies. They have noticed a gradual decrease in his skills over the past month or two. They have reported that his memory is not so good and he is more forgetful - so much so that they have to remind him about his usual activities.

When you visit Sam, his parents tell you that he had been attending the community college to learn money management and financial wellness. About two months ago, Sam started to refuse to the college. He has also stopped going to play tennis with the local tennis club, which has always been his favorite activity and he no longer attends the choir that he joined two years ago.

There have been several changes of staff over the past 3 months and Sam's brother died from cancer about six months ago. You note observations in Sam's mood and behaviour are as follows: sad looking facial expression, wanting to continually discuss his brother and his funeral, asking repeated questions of who you think will die next, lack of interest in his favorite activities, when asked why he is not going to his classes anymore he says he is a dumb.

Questions: Answer the following questions :

• What are the symptoms that Sam is displaying based on the charts in chapters 7 and 8 of the textbook?
• Apply context, duration, intensity and frequency of your concerns from the article Children and Young people with learning disabilities - Understanding their mental health on page 16 to Sam.
• Based on the suggestions to supporting people with disabilities and dual diagnosis in the text and the reading, what would you do to support Sam as a Community Support Worker?