Perseverance and personalised support: the perfect mix for Eli
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Eli is 16 years old and lives with no working memory, meaning he has trouble holding on to information. He has flooded the bathroom and nearly burned down the family kitchen. And now he is well on the way to achieving some big dreams.
On his 16th birthday, Eli got his learner driver’s licence, which took a great deal of perseverance. With the help of service provider My Healthy Mind, Eli worked hard to prepare for the written driving test.
His mother, Paula Messow, beamed at the thought of her son who reached 30 hours of driving on the busy Gold Coast roads to prepare for his provisional licence.
Eli’s next goal is to get a motorbike licence.
As Eli has difficulties with organising and completing tasks, this milestone of driving is a big one. His mother said that this is the pathway to Eli’s dream of owning a silver Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer.
“He has researched online absolutely everything about owning a motorbike. He’s big on research,” she said.
When Eli was eight years old, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, having no working memory and mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
Paula had noticed Eli was never hitting milestones at the appropriate age, he had trouble learning, was having meltdowns and was very hard to coax to go to school.
As the years passed, Paula faced an uphill battle in finding appropriate support and services for Eli.
“It seemed that in the seven to 17 years age bracket, you very much got the feeling it was totally a parental responsibility,” she said.
She says that lack of support is a direct road to “serious burnout”.
So, what did Paula do? She threw herself into finding a solution and started a business as a provider of disability services.
Recently, Paula opened her second business, Establishing Care, with a special focus on accessing and providing support to seven to 17-year-olds living in northern New South Wales and South East Queensland regions.
Paula’s first client, her son Eli, is reaping the rewards.
He does weekly hydrotherapy to help build muscle, works regularly with an occupational therapist to improve memory, and is in a School Leaver Supports (SLES) program moving towards his goal of picking up a traineeship in computer coding, building skills and getting a job.
And not to forget, right on target, Eli reached a major milestone sought after by most teenagers when he turned 16, which was one happy birthday for Eli.
Learn more about Establishing Care and how they could help you by visiting their website.
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