Family Case Study
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
The Ryan Family
My parents have been friends with the Ryan family for about ten years, so I felt very comfortable being at their house and speaking with them about the difficulties in their family. One of the most striking things about the Ryan family home is the living room. It is completely bare except for a well-used spring rocking horse. In most other homes, a living room is the featured room where guests are made comfortable and a family's tastes are on display. But in the Ryan home this room is given over exclusively to Ashley's therapy. The house is big and multilevel, in a comfortable suburban area of Santa Clara, but maybe, on some days not big enough for this family of two parents and three children. The youngest, Ashley, aged five and a half, is autistic.
Ashley has a diagnosis of autism, at 30 months. She communicates for little other than getting her needs met. She typically grabs your hand and takes you to what she wants...