One of the biggest areas of concern when our group first met was the lack of sexual education for the PWS adults. This has been an issue we have discussed for a while and have consulted with both Dr. BJ Goff and Dr. Forster about. Both doctors agreed that sex education has to be handled very delicately since all that is taught will be put into practice by our clients, and many with PWS will not understand the potential consequences of those actions. It was decided that all sex education will be handled on an individual basis and will be dealt with as issues come up.
Prior to Dr. Forster’s visit this fall, there were a number of regular behavior problems in Children's Services. In order to address this more effectively, we put schedules up in the dorms and began planning lots of activities. The students rely on the schedules now. We have seen a dramatic decrease in anxiety for students since the consistency and predictability of their day is in a highly visible location. Our Adult Services staff also pays very close attention to the level of structure and has seen similar benefits.
Another area of concern was how to help our students and adults organize their rooms. After much discussion one of the staff from the Adult Program shared how they deal with this issue. He said, “When things start seeming crowded or overwhelming, staff go and help weed out and sort through the mess.” Children’s Services adopted this technique and staff worked together to weed out and neaten the boys rooms. When they returned from school they were told that every morning when they leave for school nothing should be on their floors. We did this a month and a half ago and their rooms are still looking as neat and clean as the day staff did the clean up.
