Finn – Improved GP Appointment

Finn has a learning disability and diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome. He struggles with making friends and societal boundaries. 

Finn has a learning disability and diagnosis of aspergers syndrome. He struggles with making friends and societal boundaries. Finn has a speech impediment and regularly finds it difficult to communicate with others. He has a support worker which he finds helpful and also has the support of his mum with whom he has a close relationship. Finn accesses social support groups via zoom during Covid-19, along with counselling sessions to learn coping strategies for his challenges. 

Finn has found interaction with others a struggle for a long time and would often resort to writing down what he wanted to say on his phone, and showing it to those with whom he was trying to communicate. 

After staff attended Hear Me Now (HMN) information sessions and training, the support worker instantly thought of how HMN could benefit Finn. The support worker thought it would be particularly helpful for Finn to use when  communicating with her, as well as when attending regular appointments (for example with NHS staff). 

Finn had an upcoming GP appointment and was worried he would not be able to communicate effectively. The support worker talked him through the process of recording audio and video on HMN in preparation for the appointment. Finn was able to say efficiently how he was feeling, and what struggles he had been facing. Finn saved the recording on HMN for his appointment at the doctors’ surgery.  At the appointment, Finn played the recoding to his doctor.  He has since recognised that HMN is also a great way to log and document his own medical records and appointments. Staff at the GP Practice showed Finn how to set reminders in HMN for any future appointments, to help him manage appointments independently. 

HMN has enabled Finn to communicate more effectively with professionals and with those supporting him. A particular benefit of recording audio/video before his appointment was that he did not feel under pressure during the appointment. This in turn relieved some of his anxiety and also reduced the time spent in appointments at the surgery, as communication was significantly improved. 

The use of HMN by Finn, his support worker and the GP practice is allowing for both more effective and more efficient appointments at the GP practice as well as improving many more experiences where Finn had previously been anxious about his communication. The ability to communicate more effectively by using the tools HMN provides has given Finn more confidence, dignity and independence. 

Organisations working with Finn have reduced time commitments as each communication is more efficient, saving money for them and improving use of their capacity.