Demographic Characteristics Name Gilbert Grape Role: Older brother, care taker Age unknown Race/Ethnicity: White Name: Arnie Grape Role: younger brother. Age 18 Race/Ethnicity: White Name Bonnie Grape Role: Mom Age unknown Race/Ethnicity: White Name Amy Grape Role: Sister Age unknown Race/Ethnicity: White Name Ellen Grape Role: Sister Age 15 Race/Ethnicity: White Name Larry Grape Role: absent oldest brother. Age unknown Race/Ethnicity: White Description of family: The Grape family lives in Pandora, Iowa. Gilbert a Caucasian young man age 24. The presenting problem is grief and trauma due to father committing suicide. His mom Bonnie was especially affected by Gilbert’s father’s death has become agoraphobic …show more content…
One pleasurable activity per week at night, a recommendation that is written down for Gilbert to show his family. 13. Move from Level 1 family functioning to Level 4 functioning (Vanhook, 2014). 14. Set up a token economy with Arnie to encourage good behavior. Reason for Referral The case was referred out by Adult Protective Services due to Arnie’s safety and well-being. A social worker was appointed to try and help relieve stressors and help the family be more cohesive. Family Concerns/Goals: 1. Gilbert wants a new family dynamic. He wants Arnie to have a “new brain”. Not have to fix the house, and have Bonnie exercise. 2. Bonnie wants the kids to listen more. 3. Amy wants to leave and get her own identity. 4. Ellen wants to work again have her own space and identity. History of Concerns/Goals: Onset/context: Families with children with disabilities 28% live below the federal poverty line and 2-3 times more likely to have to pay out of pocket expenses (Coppin et al., 2006). As mentioned before after the death of there father has been family dysfunction and conflict, and in clients own words “the family is “stuck in time” and in circumstances”. This reveals a long history of unsure demoralized and ever changing rules and dynamics within the family (Gilbert, Ellen,
George constantly reminds Lennie that he would not be struggling if he wasn’t taking care of him (STEINBECK, 1977). Similarly, in the film What's Eating Gilbert Grapes, Gilbert is a teenager struggling to provide for his family consisting of two sisters, a mentally handicapped brother and an obese mother. Gilbert is held up with responsibilities making him have no time for a social life (DEWIS, 2011).
The Grapes are a family living in a rural and economically depressed community. The members of the Grape family presently residing in the familial home consists of biological birth mother Bonnie Grape, who is unemployed and 54 years of age. Amy Grape, the eldest child, Unemployed and currently 34 years of age. Gilbert Grape, the eldest male sibling who is employed at a local grocery store and is currently 24, years of age. Arnie Grape is Gilbert’s younger brother and is presently turning 18 years of age. Arnie reaching his 18th birthday is considered to be somewhat of a triumph by the Grape family, as Arnie suffers from a debilitating medical condition that has not only kept him from achieving age appropriate developmental milestones but also threatens to shorten his life expectancy considerably. The youngest sibling Ellen Grape is currently employed at a local ice cream parlor and is 16 years of age.
In the great movie What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, directed by Lasse Hallstrom, there is a great variety of things eating Gilbert. Gilbert is a young man who feels as if the weight of the world is on his shoulders and feels trapped in a life he can’t escape, no matter how hard he tries. All of Gilbert’s emotional problems are the effects of his mother, she is an overweight-depressed woman who puts a lot of guilt, anger, and sadness on Gilbert, which in return makes Gilbert feel despair, pressured, depressed, and trapped.
Stressors present include keeping up the house that their father built, how to financially support the household, caring for Arnie & a morbidly obese mother fixated on the livingroom couch because of great depression related to her husband’s death and harsh criticism from others within the town about her along with humor remarks referring to her as a “whale”. It was stressful for the siblings to live their lives normally because of having to mature faster than other children to adapt to their living
The movie utilized for this assignment was What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. This movie explored the life of the Grape family consisting of Gilbert, Ellen, Arnie, Bonnie and Amy. (Hallström, Blomquist, Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper 1993). The movie reveals the struggles that the family face while raising Arnie who had a chronic mental illness (Hallström et al., 1993). This paper will discuss the priority concerns and corresponding interventions that are pertinent for the Grape family based on thorough use of the Calgary family assessment model. The focus of this papers assessment on the family will be on the functional aspect; however the structural and developmental aspects have been assessed.
Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and
Social agency and the court authorizing the placement, and caregivers are responsible for the continuing monitoring to ensure that the child in placement receives adequate care and supervision (Downs, Moore and McFadden, 2009, p.275). Services for children in foster care are a teamwork effort of the different parties involved (Downs, Moore and McFadden, 2009). Unfortunately in Antowne’s situation the agency and the court system failed him because although he was removed from his mother, the abuse and neglect continued. The systems involved did not provide the safety net Antwone needed.
The quality of child care in the United States leaves room for improvement. According to (Deborah, L., Vandell, & Barbara, W.), suggest that when low-income families received child care, mothers are more likely to keep doctor’s appointments and decrease their stress level. The cost of child care is having a huge impact on the careers of working parents and people with disabilities. According to the case study of Katy Adams is one that conveys the message of different facets of stress and, how it impacts a person’s health and well been. Stress plays a vital role in a person’s overall health. One of the non-medical problems of Katy’s Adams case study is related to denial of child care services because she was hospitalized and was unable to
After watching the movie “What’s eating Gilbert Grape” it focuses more on Gilbert Grape than any other characters in the movie. Gilbert Grape is a young man who resides in a small community called Endora. Gilbert at the beginning of the movie states “Describing Endora is like dancing to no music”. Gilbert’s youngest brother Arnie is soon to be 18 years old and has a developmental disability that never was disclosed in the movie. Furthermore, Bonnie Gilbert’s mother has been locked in her own home since her husband committed suicide seven years ago. Moreover, Bonnie is at the stage of stagnation. She is over-weighted and doesn’t think of doing anything for herself or for any of her children. Therefore, leaving Gilbert with the full responsibility of caring for his family especially Arnie.
Craig is a depressed teenager who takes medication to help him get better and it does end up working very well. It is hard for him to keep food down when he does have an appetite and his family is very supporting of him. Aaron is a bad influence on Craig because when he met him he started doing drugs and drinking at Aaron’s house parties. Craig gets very jealous of Aaron because he is so
Arnie Grape is an energetic boy with autism; he lives with his obese mother, two sisters, and his brother Gilbert Grape. Arnie Grape was told by the doctors that he wouldn’t get to celebrate his tenth birthday but he’s about to be eighteen and got to outlive his father and mother. His autism prevents him from communicating normally with others; he talks slow and at times will repeat what other people say. For example, when his brother Gilbert Grape said “Don’t scare Gilbert” after Arnie ran away from home after Gilbert hit him hard out of frustration, Arnie imitated him and hugged him, in his way letting him know that he understood. Arnie also repetitively climbs on top of a tree in the morning when his family is having breakfast and waits till his brother Gilbert comes and finds him. Also, Arnie climbs a water tower as soon as his brother turns the other
The parent discussed the fact that it was hard to decide on what aspect was most challenging since the “challenging aspect” had changed depending on the age of the child. This is an important aspect for all special needs educators to remember when establishing and fostering relationships with families of special needs students. As the textbook states, “Each family is a unique unit that changes as it goes through the stages and transitions of the family life cycle” (Martha E. Snell, 2011, p. 60). The textbook goes on to explain that special education professionals need to be aware of life cycle stages and transitions. “Two dimensions of the family life cycle that are important for educators to understand include (a) life-cycle stages and (b) life-cycle transitions” (Martha E. Snell, 2011, p.
intervention. Families in Society. Vol. 88, pg. 42. Proquest Direct database. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
Young adults from such backgrounds may lack the support that is indispensable for their success. The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability says “Families play an important role in helping youth envision a future for themselves that is rooted in high expectations and thoughtful planning. All youth need the support of their families and other caring adults as they transition into adulthood.” Although this is directly geared towards young adults with disabilities, it can be applied to all individuals. Families need to support their youth as they prepare to face the challenges a young adult experiences. The NCWD gives several steps we as adults can take to help our young adults; maintain high expectations, remain involved in their life, help them access information, take an active role in transition planning , and help youth access networks of personal and professional contacts. These may seem like miniscule tasks to you, but to your loved one this form of support is
The problem not only affects the family’s life but it also affects the child’s ability to learn and be productive at school. Children requires a lot of attention and love on a daily basis, however, having a child that has a disability requires extra attention and love because they are trying to understand the world through a different set of lens. This could become a problem especially if there are multiple children in the household. In often cases, the amount of attention that the parents give to the child in need obstruct the family dynamic because of the pa...