13th August 2025

Nathan* is 13 years old and has a cheeky smile and playful personality. He is a charming young man. Nathan has a diagnosis of muscular dystrophy and is a wheelchair user. He requires short break care during times when his full-time foster carer has annual leave requests. This can be a week over the summer or 1-2 days monthly over the course of the year. This may vary as it will depend on the requests of his full-time foster carers.

Everyone that meets Nathan is captivated by his cheeky but charming personality and describe him as “a character”. He has lots of endearing qualities and a wonderful sense of humour that draws everyone in. Nathan is a naturally humorous young man. He is sociable and curious and enjoys asking people questions and learning about others.

Nathan has had a challenging start in his early life and this is exacerbated by his diagnosis but since moving to a full-time foster home in August 2024 he is thriving. His foster carers have provided him with lots of new opportunities that he had not previously had access to. Within his current home he has been given opportunities to go on holidays three times with extended family and has been included in all family activities. Nathan has become very attached to his carers and has formed positive and loving relationships with them in this time.

Nathan has a background of trauma in his early childhood, the extent of which is not currently clear. In addition to this, Nathan has complex health care needs which are supported by a large multi-disciplinary team.

Nathan has made good progress in school and his language skills have improved. He is able to communicate his needs, wishes and feelings. He is about to start secondary school in September and is looking forward to making some new friends.

Nathan is a fun‑loving young person who enjoys playing on his iPad, colouring in and lego. Nathan is able to let carers know his food preferences and tends to use his fingers to feed but is being encouraged to use cutlery.

Nathan requires carers with a wheelchair accessible home as he has equipment needs, including a hoist, his BIPAP machine as well as his wheelchair. Nathan requires support with his personal care. Due to his diagnosis, Nathan requires full support from his carers to transfer for all activities using a hoist.

Sometimes Nathan can find it difficult to manage his emotions and behaviour when upset. However, the frequency of these occurrences has greatly reduced within his foster home. As a way of managing this, foster carers provide Nathan with space to express his emotions and demonstrate appropriate role modelling to Nathan. To encourage a sense of security and stability for Nathan, he benefits from having a consistent routine and appropriate boundaries and consequences within his foster home.

Get in touch with us to find out more about caring for Nathan:

Call 0800 0720 137 or complete an online enquiry form

*name changed and stock image used to protect child’s identity