OUTCOMES REPORT & CASE STUDY

Melonie Basabie
Long Island (SILO) Participant
Evaluator: Tony Gentry
Date: August 23, 2024

Melanie with her son and daughter

Brief Summary:

Melanie Basabie is a 43-year old mother and caregiver of a 21-year old autistic son (J.J. Lambert, also a study participant) and a 9-year old daughter. Ms. Basabie’s health conditions include ID, mental health disorder and chronic back pain. Initially assessed in July 2023, recommended equipment included cameras to allow her to observe her son when she is away from home, a computer, a device for medication reminding, home lighting and furnishing, and a rhoomba vacuum cleaner (see below). The family moved from an apartment in Patchogue to Bellport. All of the recommended equipment has been installed, except the computer, which is on order.

Key Phrases from Outcomes Interview:

“The vacuum thing is amazing! It works, they showed me how to use it, and it works to this day.”

“I can’t leave my son alone, so that is why I pushed so hard for the cameras.”

Outcomes Report Narrative:

This is a complicated case, because two study participants are in the same family, and the family switched homes in the midst of SILO’s provision of equipment.

Melonie Basabie is a 43-year old (bd 7/15/1981) married white woman, the parent and caregiver her son grant participant J.J. Lambert and a 9-year old daughter. On initial evaluation, the family lived in a 2nd floor, 2-bedroom apartment in Patchogue. Ms. Basabie’s health conditions include mild intellectual disability, an unspecified mental health disorder, and chronic back pain. She works part-time at a local restaurant and occasionally takes in neighborhood kids for baby-sitting. The initial Supports Intensity Scale taken 7/17/23 shows her independent in ADLs, but having some difficulty in managing household tasks, scheduling and medications.

On Tony’s initial home visit 7/17/23, Ms. Basabie’s primary concerns were about finding tools that would support her son’s many behavioral needs and keep her home safe. She said that he was easily over-stimulated and confused, and had punched walls, thrown things, and threatened self-harm in those situations. She also worried that he might wander away from home and get lost, which he had done previously. Though she needed to work to support the family, she felt that she could not leave her son unsupervised. As noted on her son’s outcomes report, she also sought solutions for his fear of bathing and using toilet paper. Because the apartment was small, dark and sparsely furnished, she asked for furniture, lighting and room dividers, too. She requested a laptop computer (and another for her son), so she could manage finances and pursue further employment opportunities. Finally, because of fatigue and back pain, she asked for any equipment that might make housekeeping less strenuous.

Collaboratively, Tony and Ms. Basabie selected equipment as noted below. SILO staff ordered and installed this equipment over several months. On 4/29/24, Tony returned for an outcomes visit, but there were still equipment concerns that had not been addressed. He chose to postpone the outcomes assessment and contacted SILO to take care of remaining items.

On 6/22, the family moved from Patchogue to a 3-bedroom apartment in Bellport. Additional equipment was installed by SILO in the new apartment. The list below should be considered together with the list of equipment on J.J. Lambert’s outcomes report, as taken together they address the family’s stated needs.

On 8/23, Tony conducted the outcomes evaluation at the new apartment, interviewing Mr. Lambert and his mother side by side.

Equipment Provided for Ms. Basabie:

4 Eufy Motion-activated cameras: These cameras link to an app on Ms. Basabie’s iPhone and are placed at four key locations in her apartment, so she can observe her son’s movements when she is away from home. (See hallway-cameras.jpg, livingroom camera.jpg, diningroomcamera.jpg). She says that the cameras are working well and give her peace of mind when she is at work, warning her if something goes awry at home, and recording any odd behavior, so she can share it with her son’s doctor, if needed. She says that SILO trained her to maintain the cameras and left a manual as well.

Work Desk: Originally, Ms. Basabie had wanted a dining table and chairs, but changed her mind and requested a work desk instead, having acquired the other furniture herself. The desk is in her office at home now.

Laptop Computer: The Lenovo laptop originally ordered never arrived, and Ms. Basabie decided she wanted a Macbook Air instead, saying that she only knows how to operate Apple pc’s. SILO, as of 9/5/24, says that computer is on order and will be delivered to her when it arrives.

Room dividing curtain and rod: This curtain allowed Ms. Basabie and her husband a little privacy, separating their bed space from the rest of the living room in their Patchogue apartment (see divider curtain.jpg). Their new apartment has an additional bedroom, so they no longer need the curtain.

Amazon Echo Show: When Ms. Basabie noted that her son refused to use the reminder pillbox originally ordered for him, Tony recommended this voice assistant as a spoken word medication reminder, which could be used for both Ms. Basabie and her son. The Alexa device is set up in a central location in their living room, and she says they use it for medications, task reminders, music, and “just to ask it questions.” (See echo-rhoomba.jpg.)

Rhoomba robot vacuum cleaner: One of the first items received from the grant, Ms. Basabie says it has been a real work saver. (See her discussion of this below at rhoomba.mov; also see echo-rhoomba.jpg and rhoomba-camera.jpg.)

Rolling kitchen stool: Allows Ms. Basabie to prepare food at counter and stove while seated, protecting her back (see high-chair-wheels.jpg).

Water leak alarm: This device, placed near bathtub, and linked to an app on Ms. Basabie’s phone, alerts her if water overflows in tub, as it has done on occasion when her son was having difficulty bathing (see leak-alarm.jpg).

Innohome Stove Guard: This electric eye device, connected to stove outlet, turns off the stove if it is neglected for too long. Originally recommended due to Ms. Basabie’s stated distractibility and her fear that her son might forget something cooking on stove. When it was delivered, she decided against it, so it was returned to SILO.

LED motion-activated lights: These magnetic stick-on lights were provided to add lighting to the dark staircase to the Patchogue apartment. They worked well, per Ms. Basabie, but were left behind when they moved to the first floor apartment in Bellport.

String Lights (2): These lights were provided to improve lighting in the Patchogue living room and were brought to the Bellport apartment, where they are strung in a poorly lit hallway.

SCHUSS-NY: Ms. Basabie and her son completed this assessment together. The results are included in his outcomes report.

Video Transcripts:

Rhoomba.mov (:48): The vacuum thing is amazing. That works, it’s easy to work, they taught me how to do that. Oscar, that’s his name, Oscar, he took his time teaching me, so I knew. He did not leave until it was well done. You know, showing me how to do it. It still works, even to this day, and I enjoy it. The kids actually love it. I think the cat doesn’t like it, because she’s scared of it, she hisses at it and then she’ll run away from it, and when it turns, she’ll come back to it, she thinks it’s a friend to play with.

Seizure Episode.mov (5:02): [Discussion/anecdote between Lambert and Basabie about a recent ER hospitalization following a seizure suffered while dining out at a restaurant – serves as an example of necessity of keeping tabs on Lambert at all times. “I cannot leave him alone, so this is why I pushed more and more for the cameras, because I can’t go, I need these cameras!”]

Problem with Laptop: [discussion of confusion around Chromebook provided, problem getting the Chromebook to work.]

Photographs:

Dining room camera

Divider curtain

Echo and Rhoomba

Hallway cameras

Leak alarm