The Case

The Holomek family initially came to the attention of your organisation some time ago but you have found it very difficult to engage with them. You are aware that the children in the family have a poor attendance record at school and that one child – Gizela - has missed several important hospital appointments. In recent months, Tibor, the eldest child, has also turned 17.

Although the families’ engagement with your service has been limited and inconsistent, they have recently made contact because they would like to know how to claim Disability Living Allowance for their daughter. However, for you to respond, the family needs to attend an appointment with you, and then with other agencies if professionals are to establish a full developmental history for Gizela and understand the families’ circumstances.

You organise an initial meeting and, as the parents in the family speak very limited English, you manage to arrange for an interpreter to be present. This is complicated because:

1. The family asks to know the names of interpreters beforehand and decline more than one because they live in the local community and know the family.

2. In the meeting, the dad - Zsolt - seems upset and when the interpreter is asked to explain why this is, they say that it is ‘hard to explain in English’ and that ‘he is okay’.