Sunday, November 17, 2019
The Psychosocial Difficulties of Parents of Young Children Essay Example for Free
The Psychosocial Difficulties of Parents of Young Children Essay Introduction A disability is a permanent condition that makes it difficult for a person to do something important in everyday life.  People who have such conditions are said to be disabled.  For example, people who are deaf cannot hear, they have difficulty on understanding on what other people say.  People who are blind have difficulty in seeing the world around them and in reading print. Physically disabled people have difficulty in moving about.  Mentally retarded people are limited in their ability to learn abstract ideas. Emotionally disturbed people have difficulty controlling their emotions (Pearson, 2006).  A disability is a condition or function judged to be significantly impaired relative to the usual standard of an individual of their group.  The term is often used to refer to individual functioning, including physical impairment, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment, intellectual impairment, mental illness, and various types of chronic disease. This usage has been described by some disabled people as being associated with a medical model of disability. How adults express their emotions will influence the reactions of children and youth. Further, children with disabilities (e.g., emotional, cognitive, physical, etc.) will react to the trauma and stress based on their past experience and awareness of the current situation.  Caregivers and school personnel who know a child well can best predict his or her reactions and behaviours because they have observed the child’s response to stress in the past. Review of related Literature.            Eighty percent of all people with disabilities live in developing countries. And in these countries there is a shortage of doctors, clinics, and rehabilitation facilities.  Children and young people with disabilities frequently live in poverty. Many suffer from social exclusion and prejudices.  Parents should be responsible of the primary concerns of the early childhood of their children with disabilities foster love, special attention and works to make them accepted in the society (Bowe, 2006).            The global number of people with disabilities is on the rise.  This is due, on the one hand, to improved medical care.  Even with a disability, a person today can lead a long and fulfilled life if they enjoy the benefits of a good healthcare system.  In developing countries, however, there is no adequate healthcare provision. Children suffer from hunger, have no access to clean water, get illnesses which have either been eradicated in the industrial countries or which can be easily cured.  All these deplorable conditions inhibit the development of children and can lead to disabilities.  According to The Child Right Information Network, 97 percent of children with disabilities in developing countries receive no rehabilitation and 98 percent receive no school education suited to their needs (Pearson 2006).            Expanding health insurance coverage for children is a major thrust of recent health care policy. In 1997, for example, Congress enacted the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a federal initiative to improve children’s health by increasing access to health care for children in low-income families.  Because of its low- income focus, assessing the potential effectiveness of SCHIP in improving children’s health requires a look at health care needs and how they relate to family income (Shakespeare, 2003). Children with disabilities generally have specific â€Å"triggers†â€â€words, images, sounds, etc. that signal danger or disruption to their feelings of safety and security. Again, these are specific to each child but come from past experiences, association with traumas, seeing fear in adults, etc. Children tend to develop their own â€Å"cues†in response to these trigger events, warning signals that adults can â€Å"read†to understand that the child is having difficulty. These cues may include facial expressions or nervous tics, changes in speech patterns, sweating, feeling ill, becoming quiet or withdrawn, complaining or getting irritable, exhibiting a fear or avoidance response, etc (Pearson, 2006). When adults anticipate these triggers or observe these cues, they should provide assurance, support and attention as quickly as possible.  If adults miss these cues, children may escalate their behaviour to a point where they completely lose control. If this occurs, adults need to remove the child to the safest place available, allow the child to calm down, and then talk to the child about the triggering fears or situation. Because parents and teachers see children in different situations, it is essential that they work together to share information about triggers and cues. This is best done on a regular basis, such as during the IEP meeting or a periodic review meeting, rather than in response to a crisis. However, when a crisis occurs, parents, case managers and others who work with the child should meet to briefly discuss specific concerns and how to best address the child’s needs in the current situation (John stone, 2001). In the context of prevention and the development of effective IEPs, some children need specific training and interventions to help them to develop self-control and self-management skills and strategies. During the teaching process, these skills and strategies should be taught so they can be demonstrated successfully under stressful conditions (e.g., school crises, terrorism, and tornado) so that children can respond appropriately and effectively. Adults should still expect that children will demonstrate their self-control skills with less efficiency when confronted by highly unusual or stressful situations (Johnstone, 2001).  Methodology            The medical model is presented as viewing disability as a problem of the person, directly caused by disease, trauma, or other health condition which therefore requires sustained medical care provided in the form of individual treatment by professionals. In the medical model, management of the disability is aimed at cure, or the individual’s adjustment and behavioural change that would lead to an almost-cure or effective cure. In the medical model, medical care is viewed as the main issue, and at the political level, the principal response is that of modifying or reforming healthcare policy. The social model of disability sees the issue of disability mainly as a socially created problem, and basically as a matter of the full integration of individuals into society (see Inclusion (disability rights)). In this model disability is not an attribute of an individual, but rather a complex collection of conditions, many of which are created by the social environment. Hence, in this model, the management of the problem requires social action, and thus, it is the collective responsibility of society at large to make the environmental modifications necessary for the full participation of people with disabilities in all areas of social life. The issue is both cultural and ideological, requiring individual, community, and large-scale social change. Viewed from this perspective equal access for people with impairment/disability is a human rights issue of major concern. Data Analysis            The analysis reported here contributes to such an examination by focusing on the needs of a particular group of children children with disabilities. This focus is important for three reasons. First, children with disabilities typically use more health services than their non-disabled peers. Second, not receiving services they need is likely to affect children with disabilities more than other children. Third, the services used by children with disabilities are among the most costly health-related services children use. To sharpen the focus on the differential need of children with disabilities, this paper focuses on a subset of health-related services that are used almost exclusively by children with disabilities supportive services. The basic finding is that policies focused on low-income children will reach the majority of children with disabilities who have unmet supportive service needs. These needs range widely across types of services, however, making the effectiveness of public health insurance policies in reaching these children dependent also on how comprehensive the service coverage is. Results As parents of children with special needs it is very important to understand your role as a parental advocate for your children.  An advocate is one who pleads the cause of another and who defends or maintains a cause or proposal. Parental advocacy includes efforts to:1).Have all of the needs of target child met: 2.)  Keep current about the latest advances, technology, and research innovations regarding childrens disability, treatment, protocols, and potential; 3.)Get the best care and services available for children with special needs; 4.). Monitor all services, professionals, and programs offered to target children 5.)Create a team approach with those involved in target childrens lives and care; 6.)Have target children served in a least restrictive environment;7.)Expose target children to as normal a lifestyles as possible  8. ) Assist target children in reaching their highest potential; 9.)Stimulate community concern and establish new services to fill in the gaps for target childrens care; 10.)Ensure lifelong support, nurturing, and rehabilitation of target children. Discussion            Staff and parents must consider how children with special needs respond to any form of stress and anticipate these and more extreme reactions following a crisis. Strategies that have been effective with these students in the past are the best strategies to implement now, understanding that steps might need to be more concrete and consequences more immediate. Consider the triggers and cues for these students and anticipate rather than reactâ€â€prepare students for changes in routines; allow time for discussion of the traumatic events in a safe and familiar setting; provide choices in activities to the extent feasible to give these students some sense of control over even a small part of their lives. Some students may need to be more protected or isolated to minimize distractions and sources of agitation during the height of a crisis, and adult supervision may need to be more intense for a while.            Expect some regression (increase in problem behaviours) and deal with inappropriate behaviours calmly and consistentlyâ€â€it helps students to understand that despite a lot of other changes and disruptions, there are some constants in class and family rules and expectations, and that they can depend on their support network to be available. How adults express their emotions will influence the reactions of children and youth. Further, children with disabilities (e.g., emotional, cognitive, physical, etc.) will react to the trauma and stress based on their past experience and awareness of the current situation. Caregivers and school personnel who know a child well can best predict his or her reactions and behaviours because they have observed the child’s response to stress in the past. Conclusion On the basis of characteristics of family resilience, the study examined the perspectives of parents of children with an intellectual, physical, or learning disability. Thirty-two parents were interviewed as to past, present, and the modes of coping. The questions examined various aspects of family ecology domains: parents responses to the childs diagnosis; patterns of adjustment; family support and services used by parents; and parents feelings and future expectations. Although, it was found that most parents had to make changes in their social life and expressed high levels of frustration and dissatisfaction, many try to maintain their routine life. The majority expressed the need for a strong belief in the child and in the childs future, an optimistic outlook, and a realistic view and acceptance of the disability. The study highlighted the importance of social resources and support, and the need for effective programs of intervention. References Bowe, Frank (2006) Handicapping America: Barriers to disabled people, Harper Row, 1978 ISBN 0-06-010422-8 Encyclopedia of disability, general ed. Gary L. Albrecht, Thousand Oaks, Calif. [u.a.]: SAGE Publ., 2005 Johnstone, David (2001) An Introduction to Disability Studies, 2nd edition, ISBN 1-85346-      726-X Michael Oliver, The Politics of Disablement, St. Martins Press 1997, ISBN 0-333-43293-2 Pearson, Charlotte (2006) Direct Payments and Personalisation of Care, Edinburgh, Dunedin Academic Press, ISBN 1903765625 Shakespeare, Tom (2003) Genetic Politics: from Eugenics to Genome, with Anne Kerr , New Clarion Press, 1999, ISBN 1-873797-25-7
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