Why Individuals May Experience Additional Needs
In this assignment I will be looking at two study cases, the first study case is in regards to Rebecca Brown who is an 8-year-old girl, she got into a car accident when she was five years old and needs special one to one care due to her physical disabilities. The other is about Ben Grace who is fifty-two and has down syndrome and type two diabetes. He also has a learning age of 8 and requires help with his daily living. Throughout the assignment I will be talking about how they got diagnosed and who they were diagnosed by. In addition, what qualification they had to get before they were given the title or the job. Additional need is when a person requires an additional support and accommodation if they have a physical, emotional, behavioural or learning disabilities so they can participate in activities and education. They could require help with their daily routine such as dressing up, eating or going to the toilet.
The word learning disability points out to a range including; mild, moderate, severe and profound learning disabilities. People with Mild learning disabilities are studied in order to be when an individual is able to talk, but on the other hand maybe not understand or be able to explain new information easily. They will also find it challenging adapting to changes and an underdeveloped sense of spatial understanding. They will experience difficulty with their literacy and numeracy skills. So they could be lacking behind compared with their other peers and might need a bit of help with it. This shows that they perform below the average line compared to their peers.
Moderate learning disabilities are considered to be when a person finds everyday living activities like dressing up, going to the toilet or daily chores more complicated. They may also find it hard to express their feeling as they only have basic language skills. They are more likely to show serious delay in reaching developmental milestones. Many people with moderate learning disabilities will have difficulties with the length of time for which they can concentrate on activities and generally transferring their knowledge across also with processing input from more than one sense at a time.
Severe and profound learning disabilities are examined to be when an individual may have very basic language skills and will perhaps communicate through gestures rather than words. People with severe and profound learning disabilities will need a high level of support and will usually have more than one disability that requires help. Patients with this additional disability will have self-injurious behaviour, hearing impairment, emotional disturbances and sight problems. They will depend on others for basic needs such as feeding and toileting and may have associated behavioural problems. They will have few communicating skills and therefore will not have control with their communicative intentions.
Diagnosis is detection of the nature of an illness or other problems by examining the symptoms. For e. g. to detect cancer the doctor will order you to have some cancer blood tests or a biopsy of a suspicious area and an analysis of your urine. This helps to guide the doctor to get an understanding of what is going inside the body and how well the body is functioning or if it has been affected by cancer. Blood tests cannot tell whether you have cancer or other conditions. The samples could show cancer cells, proteins or other substances made by the cancer.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder. People with this condition usually find it challenging to multi-task and maintain their concentration. If a child is distracting in class, then you know the child has ADHD as they find it hard to concentrate and multi-task. There are three types of ADHD/ADD:
- Inattentive - this is typically referred to when someone uses the term ADD, this can mean the person shows enough signs of inattention but isn’t hyperactive or impulsive. Hyperactive Impulsive- this is referred to when someone uses the term ADHD, when a person shows a typically behaviour of hyperactive or impulsive but is not easily distracted.
- Combined - when a person shows signs of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. In spite the fact that ADHD/ADD can be very challenging, people with this condition can manage the symptoms through medication and strategies.
- Dyspraxia. Developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, is a condition affecting physical co-ordination that causes a child to perform very poorly in daily activities for the child’s age and they appear to move clumsily. it may continue to be a problem into adulthood. It is more common in boys than girls and the condition sometimes runs in genetic. The symptoms for this condition is that the child will be delayed in their early developmental milestones such as walking, self-feeding and crawling and it is expected that they will be behind with drawing, writing and performance in sport.
Dyspraxia isn’t usually definitely diagnosed until a child with the condition is around five years old. Firstly, if the parent sees the sigh of dyspraxia they could go to their local GP and get a doctor to have a look at the child. Another way is to talk with a special educational needs co-ordinator at the child’s school. They may refer the child to another professional who can help arrange an assessment. This could be:
- A Paediatrician- a doctor specialising in the care of children and babies, who will usually be based in your local community.
- A Paediatric Occupational Therapist - a healthcare professional who can assess a child’s functional abilities in daily activities, such as handling cutlery and getting dressed.
- A Paediatric Physiotherapist - a healthcare professional who can assess a child’s movement skills.
- A Clinical Psychologist or Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services clinician - a healthcare professional who specialises in the assessment and treatment of mental health conditions to deal with emotional problems.
- An Educational Psychologist - a professional who assists children who are having difficulty progressing with their education as a result of emotional, psychological or behavioural factors.
Other doctors such as a Neurodevelopmental Paediatrician or a Paediatric Neurologist may be involved with this process. It is important to get the right diagnosis so the parent can have a better understanding of the child’s problems and appropriate support can be offered to help them. Getting a diagnosis can also help to decrease the stress experienced by both parent and child with DCD.
Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
Childhood disintegrative disorder is also known as Heller’s syndrome and disintegrative psychosis, is a rare condition characterized by late onset of developmental delays in social, language and motor skills. CDD is similar to autism, and sometimes expressed as a low-functioning form of it. Many children have been somewhat delayed when the disorder becomes apparent, however the delays are not always obvious in young children. This is a devastating condition, poignant both the family and the person’s future.
Between the age of 2 and 10, skills that are gained are nearly lost in at least two of the six functioning areas; expressing language skills, motor skills, social and self-care skills, receptive language skills, play skills and control over bowel and bladder. Also, lack of normal function or impairment also occur in at least two of the following three areas; communication, repetitive behaviour and interest patterns and social interaction.
Rebecca Brown
She is 8-year-old girl who is a wheelchair user after she got into a traffic accident when she was five years old. She requires one to one personal care due to her physical disabilities, as she fractured her spine in the accident. She got diagnosed by physical therapists as they are a spine specialist who focuses mainly on treating spine conditions. But before that the doctor may have prescribed her a CT scan to prove detail of the fractured bone and the nerves around it. Or when she got into the accident and after taken to the hospital the doctors might have done a MRI scan to see greater detail of nerves and nearby discs. To practice as a physiotherapist, you must be registered with the Health and Care Professional council (HCPC). But first you need to strongly complete an approved degree (BSc) in physiotherapy. Full time takes 3 years but part-time takes from 4 to 6 years. Courses involves practical work with various patients. You usually need 2 to 3 A levels, including a biology science or PE, with five GCSEs grades A to C, including English language, maths and at least one science.
You need to also show that you have an understanding of physiotherapy and an aptitude of caring for others. After successfully completing the programme you are then eligible to apply for registration with the HCPC. Finally, you are a professional physical therapist. Treatment options include observation, pain management and bracing. For some patients a minimally invasive procedure including vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty could improve pain and aid to prevent further compression.
Ben Grace
Ben Grace is fifty-two and has Down Syndrome and type 2 diabetes. He also has learning age of 8 and needs support with all aspects of daily living. He was diagnosed with Down syndrome before he was born by the doctor. As cells are taken form the placentas and used to analyse the fetal chromosomes. The test is run in the first trimester, between 10 and 13 weeks of pregnancy. He was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes but before that he was probably taken to the nearest GP straight away and checked if he had the symptoms of diabetes. After the test they would have called him again to explain the test result and what the next step is. To become a General practical, they need to complete a degree in medicine, recognised by the General Medical Council (GMC). A specialist training in general practice and a two- year foundation course of general training. After a medical degree, they need to complete a two-year foundation programme; Foundation Year 1 and Foundation Year 2. The specialist training takes at least three years to complete. This includes 18 months as a speciality registrar in a range of hospital roles and another 18 months as a GP speciality registrar in general practice.
Finally, they need to pass the exams for membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners and then they will be awarded the Certificate of Completion of Training. This clarifies that you gained an entry to the GMC GP Register and you can now start to apply for jobs. Type 2 diabetes show up later in life, this disease is characterized by high blood glucose or hyperglycaemia and usually results from a combination of unhealthy lifestyle habits, obesity and genes.
