Special Challenges for Children

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Special Challenges for Children

• Chapter 19 DC

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Exceptional Children

• Children with Disabilities
• Attitude towards shapes their future
• inclusion- children with disabilities in the
  regular education program
• Physical Disabilities
• Some apparent at birth others revealed later
• Need for individual care
• Special exercises, special equipment
  understanding and patience
• Independence is essential

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• Learning Self-care
• Doing everyday things to take care of self
• May need to make adaptations
• Mental disabilities
• Slower and stops at a lower level
• Diagnosis by medical professionals
• Goal help them become as independent as possible
• Should be taught grooming, manners, acceptable
  social behavior
• Emotional Disabilities
• No clear cut between typical and disturbed
  behavior
• More noticeable over time
• What to do
• behavioral therapists- professional trained in
  helping people work through emotional problems

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• Raising child with disabilities
• Responsibilities and demands seem overwhelming
• Parents may feel guilt sadness anger and
  frustration
• support groups- parents with other parents of
  disabled children to share comfort, advice and
  solutions to everyday problems
• Help find tools

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Child Abuse and Neglect

• Types of Maltreatment
• Aprox. 3 million child abuse and neglect made to
  state agencies yearly
• Under age six more vulnerable
• physical abuse- injury caused by such
  mistreatment as shaking, burns, bites, or
  scalding water
• neglect- failing to provide basic needs
• sexual abuse- ranges from fondling to
  pornography
• emotional abuse- placing unreasonable or
  excessive demands on a child
• Child neglect most common form
• Physical abuse occurs in about ¼ of sustained
  cases
• Maltreatment pattern longer goes on worse it gets
• Health outcomes-poor growth, retardation, brain
  damage, mental health disorders
• Hopelessness, depression, low self-esteem,
  antisocial behavior

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• Who are child abusers
• Parents, other relatives, people close to family
• Usually not intend harm just Caught in emotional
  situations
• Often feel lonely, cant cope with own problems,
  low self-esteem
• Raised in abuse repeat cycle
• Why does abuse happen
• Easily provoked unable to maintain self control
• Respond quickly and violently
• Beliefs abusive parents usually have
• Infants spoiled if comforted when cry
• Unrealistic expectations
• Expect young children to remember commands only
  given once

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• What can be done?
• Against the law
• mandated reporters- people who work with
  children are required by law to report child
  abuse
• Parents will be investigated
• Foster homestried and charged
• Treatment and counseling
• Lots of places to get help for abusive parents
• crisis nurseries- child care facilities where
  troubled parents can leave their children for a
  short time

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Family Stresses

• Divorce
• 20 percent of children face
• Advise before break up
• Truth
• Elimination of blame
• Reassurance
• No false hope
• Death
• Under age three only understand brief separation
• 3-5 like sleep
• 5-9 accept will not come back, but not happen to
  everyone
• 9or10 see they to will die--scared

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• How children cope with death
• Stages of grief
• Disbelief
• May express anger, hostility and defiance
• Despair
• Withdrawn and depressed may revert
• Reorganization
• Begin to adjust without that person
• Be honest
• Let them talk
• When a parent dies
• Need support for extended time
• They act with guilt need reassurance they did
  nothing to cause death
• Need help coping with abandonment
• Children of all ages mourn should go to funeral
  to help transition

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• Suicide
• Giving away prize possessions
• Statements of better without
• Moving
• Encourage to talk about feelings
• Pack their own belongings
• Take to visit new things in area
• Financial Problems
• Let them know what is happening
• Illness
• Tell truthfully what is happening
• Explain how different from when they are sick
• Substance Abuse
• addiction- crave the substance even though it
  has powerful and harmful effects on their minds
  and bodies
• co-dependency- take on responsibilities that the
  substance abuser should be filling
• Causes many problems for the family
• Need to be faced head on
• Will not stop or seek help until they are ready to