Essay
unit 12 supporting individuals with additional needs
- Institution
- PEARSON (PEARSON)
unit 12 supporting individuals with additional needs level 3 health and social care, assignment 1
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1Supporting individuals with additional needs.
Introduction
In this report I will be assessing two different case studies.
One of these case studies entails a 8 year old girl who is paraplegic due to a road traffic
accident, the other is a 52 year old man with down’s syndrome.
I will be explaining the diagnostic procedures to determine additional needs for the case studies
with different additional needs, assess requirements of the case study individuals and evaluate
the significance to the individuals, their families and society or a diagnosis of additional needs.
Case study individuals.
Rebecca is 8 years old and is a wheelchair user, following a road traffic accident when she was
five years old. Rebecca requires one to one person care due to her physical disabilities, as she
sustained a fractured spine in the accident.
She also attends a school for SEN children, she has a designated teaching assistant and carer
who supports her with personal care.
Rebecca lives with her parents and older brother who is 12 years old. The family live in an
upstairs apartment provided by a housing association, which is small and not ‘wheelchair
friendly’.
Her mother works part time but has to stay home during the holidays to care for Rebecca and
Michael, this reduces the family income. Her father works long hours for a low wage at a factory.
The neighbourhood where the family lives, they recieve unpleasant comments when passing
the neighbors due to Rebecca's ‘difference’. This makes them tend not to go out whenever
possible.
Ben is 52 years old and he has down’s syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Ben has a learning age
of 8 years old, due to this he requires support with all of his daily living.
He lives in a residential setting with five other adults with learning difficulties and needs support.
Ben did live with his mother but unfortunately she passed away last year, so Ben had to move to
the setting.
Ben did enjoy shopping until a group of youths shouted at him with the people he lives with and
their carers. This resulted in him preferring to stay in his room.
Recently Ben went to a funfair but he got refused entry due to the manager saying he doesn't
want Ben's appearance to prevent people attending.
Ben is refusing his special diet to control his type 2 diabetes and staff have found sweets under
his pillow while making his bed.
Ben’s blood glucose levels are unstable, resulting in him not feeling well.
Ben has become withdrawn.
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Diagnosing or determining additional needs.
Learning disabilities can be described as mild, moderate, severe or profound. However there
are terms to help understand the level of support an individual may need.
Mild learning disabilities are considered to be when an individual is able to talk but may not be
able to understand or be able to explain new information easily. They may need more time to
understand complex ideas.
Moderate learning disabilities are considered to be when an individual finds daily living activities
more complicated and they may have basic language skills to explain how they are feeling or
what they want. This can be an example of Ben, the case study individual.
Severe and profound learning disabilities are considered to be when an individual may only
have very basic language skills and will communicate through gestures rather than words.
These individuals will need a high level of support and usually have more than one disability that
requires support.
Diagnostic procedures determine what type of disability an individual has will be different for
each condition.
A diagnostic assessment is used in health and social care settings to provide detailed
information about an individual’s need for support. Assessment may include things such as
looking at their medical history, finding out if they have ever had any specific assessment by a
medical professional or team or a physical exam.
Specialists who work in social services, medical or teaching have to be qualified at a degree
level. To diagnose and assess people with a learning disability in a specific area, they have to
undertake further study and specialise in that area of care.
Cognitive and learning needs.
Cognitive and learning needs are another way of saying learning difficulties.
Learning difficulties affect areas of learning and result in conditions such as:
- Dyspraxia affects the individual throughout their life. It is a motor skills disorder that
affects an individual’s ability to do practical things such as riding a bike, playing games
and, later on in life, will affect their ability to drive a car and to perform certain skills at
work. Dyspraxia can also affect an individual’s memory and processing, so it is
sometimes referred to as DCD. It is unclear what causes dyspraxia but it is known that
the condition interrupts signals from the brain to the body.
The first signs that a child has dyspraxia are often seen by their GP, or the special
educational needs coordinator (SENCO) at school. The child will be referred to a
specialist paediatrician for assessment and/or a paediatric occupational therapist for
further checks and a diagnosis. If needed, other specialists may become involved; for
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example, a neurodevelopmental paediatrician, who specialises in the central nervous
system. Each child is unique and should never be compared to another child. The aim is
for the child to learn strategies to cope with daily life and work so that these strategies
become routine.
Teachers need to use different methods of presenting material as children with
dyspraxia usually find it difficult, for example, to learn from material displayed on the
classroom board. Children with dyspraxia should be taught in an environment with very
few distractions and with carefully planned lessons. Care is needed when planning
physical education schedules to ensure that children do not become confused and upset
- Dyslexia, is a specific learning difficulty that causes problems with reading, writing,
spelling and organisation. Individuals with dyslexia are unable to process graphic images
correctly. However, a person with dyslexia may find it difficult to cope, as in many cases
they struggle to organise their lives. The individual may find it very difficult to cope with
written work, either in their education or at work. This can lead to frustration as the world
is full of written information, and the ability to organise oneself is vital to daily living. This
can lead to low self-esteem, so it is important that there is early diagnosis and the
individual is taught coping strategies.
- ADHD symptoms are usually diagnosed between the ages of three and six years old.
Children with ADHD tend to have disorganised and chaotic behaviour, they are more
temperamental and have high energy levels.
There is no simple diagnostic test for ADHD and a number of specialists, such as a
psychiatrist, a paediatrician and a learning disability specialist may be involved.
Assessment may include:
▸▸ physical examination, to exclude other causes for the symptoms
▸▸ a series of interviews with parents and/or the child
▸▸ interviews or reports from other significant people, such as teachers.
There are strict criteria for formally diagnosing ADHD and a child must have six or more
symptoms of inattentiveness or hyperactivity and impulsiveness. They must also have
these symptoms before they are 12 years old, the symptoms must have lasted for more
than six months and must have been noticed in more than one setting, such as at home
and at school.
- Pervasive developmental disorder, which affects communication and social skills.
- Childhood disintegrative disorder, this is a regressive condition which affects language,
social and motor skill development.
- Autism-spectrum disorders, which affect social interaction, communication, interests and
behaviours.
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