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Lizzie Ojumu
UNIT 12 –
SUPPORTING INDIVIDUALS WITH ADDITIONAL NEEDS
In this assignment, I aim to access both case studies given to me (one adult and one child), I
will be explaining the diagnostic procedures used by health care professionals to find out
what the additional needs were.
P1 – explain diagnostic procedures to determine additional needs for one child and
one adult with different additional needs.
Learning disability is defined as a lower intellectual ability and difficulties with daily activities,
such as domestic work, socialising, or managing money, which can affect a person's entire
life. Individuals with learning disabilities take longer to learn and may require assistance to
develop new skills, understand large amounts of information, and engage with others.
(Mencap, 2019).
There are 3 different types of learning disability, there are known as mild, moderate, severe,
and profound learning disabilities.
An individual with mild learning disability may get along well with others and be able to
complete most day-to-day activities. They can also require assistance in more difficult areas
of life, such as filling out difficult forms or managing their finances. While an individual with a
moderate learning disability will require more day-to-day assistance compared to
someone with a mild learning disability. This could include assistance with mobility (getting
around safely) or personal care (washing and dressing). An individual with a severe
learning disability, also known as profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD),
will struggle to understand complicated information and communicate with others.
Throughout the day, they will require assistance with many areas of living. They may also
have physical/restrictive disabilities, visual or hearing impairments, or both. They will require
additional health and social care, as well as assistance with mobility (moving about), eating,
personal care (washing and dressing), and speaking with others. (Sense, 2023).
Diagnostic procedure is used to determine what type of disability an individual has which
may be different from the other conditions or symptoms. The GP will be involved in
Rebecca’s care because she will need check-ups from time to time and the GP might refer
her to who they believe might help with her care. Professionals involved in her care vary
because they all have their different roles to play in her care. Immediately the accident
happens Rebecca will be referred to a Major trauma centre to see different specialist that are
trained in brain and physical injuries, she will be taken in an ambulance or helicopter
depending on how severe her injuries are. At this trauma centre she will be with staff trained
in rehabilitation and trauma care.
The first professional involved in her care upon her returning home will be a paediatric
consultant, this role involved checking on the development and growth of children before
they turn the age of 18, their role is to work with either with disability or not, they also work
with children with social or emotional issues. The role of a paediatric consultants includes
assessing the child in all aspects, treating any physical disease appropriately, and
understanding and managing any emotional challenges that may exist. Another professional
is a neurologist, neurologists diagnose, treat, and manage illnesses of the brain and spinal
cord, as well as nerve and muscle disorders that activate movement and transmit signals
from the body to the brain. (NHS, 2019). A physiotherapist will also be involved in her
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Lizzie Ojumu
diagnosis and care, their role is to help patients who have injuries, diseases, or ailments that
affect their movement and function. They accomplish this by identifying the underlying
causes of the problem and giving treatment, such as manual therapy, exercise, or
electrotherapy. (massinitiative.org, 2022). There are so many other health care professionals
who will work in a multi displinary team to ensure she is given the care she needs, more
examples Is an occupational therapist their job is to assess her abilities and her
capabilities and help recommended and method of adaptation and equipment’s for her. She
will also have a family social worker and an health visitor who will be a point of contact
for the other services in her local area
The child’s case study is Rebecca brown, she is 8 years old and she is known to have
paraplegia which means she is unable to move the lower parts of her body voluntarily, she
has this due to a car accident she was involved in, her condition is known to be very severe,
which will have very negative effects for her, due to this accident she has tried to adapt to
her disability which means that she is vulnerable both emotionally/mentally and physically
which means she is independent on carers and health care professionals. All this may result
in Rebecca being unable to do her normal routines like she used to do before, things like
exercising, running, gardening, walking, and dancing, which could result in her being
unhealthy because she doesn’t exercise. Rebecca may need to do mental capacity test
which will help professionals determine if she has enough mental capacity to make her own
decisions or if she lack capacity, they will need to check her ability to think, her perception
and judgement, this test will help the health professionals know what kind of treatment she
needs.
MRI SCANS.
The diagnostic procedures that can be used to determine Rebecca’s physical disability could
be the use of MRI scans or X-rays which is used by a radiologist technologist often in
hospitals. This MRI scans or X-rays are used to examine the body, bones, soft tissues inside
the human body, this will be beneficial for Rebecca because of her spinal injuries, this will
help the technologist to understand how severe her physical disability is. For this to be able
to happen, Rebecca will need to be positioned so that the part of her body that needs to be
scanned is placed between the x-ray source and the x-ray detector so that when the x-ray
machine is turned on, the machine will be able to scan both the density and where it needs
to, the scan will help in detecting none fractures, any abnormal masses, foreign objects and
any type of injury.
CRT SCANS.
Rebecca will also need to undergo a computed tomography (CT scan), this will help in
providing detailed high-quality pictures of the results of the scan. This is a machine that uses
x-ray and a computer to produce detailed and quality images of inside the body.
Case study 2 (Ben Grace)
This case study is an adult one, ben is 52 years old and has been diagnosed with down
syndrome and type 2 diabetes, which has affected him emotionally, affecting hi social life an
his mental state, Ben’s problems has caused him to be unable to adapt to his day-by-day
exercises like he used to do. Which means he is dependent on others.
Professionals involved in Ben’s care is a local GP who will refer him to who they believe will
give him the appropriate care. A paediatrician
