Special Education for Teenagers with Downs Syndrome - Essay Example

 Special Education for Teenagers with Down’s Syndrome Down’s Syndrome is a disease that is characterized by a distortion of genetic material, through chromosomal abnormalities. Individuals suffering from such diseases often find it difficult to cope in society, but the manner in which the individual is able to adapt to and live with the disease may depend to a large extent on the manner in which s/he is affected by the immediate or larger surrounding environment. This is in accordance with the Brofenbrenner model, which argues that an understanding of human development will not be possible without taking into account factors in the external environment. It can be well applied in the context of the Down’s Syndrome, which on the surface would appear to be an internal condition that is caused by chromosomal abnormalities; however the manner in which an individual adapts to it would be conditioned to a large extent by the kind of external environment that the individual is exposed to, as also shown in the case study below. Down’s Syndrome: Down’s Syndrome is a condition caused by a distortion of genetic material, such that the individual has an extra copy of one chromosome, in most cases chromosome 21 and this condition is known as trisomy. The additional genetic material which is present produces an imbalance in the body and results in some characteristic physical and intellectual features, such a (www.bbc.co.uk). The disorder affects one in every 1000 babies in the UK, which is about 750 babies per year. There are three different versions of the disease (a) regular trisomy 21, which afflicts about 94% of people (b) translocation, where the extra chromosome 21 material is attached to another chromosome rather than 21, and this accounts for about 4% of the cases and lastly (c) mosaic, wherein some of the cells have the extra chromosome 21 which affects about 2% of people and produces milder features (www.bbc.co.uk). People suffering from this disease can be easily distinguished because they have facial features that are different from normal people because they are flat and their eyes slant upwards. They have poor muscle tone and most of those affected by the disease have heart defects. The Brofenbrenner model: Brofenbrenner argues that in understanding human development including the feelings and behaviour of individuals, the context within which the individual functions must be considered. Individuals react with their surrounding environment in a process of mutual influence and interaction. The individual’s experience of the influence of the different systems is like a set of “nested structures, each inside the next, like a set of Russian dolls.” (Scott, 1992:205). The innermost level is the individual’s immediate family environment, i.e, the home, which is the micro level. The next level is the meso level which is the surrounding ecosystem to which the individual has indirect links. The next two outer levels are the exo and macro systems, such as the community the individual lives in and society in general. Hence, when represented in a diagram, the centre point of the circle would be the individual, while the surrounding environment would be as below: The case scenario: This report details the application of the Brofenbrenner model to the case of Jim, who is an eleven year old boy with Down’s Syndrome living in Basingstoke. He lives with his parents; his parents are in their forties and his grandmother lives with them specifically to help Jim’s parents in taking care of him. Jim has a strong, positive relationship with his mother, but his father feels higher levels of stress and dissatisfaction in dealing with the child. Jim has been diagnosed with trisomy, which is the most common kind of disorder. Jim has been identified in school as a student with special needs and has a Learning Assistant working with him to assist him in his learning and development. His school record suggests that Jim has been doing quite well and appears to be progressing positively in his learning. His teachers and family are hopeful that he will be able to continue on and develop into an adult who would be able to make a positive contribution to society, although he would perhaps always need someone like a family member or friend to work along with him and provide some aid when required. Applying the Brofenbrenner model in this instance, the impact of the immediate family environment appears to have had a beneficial effect in Jim’s life and may be largely responsible for his progress. An important study was carried out by Cliff Cunningham (1996) which revealed how significant the early childhood years and family stability is in the life of a child with Down’s syndrome. This study included most of the 203 Down’s syndrome births identified during the period 1973 to 1980, excluding about 22 families who did not participate in the project for various reasons. Parents in the sample were mostly older as characteristic of the disease (Carr, 1998) and financially better off but the sample did include children from a wide range of different family backgrounds. The study found that in general, the families of children with Down’s syndrome appear to be responding positively in terms of family stress and are not particularly at risk because of the child’s disease. The immediate family environment would thus play an important role in proving an environment for the child which is as normal as possible. Down’s syndrome presents a situation where the family needs to band together to help the disabled member of the family and this appears to contribute towards increased cohesion and no detrimental effects (Cuskelly and Dodds, 1992). There is less concern with trivial matters and a self-centred, materialistic approach appears contraindicated when a family member is disabled, leading to a higher morale in the family brought about by the positive impact the child’s presence creates. In arriving at an assessment of the potential risk factors for a child with Down’s syndrome, the study found that the strongest predictor of distress for the child or lower satisfaction and stress for the family was determined on the basis of how the family responded to the child in early years. Thus, when a positive, caring approach was taken up in early years, this contributed to a similar positive influence that continued through to the teenage years and this appears to be relevant in Jim’s case. Jim’s further progression over his teenage years may however be impacted by the less positive feelings his father has towards him. Cunningham’s study showed that fathers of these children generally appear to be less satisfied with the child, especially if it is a boy. This is could be the result of less support being extended to them through alternative measures available in the community and society, because they are generally away at work and unable to care for the child. This could pose a risk factor for the well being of the family and Jim in the future, since Jim would need to draw closer to his father to facilitate his growth and development as a male, and his father’s somewhat negative feelings could impede the good progress Jim has made thus far. As Knussen and Sloper (1992) found, a failure to teach parents good coping strategies could impact upon the child. For example, when faced with a Down’s syndrome child, fathers typically feel out of control of their lives and seek an externalized locus of control; if this is unavailable, they may make light of the situation or develop a stance of passive helplessness, which could be transferred to the child and impact negatively upon the ability of the child to be self sustaining. Jim’s father has played more of a peripheral role in Jim’s development so far, but he may need to participate more fully in learning coping strategies. By teaching Jim’s father effective strategies to cope, Jim’s progress might continue on a positive path; a study by Kirkham (1993) showed that mothers of young children with such disabilities who received such intervention were able to improve their coping skills and their communication levels with their children and were less depressed. The external environment has also played a significant role in influencing Jim’s positive development. In the UK, the inclusion of Down’s syndrome children in mainstream education with a Learning assistant to aid their learning process has been found to be effective in contributing to improved learning outcomes as compared to educating them separately (Buckley et al, 2006). Children like Jim with Down’s Syndrome, appear to function better and make better progress when they can learn with other children because their verbal communication skills, as well as their learning outcomes improve, especially when they have a Special needs learning assistant to help them and ensure that they are provided the specialized attention necessary to Government support is also available in the form of the Early Support initiative, which helps to coordinate and improve services for disabled children. In the UK, the Down’s Syndrome Association provides community support for families who have a disabled child. This initiative provides information, guidance and resources for families, key practitioners and social workers on how best to provide the necessary support for disabled children, especially those with Down’s syndrome. It also ensures that all these concerned parties work together for the benefit of the child, being armed with the necessary knowledge about the disease as well as the best ways to cope with it and provide the necessary support for the child. It helps parents to develop effective coping strategies and enables a distribution of the load between parents, case workers and Special Needs assistants. In order to translate these facilities that is available from wider society via government legislation into services locally available for families and children with Down’s Syndrome, every local authority has been assigned with the duty to provide care services for disabled children. Workers from Social services can help families and children with Down’s syndrome by providing help in the home or offering breaks for parents from the care of the child. Parents can also ask for assessment of their child’s needs and receive some financial help towards the care of the child. Playgroups and leisure facilities may also be available and the Down’s Syndrome Association has local chapters where parents can consult with specialist advisors on the kinds of benefits available to them, as well as the education and health of their children. Conclusions: In conclusion therefore, it may be seen that Jim’s positive development may have resulted largely due to the environmental support that is available to him and his family. Jim’s parents have support available in the form of benefit payments from the Government, as well as support from local social care workers in completion of practical tasks as well as in providing free time for the parents. This may have enabled good coping in Jim’s mother; however Jim’s father may need to become more actively involved in order to develop better coping skills so that he can interact with his son. The availability of Government legislation and guidance has been very helpful in promoting a positive outcome and Jim’s learning in particular, may have been enhanced through the revisions to the education legislation in the UK, i.e, Every Child Matters. Applying the provisions of this Act, disabled children were separated from segregated schools into mainstream schools, where their education is enhanced in the mainstream classroom through the aid and assistance provided by a Special needs Learning Assistant. As a result, the family’s experience with Jim has been largely positive and this has influenced Jim’s development positively. Similarly, the community and legislative support has also been helpful. Society’s attitude towards disabled people has changed in recent years and their rights have become more important, especially after the introduction of the European Convention of Human Rights, which has been introduced into UK law as the Human Rights Act of 1998. Jim’s case therefore appears to corroborate Brofenbrenner’s contention that an individual’s development is not shaped only by his or her internal environment, but also by the external environment. References: Alwin, D. F., Braun, M.,and Scott, J. (1992) ‘The separation of work and the family: Attitudes towards women’s labour-force participation in Germany, Great Britain, and the United states”, European Sociological Review, 8, 13-37. Buckley, S.J., Bird, G, Sacks, B and Archer, T, 2006. “A comparison of mainstream and special education for teenagers with Down’s syndrome: implications for parents and teachers”, Down Syndrome research and practice, 9(3): 54-67 Carr, J, 1988. “Six weeks to twenty one years: a longitudinal study of children with Down’s syndrome and their families”, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29:407-431. Cunningham CC. Families of children with Down syndrome. Down Syndrome Research and Practice. 1996;4(3);87-95 Cuskelly, M and Dodds,M, 1992. “Behaviour problems in children with Down’s Syndrome and their siblings”, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33: 749-761 “Early Support”, Retrieved May 24, 2010 from: http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/healthandwellbeing/ahdc/earlysupport/home/ Kirkham, M.A., 1993. “Two year follow up of skills training with mothers of children with disabilities”, American Journal of mental retardation, 5: 509-520 Knussen, C and Sloper, P, 1992. “Stress in families of children with disability: A review of risk and resistance factors”, Journal of Mental health, 1: 241-256 Macnair, Trisha and Hicks, Rob, 2008. “Down’s Syndrome”, retrieved May 22, 2010 from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/downssyndrome1.shtml Read More