Case Study About a Family With a Child Who Has a Disability - Research Paper Example

Case Study 1)Stages of adaptation for disability Jack is a child with epilepsy and it is a significant disability which hampers his physical and mental growth. The adaptation and progress of Jack entirely depends on his family and living environment. The adaptation stages like denial has an important place in jack’s life as it can lead to self injury, being hard to oneself and depression. According to (Callarco,2006,pg.10) “Denial can take the form of either ignoring or not responding to information that shows a demand for change”. He can also feel grievance as his health is poor and cannot have freedom on life. He is stolen of a family life and can be less productive. He can also feel socially isolated as he cannot lead a normal life .He can feel as though he has lost his identity and it is extremely depended on family members. Due to medical trauma anger can be a dominant factor in Jack’s life. Jack can experience shock due to the severity of his diseases and also acceptance is needed to redefine his life and interact socially normal. 2) Stress coping and family support According to Lazarus model Jack faces threat from seizures and this can cause emotional strain on him. The limited leisure activities can also have stress on Jack. Side effects of medication can impact on the health of Jack and cause stress. According to Double ABCX model the attitude of the parent and the child is analyzed separately. Seizure can be damaging to brain and a child with epilepsy can create anxiety in the family regarding his physical development. In jack’s case since his mother and her partner is giving utmost care the coping ability is fairly acceptable. As per(Schachtr,2006)“How well adjusted the person with epilepsy will be is strongly related to how the family adapts to the diagnosis. Recognizing one's feelings and learning to react appropriately is most important”.It can be recommended that Jack should be Given more opportunity to interact with children of his nature .Access to church and religious ideas is also an excellent way to cope up with stress for family as well as Jack. 3) Effect on Family In the family subsystem , the mother of Jack is having tremendous stress as he requires 24/7 care and attention. She also needs to take care of her daughter and attend employment. She needs real support from her partner and dedication from her part as a mother. The sibling Ruby also needs to be protected from Jack as he can be rebellious at times. Family is a strongly interconnected unit and Jack’s situation can also impact the quality of relation between Joan and her partner. 4) Family Function and Daily Life Having a child with epilepsy can change the overall atmosphere of the family life. The daily activities of family can get restricted and Joan especially as a mother can find less time to spend on herself. The marital life of Joan can be affected as she spends less time with her partner. Ruby can also be impacted negatively as she is growing in a stressful and restricted environment. Less time is spent on her and she might feel less privileged and cared for. 5) The role of the community and the ecological system From the point of macro system the social seclusion and stigmas can have negative effect and stress on Joan and her family. Since jack is going to diseased and disabled for long time his educational life and career is in dilemma. Here as in case of exosystem, Jack has no action independently as he is completely depended on his mother and Paul. Since Joan interacts widely with Jack, his life is lively and less stressful. As far as macro system is concerned, Jack is living in a culture where all interact freely with him and connect well. The life is not restricted as it is American culture and parents are well educated and knowledgable.In case of chronosystem, Jack gets full support from his mother and her partner.There is no chaos at home and it is a lively family .In case of mesosystem, the school life of jack is normal and he do not attend church which is a drawback. In his book(Howard,2002,pg.23)writes that “People with epilepsy are often stigmatized by the community because of ignorance about the nature of mental illness” 5) Cultural Diversity Jack is in a family environment where his every aspect of life is taken by family members. The core values of the family are liberal and jack is given much space to interact. Joan’s partner takes Jack out and also understands his disability and reacts in an appropriate manner. Jack is also given opportunity to get education and improve his mental status. 6) Material Hardship Bringing up a child with disability like epilepsy is not an easy task. It needs lot of dedication, financial expenditure from the part of the parents. There can be lot of expense on Joan for the treatment and medicinal care of Jack. In his journal(Lagunju,2006,pg.29-37)writes that“ Epilepsy is said to occur in 15-90% of children with cerebral palsy and this poses additional economic and psychological stress on affected children and their families”. This can bring lack in the upbringing of her daughter Ruby. The stressful life of Joan can also affect the life of her children. References Callarco, A. (2006). Adaptability:Responding effectively to change (p. 10). North Carolina: Centre for Creative leadership Howard, G. (2002). Health Villages : a guide for communities and community health workers (p. 23). Geneva: WHO. Lagunju, A. I. (2006). RISK FACTORS FOR EPILEPSY IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY. African Journal of Neurological Sciences, 25(2), 29-37. Schachter, S. C. (2006, December 15). Family Life. In epilepsy. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/social_family Read More