Opportunities as Influenced by Childhood Image - Essay Example

OPPORTUNITIES AS INFLUENCED BY CHILDHOOD IMAGE Name Instructor City Date A person’s esteem revolves around the image they hold to the public. This element is very vital to a child’s success. It is therefore very important to consider the image of a child in relation to his/her future opportunities as an infant, child or adolescent. This case is more delicate when dealing with children with special cases, such as Down syndrome patients. This essay explores different images of children with Down syndrome and the influence that these images have on expectations and as a result, the opportunities available for the children to read. Much a people with Down syndrome are always considered are disadvantaged, it is important to shun from this thought. These people experience day-to-day experiences just as the normal human beings, which shape their lives. They engage in complex positive and negative thoughts, which teach them on how to deal with matters. In this case, it is very important to appreciate their need to read and learn, since this is an area that has been ignored by many people. Many think that since a child has this condition, they are incapable of reading, which is not correct. Researches show that most parents to don allow children with Down syndrome the opportunity to learn and attend proper schooling. There is a tendency of most of the Parents to dump them in special schools for even more than three years of their onset of study, a period that is very important in improving the reading skills of a child. In some cases, the children are exposed to a limited range of learning opportunities, with just a limited number of words allowed for them to learn. This limits the learning scope of the child, putting them in apposition where they cannot compete with the normal children. No wonder in most cases, the children register low score in studies, since they learning opportunities are limited. It is not advisable to place children with Down syndrome in a segregated learning place. It is good to allow them freedom to enjoy the same learning opportunities as the normal children, since it will help them learn a lot from interactions. Children learn by not only copying their teacher, it also copying from their peers. If it is the desire of a parent to improve the reading skills of a child with Down syndrome, they should let them mix with the other normal children, as it will allow them to incorporate some positive behavior of the normal children in their system. In contrast to the past and present images of children with Down syndrome as capable of only limited educational potential, educators and researchers have established that children with this syndrome can actually read and acquire reading skills. The researches show that children with Down syndrome can read for pleasure, something that was initially contested. The researchers insist that it is the reluctance of the individuals responsible for providing learning opportunities to the children that hinders full development of their learning ability. Poor learning instruction is the main cause. The researches continue explaining that reading is something that is nurtured from a young age, and it is possible to alter the behavior of these children before it has become nature. Reading for pleasure is an element that improves the learning ability and scope of knowledge of children. Most children widen their vocabulary, improve their creativity and learn about different virtues and vices through reading for pleasure. It is more effective than instructed reading since it comes as voluntary willingness of the child. Therefore, denying Down syndrome patients the opportunity to read for pleasure limits their learning experience, and therefore diminishing their image and confidence in subsequent years. Life limitations that come about as a result of limiting the learning opportunities for a child with Down syndrome is their ability to travel to new areas. In situations where a person is travelling to a new country as a tourist, a students or an employee, reading is very important. It enables one to learn a few words that they can use before learning the entire language, which can help them, get a round with basic things smoothly. Obviously, it I expected that when one is visiting another country, they should learn a few words which would enable them to borrow something, order for food, greet or express gratitude. Children with Down syndrome whose opportunities to learn are limited find it difficult to tour places as tourist, or seek education or employment opportunities outside their countries. This makes the Down syndrome patients become dependent in life, when much can be done to rectify that. Functional reading instruction is an approach used by the general population to help children with Down syndrome learns. This approach involves limiting reading instruction to teaching sight word recognition of key words that are considered essential for independent functioning. While functional reading proves to be very important especially in helping children, in their initial learning stages, an overemphasis of this mode is seen in children with special intellectual conditions. It limits them to the basic language in such a way that they can only communicate suing very basic language. Some researchers have explained that although it is useful to incorporate this approach in teaching children with special intellectual conditions, emphasis on this style removes the opportunity of a child developing skills in critical thinking, interaction and abstract communication. This might be the reason why children with most intellectual disabilities show poor interaction skills, poor critical thinking capacities and lack of abstract communication approaches, characterized by their overt aggression or complete withdrawal. The continued focus on this approach of teaching by the general population is some of the things that reinforce the belief that children with intellectual disadvantage are unable to read. Research studies have shown that the chronological development of children with Down syndrome is proportionate to their intellectual ability. This is largely attributed to the belief by the general population that these children have reduced ability to learn. However, some researchers have established that contrary it the belief by most people, the ability of a Down syndrome child to learn is just as good as a normal child. Since children derive their learning skills mostly from emulation, it is easy to nurture the culture of reading and learning in a child with Down syndrome. This limitation of opportunities based on outdated beliefs is what hinders intellectual development of individuals suffering from Down syndrome. While various theories proposed and examined over time, explaining the elements of reading and reading development have not been wholly accepted, one thing is definite. There are number of issues that revolve around intellectual development, which are vital for nurturing knowledge and skills in a child, no matter their condition. The ability to understand, paying attention, background knowledge of the world and its related vocabulary, phonological and phonemic knowledge, exposure to written material, especially story books in the case of children, letter-sound knowledge and exposure, learning and subsequent comprehension of the alphabetical principle are all essential to developing adequate reading and learning skills. Once a child attains the necessary ability to decode and record phonological experience, they are now able to teach themselves and widen their knowledge scope by interaction with primary and secondary sources of information. However, it does not come as a surprise that this is something limited against children with intellectual disadvantages such as Down syndrome. The belief that their weak intellectual ability cannot accommodate knowledge required to decode and record phonological experiences makes their parents and teachers assume their role of providing the necessary material for learning. Cognitive ability, oral language and visual and auditory short-term memory are important factors considered when nurturing reading learning skills of a child. We appreciate the fact that these aspects may be inferior in children suffering from Down syndrome, especially their oral language and short-term memory. However, experts establish the fact that since learning involves exposure to new ideas and experiences, repeated exposure is very important to improve the memory. The fact that they are children, serves as an advantage to this, as it is easy to facilitate a child to learn new ideas that it is for older people. It is not necessary for the cognitive ability of the children to be at par with that of normal children, since we are all different. Intellectual ability is statistically a continuous variable and therefore there is always room for graduations. There are some instances where the intellectual ability of a child with Down syndrome is higher than expected. Not all of them entirely lack the necessary ability to understand information. Matter of fact, it is the virtue of patients that lacks in the teaching authority. Most teachers expect a little bit too much form this children, not considering that they have a special condition. Segregating this children and placing them in special educational institutions limit heir opportunity to learn, showing that the teachers and parents just give up on the children. Development of letter-sound knowledge, word reading ability and understanding of print concepts depends more on print exposure over time than on cognitive ability. This should therefore be a loophole for teacher and parents to use in developing reading skills for these children. Children with Down syndrome require appropriate reading instructions as a basic entity for them to develop intellectual skills. However, the current educational beliefs do not allow them these ample instructions. Putting them in segregated setting is a major setback to allow them proper learning instructions. Beyond a lack of reading instruction, the limited types of reading instruction available may also provide one potential explanation for the limited reading achievement in some children. This is eventually coupled by the self-belief by this children that they are intellectually inferior, something that leads to development of poor communication and interaction skills mostly characterized by withdrawal. Recent studies have shown that children with Down syndrome can attain high academic achievement as more children record good grades across the educational divide. In the process of evaluating these studies, it is clear that the learning experiences a child is exposed to determine their ability to develop academically. It is major determinant in their academic achievement, and therefore, their image and confidence to the public. Reading is a good approach to sourcing for information, ideas, expressing intellectual ability and interaction. Allowing these individuals to read by providing the necessary material for reading allow them to improve their image as they can interact with their fellow children or students. It provides a lot of pleasure when one can argue out a valid point and provide notably good ideas in a discussion. This is only possible when one develops the necessary skills in reading, as it is largely the largest source of acquiring information. Development of adequate reading skills, which subsequently leads to improved intellectual ability and academic achievement open various opportunities for children with Down syndrome. With the increased opportunities available for them to join high school and post-high school institutions, they will be in a good position to enjoy opportunities that come with academic achievement, just as their normal peers. It will also help them to deal with their perceived inferior image and confidence, especially in their adolescent stage of development where confidence and public image of oneself is very essential. This is a stage that can make or break someone. Alienation of children with Down syndrome in their process of learning not only leads to poor interaction and communication skills but also deter their chances of improving their confidence. Confidence for these children is very important, putting in mind that they are not best placed physically, with small genitalia, shortened extremities and stunted growth. Education might just the area that the patients derive pleasure and a sense of pride and belonging. Children suffering from Down syndrome are able to learn how to read for pleasure. Provided with essential learning opportunities that include an emphasis on developing phonological and phonemic knowledge, phonic decoding skills and meaningful, personally relevant print exposure and storybook reading, this children can develop skills that will allow them to develop good reading skills and academic achievement. There is need for doing away with the unnecessary limitations that have been characteristic of the course of allowing the children to develop intellectually. Low expectations from their parents and teachers reduce the chances of these children learning and developing their reading skills to the maximum level attainable. It should be an offense to provide limited opportunities to these children, since it is the right of every individual to access information. Patience is important. That these children have reduced cognitive ability does not mean that they are unable to learn and read like normal children. Many children with Down syndrome are now graduating from high school and are able to do paid work. Some of them are also able to participate in university education. Management strategies such as early childhood intervention, a supporting family environment screening and appropriate intervention for common problems, medical treatment in cases of associated abnormalities such as dystonia and cardiomyopathy, and regular vocational training can improve the overall development of these children. Research has also shown that apart from proper care and the above interventions, education improves their quality of life. Reference list Cologon, Kathy (2013). “Image, Access and Opportunity: Children with Down Syndrome as Readers.” Chapter 3:1-16. Read More