Work based learning 2 - Essay Example

? Case Study: Work based learning Introduction It is often said that the learning occurs during childhood and may last until the death of a person. Within my work placement, I work in a public nursery school, with children in the range of 1 – 6. My duty is to help and assist them to do stuff that are needed for their studies, physical and intellectual development. Children with different abilities, attitudes and intellectual levels are present in my nursery school. Individual care is necessary for each child, since the needs of the children are extremely different. My role or responsibility in this nursery school is to assist the children with special needs for their physical and mental developments. I am specially trained to care of such children. In this case study, the service user I would like to discuss is a 5years old girl with autism. According to Baio (2012), “Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of developmental disabilities characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and by restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour” (p.24). In other words, children with autism may face problems in interacting and communicating properly with others. So, the primary focus while teaching such children should be to improve the communication and socialization skills. This paper discusses the care plan I prepared for this girl for her proper physical and mental development. Details of the girl with autism This girl belongs to a poor family and her parents were not much educated to know her disease and cater for her needs. Her parents noticed her problems only at the age of 2. Since then, she had undergone different types of treatment. A psychologist advised the parents to send her to a public nursery school where special needs of children get proper care. Thus, she took admission in my school and the school authorities assigned the duty of looking after her to me. Physical needs of the girl Herbert (2005) pointed out that “Autism is a static encephalopathy with fixed core neurobiological or brain abnormality resting upon hardwired architectural alterations in tissues that may be otherwise healthy” (p.358). Since brain is responsible for giving instructions for the body movements, physical activity among autistic children is reduced. In other words, an unhealthy brain may affect not only the mental development but also the physical development of the autistic children. The girl under discussion has a peculiar physical problem. She cannot feel pain and, hence, she had the habit of engage in risky activities. Physical injuries did not worry her too much since she failed to feel any pain. So, my job was extremely complicated. I forced to keep an eye on the child always to avoid any physical injury to her. Another physical problem noticed in this child is her eating habits. She had the habit of taking too much food. As a result of that, she became obese and the normal movement became difficult. Physical exercises are necessary for the physical and mental development of children. This is true in the case of autistic children also. “In fact, for autistic children, physical exercise can have additional behavioural benefits if certain precautions and techniques are used” (New, 2011). From day one onwards, I started to encourage the girl to participate in physical activities with others. However, the girl has not shown much readiness initially because of her obesity and lack of physical fitness. Her parents never encouraged her to participate in physical activities since she had the habit of not recognising the pain even if injured seriously. However, it was necessary to encourage her to participate in physical activities to build up physical as well as mental strength. So, I persuaded her repeatedly to participate in physical activities under my constant observation. Finally, she started to show some interests in physical activities because of my repeated persuasion. Pan et al (2011) mentioned the importance of physical activity in building socialization habits among autistic children (Pan et al, 2011, p.491). Socialization is necessary for autistic children to improve their communication skills. The interactions with peers will definitely help autistic children to improve their cognitive abilities as well as socialization skills. Since my service user had problems in identifying pain, she suffered lot of minor injuries during the initial parts. However, my timely interference helped her to avoid serious injuries and she started to show more interests in physical activities along with peers. Initially, simple jogging was the physical activity I prescribed for her. Later, I asked her to take part in some ball plays with her peers. All these physical activities have brought immense changes not only in her physical strength but also in her cognitive and socializing abilities. Psychological needs of the girl Maslow formulated a psychological theory of human needs in 1943 based on deficiency and growth needs. He arranged human needs in ascending order of physiological needs which are needs for basic things of life like food, water etc; safety needs which is the need for security; need for love and belonging which are the needs for being accepted among groups and feeling of companionship; need for self esteem which is the need for recognition and respect; and finally the need for self-actualization which is the need for self fulfilment and to make use of the most unique abilities (Ifedili & Ifedili, 2012, p.80). In my service user’s case, the need for food was somewhat psychological in nature rather than physiological. She ate more foods even when she was not hungry. Over eating was a kind of defence mechanism exhibited by my service user. In other words, she found pleasure in overeating instead finding pleasure in activities such as playing or socializing. I realised that I have to break this habit somehow. I noticed that girl was asking for food whenever she was free from any activity. Therefore, I deliberately gave more activities to her and never allowed her to think of foods. This strategy brought dividends in the development of this girl. She has started to forget about food after few months and started to show more interests in playing. Thus, her overweight problems started to disappear. As she was becoming slimmer, she started to show more interests in physical activities. She has realised that she is secure under my control. Many times, I helped or saved her from suffering serious injuries from physical activities. Moreover, she started to recognize pain as soon as she started to play more and more. Her self-esteem also started to develop rapidly as a result of the increased physical activity in the company of peers. Moreover, she started to realise her worth in our society after few months of training. The girl under study has shown lot of misbehaviours, fears and anxieties in the normal classroom. So, I decided to test her patience with the help of a music classroom. Iseminger (2009) pointed out that “children with autism and other neurological disorders have distinct emotional and physical needs and music can help teachers to interact properly with these children (p.28). Music has the soothing effect on all people. This is true in the case of autistic children also. Instead of fast numbers, I used slow numbers and melodies to catch the attention of my service user. Music therapy, along with physical activities, evoked significant changes in the mental and physical abilities of my service user. Mia Lily Kellmer Pringle, a former chairman and Honorary Life Member of the Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry, has identified the needs of children as: love, security, new experiences and praise and recognition (Hierarchy of Needs, 2007). In her opinion, the need for love and security is the most important one for children. It will help a child to recognize his/her worthwhileness in our society. For proper personality development, this need should be satisfied at any cost. New experiences are necessary for the children to learn more. It should be noted that children learn from the surroundings in which they brought up. Environment plays an important role in child development. Recognition is another need for healthy development of a child. Whenever a child gets some praising words for a particular activity, he or she will repeat that activity regularly to catch the attention. On the other hand, if the child fails to get any recognition for a particular activity, he/she will stay away from that activity in future. Mia Lily Kellmer Pringle stressed the importance of early life experiences in the development of children. Early life experiences may follow a person until his/her death. For example, a child brutally punished by his/her parents may not forget that experience until death. This is true in the case of autistic children also. Whatever the positive feelings cultivated in the early childhood may have an everlasting effect in the life of such children. My service user had the habit of creating unnecessary problems even for silly things. She cried for food even though she was not hungry. Moreover, she was afraid in participating in physical activities earlier. On all such occasions, I deliberately avoided her unwanted needs and praised her whenever she has shown some positive behaviour. These strategies finally worked well and she started to avoid complaining about unwanted things. Sociological needs of the girl My service user was leading an isolated life in the society. Her parents tried to hide her from the focus of the society. In fact, they were experiencing immense stress because of the conditions of their child. Ashum Gupta & Nidhi Singhal (2005) pointed out that “parental distress and family functioning impacts children in numerous ways, affecting their cognitive, behavioural and social development” (p.62). Instead of hiding autistic children from the lime light of the society, it is necessary to reveal them in the society. They should be given opportunities to develop just like normal children. Under no circumstances, should they develop the feeling of discrimination. I had a lengthy counselling session with the parents of my service user and I succeeded in eradicating some the superstitions and illusions of these parents about autism. The National Autistic Society has identified the following social concerns with respect to an autistic child: • They may prefer their own company • Poor eye-contact • In their own world • Inability to have or show empathy • Less use of and lack of understanding of facial expressions, body language, tone of voice etc (The National Autistic Society, n.d. p.3). My service user had problems in watching the eyes of others. She never looked at the faces of others even when she was comfortable with the company of others. I asked her to look at others while communicating. However, she refused to do so even though I tried a lot. Finally, I decided to change my strategy. I gave her a mirror and asked her to look at it. She has seen her image in the mirror and was surprised to see her on mirror. My mirror experiment worked well and she started to look at others later. Moreover, she started to recognize the body languages also. It is a fact that in normal communication, the ideas conveyed nonverbally may exceeds the ideas conveyed verbally. So, I used lot of facial expressions and gestures while communicating with my service user. For example, instead of saying no to a particular activity, I have shown her my dissent through facial expression. She started to recognize my body languages after few months of training. Economic, political, and social status of the girl As mentioned earlier, my service user’s parents were not much wealthy to give enough care to her. It should be noted that the caring of autistic children is an expensive act everywhere in the world. It is difficult for the parents to look after their defective child properly if they have poor financial abilities. My service user was in need of economic as well as political help from the government. I have educated the parents of my service user about various UK laws with respect to the caring of autistic children. According to the The Children Act 1989 (c. 41), “Every local authority shall ensure that the register is reviewed at least on one occasion in every three-month period from the date this Act comes into force by its director of children’s services and the director of adult services, for the purpose of improving the planning of services for children and adults with autism and, in particular, their transition between children and adult services”(Autism Bill, n.d. p.2). The 2009 autism act is looking after the needs of adult autistic people. The UK authorities say that they will introduce a more comprehensive bill for the children with autistic problems. It is necessary to make immediate corrections and updating in the existing UK laws with respect to autistic children. A biopsychosocial approach is necessary to deal with the problems of autistic children. “Biopsychosocial approach understands human health and illness in their fullest contexts” (The Biopsychosocial Approach, n.d., p.1). The current approaches in dealing with autism focus only on the disease; not on the biological, sociological and psychological factors. “Emerging study results suggest that there are both clinical and biological links between autism and schizophrenia” (Dvir and Frazier, 2011). These findings clearly suggest that autism can lead towards many other psychological problems. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse all the dimensions of this disease while formulating treatment or rehabilitation strategies. Person Centred Planning (PCP) “Person centred planning is a way of expressing a set of inclusive values through a unique range of tools and techniques” (Person Centred Planning – Training, 2012). Since the needs of my service user was unique compared to the needs of other autistic children, a PCP was inevitable for her. As mentioned earlier, I have arranged special tools and strategies such as music therapy, jogging and playing with peers etc for the development of my service user. My service user was from a poor social economic and cultural background. She was an Asian girl from a Muslim family. Many superstitions were along with her since the support and interactions of parents and other family members are inevitable for the recovery of an autistic child. I kept the company of this girl for 2 years and she recovered well within this 2 year period. At the time of leaving the nursery school, she exhibited around 70% of normal behaviour. I do believe that the continued support may help her to lead a normal life in our society. References Autism Bill. N.d. [Online] Available at: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/8623/1/2009010.pdf [Accessed 24 October 2012] Baio, J., 2012. Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network . Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Surveillance Summaries. Volume 61, Number 3. Dvir, Y. & Frazier, J.A., 2011. Autism and Schizophrenia. Psychiatric Times, Vol. 28, No. 3. Gupta, A. & Singhal, N., 2005. Psychosocial support for families of Children with autism. Asia Pacific Disability Rehabilitation Journal. Vol. 16 No. 2, 2005. Hierarchy of Needs, 2007. [Online] Available at: http://www.baliadvertiser.biz/articles/teach_children/2007/hierarchy.html [Accessed 24 October 2012] Herbert, M.R., 2005. Autism: A brain disorder or a disorder that affects brain? Clinical Neuropsychiatry. Vol 2, Number 6. p. 354-379. Iseminger, S. H., 2009. Keys to Success with Autistic Children: Structure, Predictability, and Consistency Are Essential for Students on the Autism Spectrum. Teaching Music, v16 n6 p28 Apr 2009. Ifedili, C.J. & Ifedili, C.I., 2012. Perception of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory by Nigerian university workers – a challenge to University administrators. Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business. May 2012 Vol 4, No1. New, M., 2011. Physical activities for autistic children. [Online] Available at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/352537-physical-activities-for-autistic-children/ [Accessed 24 October 2012] Pan, C. T., Chia-Liang. & Hsieh, K., 2011. Physical Activity Correlates for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Middle School Physical Education. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, v82 n3 p491-498 Sep 2011. Person Centred Planning – Training, 2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.inclusive-solutions.com/pcplanning.asp [Accessed 24 October 2012] The National Autistic Society, N.d. Autism Spectrum Disorders Guidance for Inspectors – National Care Standards Commission [Online] Available at: http://www.autism.org.uk/~/media/NAS/Documents/Working-with/Social-care/Guidance_for_inspectors_National_Care_Standards_Commission.ashx [Accessed 24 October 2012] The Biopsychosocial Approach, N.d., [Online] Available at: http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/education/md/prospective-students/curriculum/documents/biopsychosocial-model-approach.pdf [Accessed 24 October 2012] Read More