Examining of The Reasons: People May Experience Additional Needs

In this assignment I will be analysing and explaining in detail the different factors of additional needs. There are two case studies that I will be examining, one of a child who suffers from being disabled so therefore the child has to be in a wheelchair. Another sufferer is of an adult who is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and down syndrome. I will explain the relevant diagnostic for these two cases and determine how they were diagnosed and who they were diagnosed by. Relevantly I will assess the requirements of one child and one adult with different additional needs in my case studies. I will explain these needs due to family circumstances with other factors. I will include the physical and health needs and explain them. I will continue to examine in detail the child and adults well-being, physically, emotionally, intellectually and their social state.

This will help me determine their actions. People who are diagnosed with additional needs are often carriers and inheritors of additional needs from birth due to genetics given by their parents but some can suffer from additional needs due to accidents or developing into it. Additional need is simply when an individual who is disabled or suffer from severe conditions that enables them to do a certain thing that others can do but they cannot do or cannot do as well others. So therefore those that suffers from different type of additional needs wither their conditions are severe or not they would need the help as they’re less capable to do things.

There are many type of additional needs some examples are: dementia and dyspraxia. There are different types of learning difficulties. People who are diagnosed with learning difficulties often need help as they’re working under the average rate of others who does not suffer from this condition. They acquire the help as these learning skills will help them reach their goals of normality. These learning difficulties include: mild learning disability, moderate learning difficulties and severe and profound learning difficulties. Mild learning disability is when the person is able to talk with others but cannot understand them this means the individual will have a hard time adjusting and socialising with peers. People with this condition will have a hard time expressing their feelings and ideas, other people will also notice the short slow speech of people who has learning difficulties and they will have problems with their language skills. They could also have a hard time adapting to a new environment. Moderate learning difficulties is more severe as people who are diagnosed with this are not able to grasped onto basic language skills and they find everyday activities extremely puzzling. Moreover, severe and profound learning difficulties are drastic than the other two as people with this condition can only use very basic language skills sometimes using gestures to help them get their words and idea’s through to others.

They need more assisting through multiple disabilities in order to be able to communicate with others thoroughly. Diagnostic procedures are use to figure out what kind of disability, medical conditions or illnesses the individual have in order to help and support this individual or diagnosed them with specific medical needs.

Dementia

Dementia is a form of mental illness that cause people to have memory loss. These people will have a difficult time thinking for themselves, they may have regular change of moods and personalities. They will have a hard time adjusting to their languages. People with this case have a problem with their blood supply to the brain which does not allow them to complete tasks like problem solving. This is cause by a disease called Alzheimer’s which can regulate to small strokes. There is more than one type of dementia which classify different symptoms.

Some examples are korsakoff’s syndrome and vascular dementia. Nevertheless, it all depends on how the brain is affected. Some cases may occur of certain individuals having mix dementia this means that they can have more than one dementia occurring at once. Dementia normally happens at old age or genetic inheritance. There are a few diagnostics that doctors are able to carry out, however this do depend on how the individual function in their day to day life, their change of behaviour and characteristic of the person. [2] Some tests that are carried out by doctors for this condition are cognitive and neuropsychological tests and also brain scans. These are needed to perform on individuals with this condition as it allow doctors to have a future understanding of the different type of dementia and help the patient to get better or support them if necessary. These specialists need to have a degree in clinical neuropsychology. [3] If things get serious people with dementia will be suggested by a GP to go see a specialist in this field, these specialists are called psychiatrist and geriatrician. To become a psychiatrist, you will need to study medicine and obtain a degree in that field. In order to become a geriatrician, you will also need a degree in medicine. Early symptoms may be that they are having regular confusions or they are not able to concentrate which causes them to loose memory of events that happened recently. Symptoms can grow over a period of time this means in some cases dementia can be so severe it can cause certain individuals to become aggressive or anxious quite easily. It could get as serious as not knowing how to feed themselves or being able to walk on their own. They may require help with daily routines such as taking a shower.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is a disorder that affect a person’s practical abilities and capabilities to do every day activities or tasks such as sewing or having to perform specific skills at work. Developmental coordination disorder can take place in dyspraxia as a condition that individuals will have a troublesome time processing information or remembering things. This condition is very similar to dementia as signals are not able to be sent to the brain correctly. Early symptoms in dyspraxia can occur as early as infant stage which affects their motor skills.

These symptoms can be notice in a person easily, as people with this condition will have a lack of concentration. This means they will have a hard time focusing on certain things compared to other people. [4] More symptoms can involve low self-esteem, unable to pick up on new skills, and not being able to get things done on time. People with this condition can be very unorganised. So there are many early symptoms that can be notice if someone has dyspraxia but dyspraxia can get worst if people with this condition do not get the help they needed. It will get worst as they will be unwilling to coordinate with others around them which means they will not be able to learn progressively from other people. [5] People with dyspraxia is referred to a paediatrician for assessment and a paediatric occupational therapist by a GP. Paediatric occupational therapist needs a master degree or a doctoral degree. To become a paediatrician, you need a Bachelor's Degree. Paediatricians have to complete a four-year undergraduate degree in medical school. With these degrees they will be able to support and help people with this condition. These specialists are responsible for diagnosis and organising regular check-ups. Sometimes the symptoms can be severe which causes other specialist to get involved such as a neurodevelopmental paediatrician which specialised in the nervous systems.

There are a few diagnostics that are use depending on how severe the individuals condition is: one being which a child will have extra support during school hours and at home by parents and teachers so they can become familiar with their surroundings as well as gaining educational support this allows them to make decisions and get involve in activities as they grow. This will allow them to be able to learn skills such as communicating with others. Another diagnostic that can be use is teaching the child at a young age life and learning strategies so they are able to cope with their daily life and get used to it becoming a routine, so it can come naturally in a time of need.

Children with this condition should be taught in a quiet environment so they would able to maintain their concentration. Children with dyspraxia will have a hard time controlling their motor skills or adjusting to it so their less cable of performing sports skills such as throwing a ball or catching it, so therefore lessons need to be well schedule to suite these children with dyspraxia condition. [6] Diagnosis is the classification of finding out an individual’s illnesses or conditions through their specific symptoms.

In my case study 1 I introduce Rebecca Brown, a child who is disabled due to an accident. In her case she is urgently need of support as she had become a victim to additional need at such a young age. Her condition was so severe that she’s not able to make movement below her pelvis. This meant she has to be in a wheelchair in order to increase her chances of doing more things even if she is disabled, things like moving from one place to another with the help of her wheelchair. With Rebecca’s condition it is harder on her family to support her while working at the same time so her mum spends more time taking care of her than earning money and help out to pay the bills. Her parents do not have a well earn job especially her dad as he works at a factory and does not get paid enough. This can be hard on a child as they are beginning to develop into the world and is unfortunate to be in this situation.

Furthermore, Rebecca’s family are not welcomed in their own neighbourhood due to Rebecca’s disability. They also received nasty comments and rudeness occasionally. Which shows that people with disability is treated differently because they are unable or not capable to do a certain thing. Discrimination occurs often with people who suffers from additional needs. She was diagnosed by her doctors through procedures such as x-rays scanning. A radiologist performs these practical. In order to become a radiologist people will need to obtain a degree in health and care professional council. The x-rays allow the doctors to take future examination in order to help her successfully. She was given a wheelchair to help her with her daily activities. She also had to attend a school for additional need specifically as she would be offer more help compared to normal school. She is also provided with a teaching assistance that provide her with care during school hours. This allow her to increase her chances of working to her highest ability during school and at home as she is only physically disabled.

The prognosis for Rebecca’s condition is she will no longer be able to walk for the rest of her life as her condition is incurable. [7] She had fractured the spinal cord which is the most important part of our body as it allows the brain to send signals to the nervous system allowing movement to occur in our body to keep us upright so we would be able to stand and perform everyday actions such as walking.

For my case study 2 I will be discussing about an adult name Ben Grace who suffers from type 2 diabetes and down syndrome. [8] Diabetes is a life time conditions. People with this condition will need to be on medication for the rest of their life. Down syndrome is pass through family genetically. People with down syndrome has 47 pair of chromosomes instead of 46 so in this case they have an extra chromosome. The extra chromosome attach itself in another chromosome. [9] People who suffer from this cannot inherit it as it is a genetic mistake during contraception. Translocation can happen and this is when the chromosome is rearranging parts between chromosomes. In order to diagnose Ben for down syndrome there’s one procedures that he could attend in order to find out if he have down syndrome and this tests involve Chorionic villus sampling. [10] Chorionic villus sampling is when cells are taken from the placenta, this is use to analyse the fetal chromosomes. As Ben suffers from two conditions he would have to undergo another test that determined whether he is a sufferer of the type 2 diabetes or not. This test involves checking the blood for the amount of glucose that the individuals have or simply a urine test would determine if the individuals have a type 2 diabetes. Ben has likely had a type 2 diabetes as his glucose intake is higher than average. A specialist or a nutritionist will specialise in this field after Ben have visited his GP. People with down syndrome will be offered help from a health care specialist. [11] To become a nutritionist you would need a Bachler degree in clinical nutrition. [12] In order to become a health care specialist you would need a degree in professional childcare at a level 3 and a 2-year post qualifying work experience in a child care facility.

The prognosis for Ben is he will remain having down syndrome for the rest of his life as it is genetic inheritance. On the other hand, for type 2 diabetes he would have been given an insulin to reduce the glucose in his blood but because of the criticism he receives from the manager of the local fair Ben is not following his diet specially schedule for his type 2 diabetes so therefore his glucose is unstable and could be dangerous as he could die from it eventually if he continues to eat unhealthy.