Exceptional Child in Early Childhood Settings Term Paper

Introduction

As a child is born, the parents are anxious about the new child, hoping that everything associated with him is “normal”. The routine of the baby is closely monitored, and if any abnormality occurs, the parents start having sleepless nights, in fear of something going wrong. There are many problems associated with children nowadays, and parents have to tackle them with the toughest of times. Children as young as preschool children are also vulnerable to health disorders. A child two to six years of age, not registered in a school, is called a preschool child. Many disorders may occur in the child as he grows and two of them we will be discussing here are, “autism”, and “bipolar disorder”. They are both related to depressive confusion and have to do with the minds.

Behavioral Patterns of a Preschool Child with Autism

There are many different ways of looking at your preschool child, and also a diversity of methods of improving your relations with him (Huxley, R.). According to Herbert Hoover, “Children are your most valuable natural resource”. This is very true, in the sense that once you have had a child, he seems to be an asset to you, and without him, your world will be revolving around nothingness, and you will begin to feel empty.

Children are whom we live for, once they come to this world, and they are one of the best experiences we have in our lives. However, if they begin to suffer from strange illnesses or disorders, or are not behaving in the way they should at a certain age, they start giving us the creeps, that something is not quite right. These meager innocent souls may face various troubles on climbing their path to childhood, including eating or sleeping disorders, or other problems such as tantrums, and lack of ability to communicate with others, thus causing them to be insensitive.

One such disorder we are looking into is called, “autism”. Autism is a disorder of the brain, which affects the following three areas of development in a child:

1. Communication,
2. Social interaction,
3. Creative or imaginative play.

It begins in early childhood and continues till adulthood (Comer Children’s Hospital, University of Chicago, 2008).

The preschool child is like a tornado of activities. He is restless and full of motion and loves to explore things around him. The child normally has full control over the body, which he enjoys immensely (Huxley, R.). The other developments that take place alongside include motor development (physical growth and activity), cognitive development (related to thought), emotional development, social development (reaction with others), language development, and emotional development (Huxley, R.).

When the social and cognitive developments seem abnormal, the child is said to have autism. There is a noticeable difference in the behavior of the child, from about eighteen months of age. The basis of this pervasive disorder is not known and can range from high to severe in nature. The symptoms that a child of autism shows or indicates include an obvious lack of awareness, and the diagnosis is made between two to three years of age.

There is a distinct impairment of communication and social interaction in autism, and the behavioral patterns of the affected child are restricted. The autistic disorder occurs at a ratio of one to a thousand and is the basis for other developmental disorders as well (Couper, J., & Sampson, A.). There is still no reason brought up for this disorder, though there are numerous therapies, to try and cure such children. The diagnosis of the disease needs to be made by a team of experts, following which the parents have to face a long list of probable disorders. And foremostly, they will be guided to a speech pathologist (Couper, J., & Sampson, A.).

Several Different Psychological Theories of Preschool Children with Autism

The children diagnosed with autism need to be given special consideration and care. The symptoms vary in severity and harshness in each person. The children may possess little or no cognitive activity, or very high IQ and a high level of interest. Boys are four times more likely to develop autism than girls (“Autism Speaks”, 2007). All racial and ethnic backgrounds are prone to the disease.

There are three theories we will discuss here, related to autism.

The mindblindness theory

Involves the ability of the mind to relate to other peoples’ behaviors. This is also an important aspect of social communication. There have been many tests carried out for the testing of children with autism, and the results have shown that:

1. Most children with autism do not show a clear understanding of how physical objects differ from thoughts about the objects.
2. They have a poor understanding of the functions of the mind (Baron-Cohen, 1989). They may know that the brain’s physical function is to make you do things, but do not say that the mind has mental functions also.
3. Children with autism often are unable to distinguish between misleading objects, for example, if there is a candle in the shape of an apple, they will not say so, instead, they will say, “It is an apple.”
4. Children with autism usually cannot use words such as “think”, “know”, “imagine”, or other such words describing the mental states, which normal children of 18-36 months of age can spontaneously use.
5. Autistic children are unable to make out what pretend play is, and often do not even know the function of pretending. They may just be looking at an elder pretending to do something, but with utter confusion.
6. These children may have some understanding of the physical activity, but have a hard time making out what emotions are. They may not even know that emotions exist.

Autism and Central Coherence

Studies have shown that children with autism have trouble with context, in that they may be reading something else, but pronouncing it differently. This theory is a little weak in itself, since there are many tests, like the Transitive Inference test, which shows that the autistic child can perform as well as a normal child of the same age.

Autism and Executive Function

Claims have been made in this area regarding disability in autism, in psychological studies. Executive function is the functioning by which the child can respond to certain types of behavior, in a flexible manner. Norman and Shallice (1980) came up with the idea that actions are under the control of the environment, without a “Supervisory Attentional System”.

Benefits Available to Preschool Children with Autism

There are many desires from the society and expectations too, about the benefits of education for children, especially those suffering from autistic spectrum disorders. For the children affected with autism, or any other developmental disability, it is a little challenging to carry out any process related to teaching.

A preschool child with autism may need special teaching to even call his mother when he sees her, though he may have learned counting on his own. Educators have been made to meet the needs and requirements of all levels of children, even the ones with disabilities. Standards-based reforms are being made and put forward to enable the disabled children to learn efficiently. Individual adaptations for students with significant cognitive disabilities are being challenged to meet set goals.

Early education programs for children with autistic disorders have similar kinds of goals for themselves (Handleman and Harris, 2000). The main focus of the programs may differ. They usually include development in the social and cognitive areas, verbal and nonverbal communication, adaptive skills, increase in competence of motor activities, and representational skills.

Intensive applied behavioural analysis intervention is more fruitful than special education for children suffering from autism (Couper J., & Sampson A.). This difference lies in the fact that the specific hindrances that cause learning in autistic children are focused on, in the latter case. Imitation, attention, and motivation are focused on, with the teaching of skills in small steps. There are several programs in the schools of the US and UK, using only positive reinforcement. These programs have low child to staff ratios, thus giving each child more attention, they collect behavioural data, and integrate children with typically developing peers. Parents are also trained exclusively.

Suggestions for the Children Suffering From Autism

Basically, the children suffering from autism need to be given special attention in order to have some fraction of a recovery. Studies have not shown them to absolutely “recover”, but they may ‘develop’ or acquire a certain degree of learning through the programs being exercised in various institutions. It is not an impossible task to deal with such preschool children, as they are still in their learning phase, like the rest of the growing children. But if such a disorder is seen in the child, a vigilant eye is to be kept on him, along with proper learning habits being endowed upon him, so that he keeps good pace with his counterparts.

The best suggestion to be given for such patients is, to provide them at home, with whatever an institution might be offering, so that the child experiences an ongoing learning process, and he starts thinking that whatever he is doing is also a part of life, whereas it is just for his revival. The most natural possible play settings should e provided to the child, and a one-to-one learning atmosphere should be given.

Behavioral Patterns of a Preschool Child with Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is the extreme changes in the mood of a person, which may result in manic depression. It is hardly ever that a preschool child is diagnosed with this disorder. If the child is, however, found to suffer from it, the Early Intervention services should be given to him or her (McGregor, S., 2007). It is difficult to diagnose bipolar disorder in children, as the manic phase of the illness can be mixed up with the more common disorder, known as the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) (Dryden, J., 2005).

This is mainly because both mania and ADHD are involved with hyperactivity, irritability, and distractivity. Joan Luby, an associate professor at Washington University School of Medicine, found that there are three main signs in preschoolers that distinguish both these diseases, which are, elation, grandiosity, and hypersexuality (Dryden, J., 2005).

Young children with elation, grandiosity and hypersexuality have high chances of bipolar disorder. It is studied that when you ask affected children about what they are capable of doing. They seem to show off about what they can do, like they say things such as, they can fly like superman! The difference in grandiose children is that they start having false notions; like they think they can even run the school.

During the manic phase of the illness, children may have very high self-esteem and high sense of power ability or may act as if they are somewhat superior. They may be very happy, or silly or volatile, and there can be a rapid change of moods. Another common trait is decrease in sleep and excessive talking. Some bipolar children also have depressive swings. Genetics and family history also affect the probability of children getting the disease. It is more common in the children who have a sibling or parent with the disease, or have had previous generations with mood problems. The lower socioeconomic status community has higher reports of bipolar disorder.

Theories Related to Preschool Children with Bipolar Disorder

A four factor structure of personality in preschoolers was established in a study carried out in two groups of students who had behavioral problems. One was a younger age group, and the other was slightly elder age-wise. The results show the link of psychological teachings to the dimensions of personalities. The social competence of young children, and their general adaptation could be predicted at the same time, with the four angles of personality. The same was obtained for the general adaptation of older children. There was no internalizing of problems in the younger group, and was predicted by ‘extroversion’ and ‘social adaptability’.

The use of Beck’s cognitive model of depression and mania is of use to study the approaches towards the symptoms and problems of bipolar disorder. The other models related to the bipolar models are the “interacting cognitive subsystems” and the “behavioral engagement system”.

The cognitive model states that depressive moods in children are affected by patterns of thinking. They become negative as they turn out to be depressed. If children with bipolar disorder are experiencing a mood swing, they may avoid any sort of social interaction, and strange beliefs start developing in the mind, as the inferior feeling of not being loved or wanted.

Cognitive therapy is a clinically short-term process and it brings about changes in individual attributes (Scott, 1995). When the child is suffering from bipolar disorder, his behavioral, biological and environmental areas of life have to be looked into. The original model put forward by Beck stated that ‘mania was a mirror image of depression’, and a positive feeling towards self was established. The feeling of superiority or of being powerful gave positive thinking to the child, leading to hysterical behavior at times, like jumping for joy.

There has been some link found between bipolar disorder and unipolar depression, for which an integrated model is hoped to be framed for all patients suffering from this disease. The psychological theories related to bipolar disorder are giving rise to new research, for the upbringing of an integrated model for those affected. For this a more objective method of assessment will be needed, and a choice of more suitable populations will need to be made.

Benefits Available to Preschool Children with Bipolar Disorder

The EI, or Early Intervention plan for bipolar disorder varies with the area you live in. They vary according to the child’s needs and requirements, and are not only to be administered according to the trends set by the service providers.

If the child is found to have bipolar disorder, an Individual Family Service Plan is developed. It caters to the needs of the child and family. The home-based services are of most use. They may consist of direct therapeutic and educational services, training and supervision for parents and volunteers who work for the child, and medical procedural assistance.

The direct services are the professional ones, which are inclusive of psychological therapy, that are given in a school set and is not a part of the school itself, or a clinic, or other setting that is exclusive of the home environment. For instance, the IFSP may say that your child is to play for a span of so and so minutes, for recreation of the child. There are also some school-based services that may be part of a private preschool program.

The preschools of the early intervention are of four types:

1. Regular preschool classroom: this consists of a full setting. The child would be attending preschool with therapeutic services, adaptations and personal support like a helping hand.
2. Supported integrated preschool classroom: this is specially made for bringing together groups of children with and without disabilities.
3. Special preschool classroom: this again is a setting for those children who are disabled only. The disabilities they have may be physical or mental, or a variety of mental problems.
4. Special preschool: this entire preschool program is to specially work for disabled children. If it is private, EI or the school district may also pay for the services provided.

The settings for the disabled children give very positive results.

Suggestions to Handle Bipolar Children

The best way to handle a bipolar child is to grant a home-based program in order to build the relationship between the child and parents. The environment should be appropriate for the safety and sensational needs of the child. This helps in reducing the time for transportation to the institution. Once again, the one-on-one intervention is useful here, for the child.

A preschool set with other children provide with the best environment and the best chances to play, and learn. It is essential to develop the social skills of the bipolar child. Once again, the child should be given special attention, for recovery to take place.

Conclusion

It can be said that those young, innocent lives which are suffering from the mental problems such as autism and bipolar disorder are still capable of spending normal lives, like the other children their age. It is just that some special attention and care is needed for them to think they can be just like the rest, and to keep them safe and protected from the depressive states they go through. And especially with the new reforms emerging for such patients and their care, there is more hope for these children to recover to an extent.

References

Huxley, R., Understanding Preschool Child Development. 2008. Web.

Understanding Children With Autism.( 2001) Web.

Children with Autism Deserve Evidence-based Intervention. 2008. Web.

Mcgregor, 2007, Children with Bipolar Disorder. 2008. Web.

Autism Speaks. (2007). Web.

Baron-Cohen, 1999. The Extreme Male-brain Theory of Autism. 2008. Web.