Possible Family Reactions on a Developmental Delay or Disability
Raising a child with disabilities and special needs is a daunting task for parents. Many families where sons or daughters have congenital or acquired disabilities are forced to face constant stress. In this case, the reaction of relatives to the diagnosis of a developmental delay or another serious disorder in their child may be different. According to Gargiulo and Kilgo, a number of factors can influence the perception of family members and their further adaptation to such unpleasant news (57).
In case parents are too impressionable, the information of their child’s illness can shock them, and the help of psychologists may be required. However, the authors also cite the examples of large families where all members support one another and try to cope with current life challenges (Gargiulo and Kilgo 57). Certainly, data about any disability of a child is a significant shock. Nonetheless, if parents are willing to fight for the recovery of their son or daughter, the period of adaptation to a new lifestyle will pass faster.
If I encountered the aforementioned problem, I would be very upset and would seek to find help from medical specialists. Moreover, I would certainly follow all the recommendations and advice from all the professionals without exception. Nevertheless, I would be aware of the responsibility that could be placed on me, and I would not be afraid of “routine but difficult caregiving tasks” that Gargiulo and Kilgo mention (58). This situation is certainly unpleasant, but I would feel a little better if I helped my child but not just regretted what had happened to him or her because of the circumstances that we could not change.
Special Education Assessments
The assessment of the effectiveness of special education is an essential step in the analysis of general correctional work aimed at treating or rehabilitating a child with special needs. Several years ago, I participated in charity sessions dedicated to helping children with various forms of physical or mental disabilities. The entire course was free for families, and volunteers interacted with patients, helping those in need while honing their skills.
During those activities, I was able to understand that the emphasis on any child’s abilities had a more important role as compared with particular attention paid to this or that disorder. My colleagues and I resorted to formal testing described by Gargiulo and Kilgo as one of the most frequent mechanisms of educational evaluation (88). Due to special tasks offered to children, we were managed to obtain reliable and comprehensive data regarding the characteristics of the development of all the patients who contacted us.
The evaluation approach that implied using tests was not the only practice that we promoted to determine the quality and benefits of therapeutic procedures prescribed for young patients. Since most of the children who attended our courses were preschoolers, we utilized a play-based method. Gargiulo and Kilgo note that this evaluation principle provides essential information about the development of a child through a game situation when a patient is relaxed and does not feel discomfort or constraint (90).
This practice became another valuable tool that allowed us to obtain an accurate reflection of children’s abilities and their strengths. Therefore, I consider the methods that we introduced a useful and convenient means of assessing the quality of special interventions promoted during charitable sessions.
Work Cited
Gargiulo, Richard M., and Jennifer L. Kilgo. An Introduction to Young Children with Special Needs: Birth Through Age Eight. 4th ed., Cengage Learning, 2013.