ESSAY 3 DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

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1 Developmental Disabilities Enrique Garcia College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University MHW-501-O500 Introduction to Mental Health and Wellness Dr. Dewayne Morgan November 22, 2023

2 Developmental Disabilities It has become fascinating discussing different developmental disabilities that people deal with daily. For example, I have a developmental disability called Cerebral palsy. However, the exact type of CP is known as Hemiplegia. What goes through my head almost every day is “why do I have this disability?” Although I was born with it, I try to adapt to daily life routines like working out, going to class and trying to maintain a job without physically hurting myself on accident. Cerebral palsy can affect one’s mental health by consistently thinking that once having a disability like CP it is almost impossible to live a normal life as others. Whitney (2018) states that, “understanding of the interrelationships between physical risk factors and mental health in individuals with CP is especially important during development, because the proportion of the global disease burden of mental health disorders is highest among children, adolescents, and young adults.” (Whitney, 2018) With cerebral palsy, the disability is mostly formed during pre-births or early stages of childhood but, CP can still be considered a developmental disability because if you have CP as a kid, you are going to be diagnosed with it for the rest of one’s life. Through my struggles with CP, I was alerted that most of the stuff I would like to do in my daily life, could be limited due to the fact of my weakness of my left side of my body. Currently, this disability is not curable though, treatment is a great way to limit how worse CP can be. For me, physical therapy is a great tool for those who have CP and need to get better strength so the effects of CP will not be as noticeable. This disability also can empower those that who are afraid to seek help with mental health because, I know that being diagnosed with a disability such as cerebral palsy can cause mental

3 health disorders like depression and other bipolar depressive disorders. Since cerebral palsy affects mostly children in the early stages of childhood, the best form of treatment or EBP would be Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). It is possible that there are other evidence-based practices for CP. However, ABA already works well with those who are diagnosed with autism or have some speech developmental issues. Speech-language pathology is also a great resource for those with CP since the brain on one side could be developing slower than the other part. Redstone (2014) explains the reason of SLPs, “ However, as SLPs we should evaluate and monitor the speech/language skills of the child even with mild cerebral palsy and certainly with moderate cerebral palsy. (Redstone, 2014)” For me, growing up with cerebral palsy has been challenging developing new vocabulary since my speech was not the greatest throughout my early stages of childhood. Throughout my childhood stages the treatment I would go to were physical therapy since my CP is severe in my left side of my body. Not only physical therapy was needed for me but, I had an IEP in school since CP caused me to have a learning disability as well. This is where my SLP would come into place because my reading comprehension would not be at grade standard levels. Apart from my physical therapy sessions I would go too, I would have to go to speech sessions so that my speech could be worked on. Knowing that most of those speech sessions would use ABA practices it would help my behavioral health. One of the treatments that used ABA were Verbal Behavioral Intervention (VBI). According to Autism Speaks (2023) Verbal behavior states that “this approach encourages people with autism to learn language by connecting words with their

4 purposes. The student learns that words can help them get desired objects or results. (Autism Speaks, 2023)” Developmental disabilities can vary depending on the person that has been going through struggles growing up. Although, most of these developmental disabilities happens during birth, there are also times where developmental disabilities can occur as an adult. For CP, it is critical to seek attention as soon as possible so that you get the treatment that is necessary right away. Cerebral palsy to me will always be critical towards my walking and doing my daily routines like going to the gym knowing that I sometimes will get tired easily than others. With this developmental, physical disability it has made me realize that living with a disability is just another obstacle. I have tried all the treatments that is required or recommended with those who have CP and personally it has been great going to physical therapy because I can see much more progression within my left side of my body. Some examples that I have noticed is that when I go to the gym, I find it to be easier to lift heavier weights on my left side. Another example that I have been noticing is that my tiredness when standing is slowly getting less exhausted and I am able to stand longer than 2 minuets. Conclusion In conclusion, with cerebral palsy, it can be crucial as a child because you are in the developmental stages. Knowing that this physical disability can limit you in the future is hard on your mental health as you adapt into the early adulthood stages. As a person who grew up with a developmental disability, I can reassure that life is challenging but, it is manageable. There are going to be times where you are going to feel bad about the disability you might have. However, I always tend to say that a disability does not define who you are.

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