Essay on Factors that Influence Development in Children

Unit 22. Outcome 2: Understanding the factors that influence children and young people’s development and how these affect practice.

A child that has a hearing impairment may suffer physically through loss of balance or socially through having to communicate in alternative ways such as sign language/makaton. A physical disability such as Cerebral Palsy can be physically challenging due to being restricted in taking part in certain activities. This can affect social situations due to these restrictions and can affect a child/young person emotionally questioning why they are different causing low self-esteem.

There are many factors that influence child development, and for most of them, we do have some control. When working with children and young people it is important to have a good understanding of what children need to grow, so as professionals we are better able to address the needs.

Children who have visual impairment usually have some vision; this can vary from each child. Some children may be able to see outlines of objects while others may only be able to tell the difference between light and dark. If a child has vision problems this nearly always initially delays their physical development. Their gross and fine motor skills would be affected because they would be unable to be as adventurous as children with good vision. Fine motor skills may not be in line with other children as the child would find it hard to do tasks that require precision such as threading beads or colouring a picture. Cognitive and language skills would also be affected, even if the child was able to read it would take longer to learn especially if it involved using braille. With the right interventions in place there is no reason why a child with visual impairment would not be able to catch up with their peers.

As a practitioner it’s your duty to observe and maintain correct procedures to ensure that the children are offered a stimulating environment which will further allow optimum possibilities for development. All those who work with or amongst children and young people have a crucial role to play in helping not only to shape aspects of their lives, but to also aid in enhancing their future development. Therefore it can be stated that how we set up our own working practices can affect children and young people’s development, as will be identified by this essay; below are areas where one should concentrate in order to further

Other factors that can affect a child’s development can include genetic problems passed on by a parent, mental or physical disabilities, poor living conditions causing illness such as asthma, learning difficulties, autism, dyspraxia, aspergers, poor communication skills due to sensory impairment such as deafness, blindness, partially sighted.

A child with learning problems may be many developmental years behind their peers, this will have a big impact on what they can do in all areas of development including physical skills, social skills and intellectual skills. They may find it especially hard to interact with children of the same age or stay interested in conversation. They may also need to have one-to-one lessons at school to help educate them as they may not be at the same cognitive stage as peers. This may leave them feeling left out.

Vision may impact on a child’s life when they are going though their development but not much as they could wear Glasses or contacts and the only time it would cases a problem is if the child brakes, looses, forgets to bring them with the child or forgets to puts them in their eyes.

Children and young people often experience many things which have a direct impact on their development; things such as their family environment and structure, personality, hospital visits, childcare arrangements, and culture.

Outcome 2 Understand the factors that influence children and young people’s development and how these affect practice.

Sensory impairments, such as sight or hearing impairments, can influence a childâ€TMs or young personâ€TMs development. Again it could affect a childâ€TMs physical development (i.e. how well they can run) as they may not have the confidence to join in physical activities with others due to

For example a physical disability may affect social skills as they may become withdrawn, their behaviour could change as they become frustrated.

When an infant arrives in the world they are helpless tiny humans who depend on adults for every need from love, to feeding them. It is amazing how these tiny babies grow into adults able to make decisions and become self-dependent. There are many theories about how children develop and what roles the environment plays, what people affect their lives and how events can shape their personalities. Some of these children have and easy life and some have a harder time making that journey to adulthood.

2 Explain the reasons why children and young people’s development may not follow the expected pattern

Different disabilities may affect development in different ways. However, with support from teachers and parents, these affects can be minimalised. A learning disability such as Dyslexia (a common type of learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling) could lead to a child becoming frustrated which could further lead to behavioural issues. Moreover, without assistance, Dyslexia will allow for the child to become unmotivated and prove to be a hindrance to them as they look to strive in later life. Physical disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy (a neurological condition that effects movement and coordination) will affect development as children will have difficulties communicating, eating and drinking and with their