What Are The Challenges Of Working With Children

Empathy towards people with disabilities is a quality that I consider has been deep-seated in me since an early age. For example, when I was ten years old, while watching the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) telethon, I was moved to do a fundraiser in my community. All the money raised was sent to the MDA. This made me aware that we can all contribute in some way or another to the good of others. Later on, after completing my high school, I decided to pursue a degree in Physical Education and recreation for children with disabilities. Working as an Adeptive Physical Educator gave me the opportunity to change the lives of many students. The years invested in this occupation brought me great personal and professional satisfactions that still follow me to this

My clients have predominantly been diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorders; however I have also gained significant clinical experience working with children with Down 's syndrome, ADHD, and social communication disorders.

Throughout my years as a childcare practitioner, I have accumulated a wide range of experience working with children aged 3 – 11. However, the majority of my experience is with children aged 3-5. Through

Through working with 0-2 year olds it has provided me with opportunities and experience to acknowledge children’s needs by finding ways to communicate through body language. By having opportunities to extend by knowledge via different courses has allowed me to extend my knowledge. Although I have gained a

‘Early years practitioners have a key role to play in working with parents to support their young children. This should include identifying learning needs and responding quickly to any difficulties. Wherever appropriate, practitioners should work together with professionals from other

As a childcare practitioner it is important that I am able to recognise when a child in their early years may have a range of learning needs. To be able to understand the way I need to work with others to ensure that the learning plan that is in place for this child has a positive impact on their health, development and learning. To ensure I am offering an inclusive practice where the child is supported and feels valued and is helping them towards achieving the Five Outcomes of The Every Child Matters Framework.

In ninth grade, my mother suggested that I volunteer with peers at my high school who are special needs. She thought it would be good for me to meet other people my age who have their unique struggles in school, much like myself. I protested originally, but little did I know I would love volunteering with my peers, regardless of their disability. During this time, I signed up to volunteer with a local organization called Buddy Ball. At Buddy Ball, I had the opportunity to teach children with disabilities ages five through twenty-one baseball. When I volunteered with my peers, I mainly saw high schoolers with severe autism, intellectual disabilities, and emotional disturbances, whereas with Buddy Ball most of the participants had severe autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, epilepsy, or a multiple of disabilities. Both of these experiences allowed me to gain knowledge of a variety of special

When looking at children and young people’s development it is important to recognise and respond to concerns to ensure that the child or young person receives the help and assistance needed.

To be able to work with so many children every day, each with a different disability has to take a lot of creativity and problem solving. I remember going to her office when I was younger, and wanting to be just like her. Now I have the opportunity to do something very similar. I haven’t yet decided what age group of people I would want to work with in the future, but I have a feeling it would be children from birth to three. My mom has even helped me build some connections, helping me set up a day to shadow one of the few speech therapists that worked in her office in Temple. After following Morgan, the speech therapist, for the day I realized how much patience and time her and my mom put into their jobs. I had forgotten about all of the nights my mom had come home from work still typing reports on her computer. Working with children and their families can take up time in your personal life, not just your professional

I believe that children are my first priority and I will do my best to nurture the inherent gifts that each one brings and shares with me. I believe what greatly makes a difference in a child’s life is a teacher who cares about each child and who teaches from the heart to touch or challenge every aspect of a child’s personality, cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and cultural during his or her journey with me. I also believe that every child deserves the opportunity to learn, gain knowledge, and be educated. I will encourage the child to learn and develop at his or her own level. With the guidance, scaffolding, and learning, they will gain knowledge and explore the world in a safe

Practitioners will continue to observe, plan and review for their key children, they will record all targets for individual children to help them progress in their development. There are ways to approach additional support such as:

I had no professional experience dealing with special need children. However, my aunt had Down Syndrome and watching her mother dealt with issues relating to her Syndrome allowed me to understand the challenges she faced.

The first child I was fortunate to meet with Autism, was the son of a previous coworker. I walked into his home and he immediately came up and independently hugged and initiated a conversation with me. I did not know it at the time but for a child with autism, that was a big deal. Working with children has always been a strong desire and passion of mine, I knew teaching was not my number one option but I was definitely not opposed to it. At the time, I thought I wanted to go into child protective services which is why I decided to pursue my degree in criminal justice. It was not until I declared a minor in Human Services that I realized what I really wanted to do, which was be in the field of helping and counseling.

Effectively supporting children with realistic responses to their questions, ideas, suggestions and concerns is essential to developing their communication skills; you should put aside your own feelings

When I was in high school I volunteered for a program called “Very Special Arts.” I worked with children having the full range of special education needs to expose them to art. Many of the children had difficulty holding things, speaking, or understanding everything, but they were treated with equal respect and attention, regardless of their disability. The result was crystal clear. All the participants expressed their own appreciation of art through their enthusiasm and excitement. My volunteer experience taught me the importance of tolerance in working with people from many different backgrounds and having an array of special needs. I also experienced the joy of working with disabled children that have diverse