Managing the safety of children with disabilities

[mamamary2011]

IC 139 Managing the safety of children with disabilities.

Hi Im taking Diploma, I need an assitance for this assesment. Any help is greatly appreciated. Please.
Ensuring the safety of a child with disability requires a co-operative effort from the practitioner and the parent/s. In relation to creating a safe environment for children list the questions you would ask the parent of:

a) A 3 year old child in the middle spectrum of autism - child has a vocabulary of around ten words, often attempts to put small objects up his nose, becomes distressed if there are changes to routine, has ritualistic behaviours, hypersentive to sound, light and touch: can become extremely agitated/panicked by loud noise and has an aversion to bright light, does not like to be touched - will scream and throw self down or run away.

b) A 4 year child with genetic motor deficits - walks with unsteady gait - falls easily, low muscle tone - needs assistance with all self-help skills.

c) A 3 year old child with a moderate to severe hearing loss who has one cochlear implant and one hearing aid - child uses sign language.

Im really having difficulty on this assessment task so please help me with this. Thank you very very much in advance.

[Lorina]

Hey Mamamary,

I agree, this is a difficult assignment. So from what you said, you will need to come up with a list of questions to ask the parents for each child. Ok…

Here are a few questions you could ask the parents of:

Child No 1-

1) What safety modifications would we need to establish in the indoor or outdoor environment. For e.g. covering electrical outlets, child proof locks, keeping breakable items on a higher shelf, etc. (When working in a childcare centre we should have most of the safety covered).
2) Will we need to modify any of the areas within the room/outdoor environment? For e.g. label items and area with photographs or symbols to assist in communication?
3) Is there any furniture arrangements in which we will need to assess? For e.g. having appropriate chairs, providing a predictable path to move throughout the room, moving shelving away etc.?
4) Would we need to keep doors and windows locked to prevent child from escaping?
5) Would we need to provide low shelves for easily accessible items?
6) To set limits, would you recommend us using dividers, tape boundaries and signs? For e.g. STOP signs on the door, using colour tape on carpets or floors to designate boundaries etc.?

Link: http://www.autism-society.org/living-wi ... -home.html

Child No 2 –

1) Does your child receive physical therapy or occupational therapy?
2) Can your child walk unassisted for a certain period of time?
3) Are there any safety requirements you consider that would benefit your child in our car? For e.g. railing in the bathroom, handrails near stairs, non- slip mats in bathrooms etc.

Child No 3 –

1) Would we need to be aware of the environmental noise within the room? For e.g. Noise levels and music not being played too loudly, adding soft carpets on the floors to make it less noisy etc.
2) Would we need to provide low furniture and shelving for your child to be able to see over it?
3) How do you suggest some ways we could get your child’s attention?
4) How would we handle an emergency evacuation procedure? For e.g. adding lights to an existing alarm system.
5) How do we care for your child’s hearing aids?
6) Would you be able to provide us (or teach us) with a list of sign language gestures in which we can use to communicate with your child?

Link: http://www.lbcma.org.uk/newsArticles/NAhearing.asp

This is one tough assignment, especially if you don’t have experience working with children who have a disability. I’ve only worked with a couple of children…

The way I came up with the questions is simply found out some info on each of the disabilities and then asked questions according to that (I’ve added the links above). After reading through the information those are the questions that I would ask. I suggest you read through the info and see if you can come up with any more questions??

Also don’t forget you will have to ask all parents about their child’s sleeping habits, foods they eat, self-help skills etc.

I really hope this could shed some light on how to go about your assignment,

Cheers ,
L.A

[mamamary2011]

Thank you so much L.A. you are an angel.
That's really a great help!

More power to you

[Jesmin]

Hi, L.A is was jsut wondering if you could answer this question for me, it is:

A three year old child with low vision in one eye wears glasses and is generally able to move around easily, but needs support with changes in gradient, stairs and single small steps.

What questions should I ask to the parents in this scenario?
These are some of the question I have come up with;

Does the child need to wear these glasses for the whole day?
Is the child diagnosed with an eye condition by the optometrist?
Can the child see better if the steps or stairs are colour coded?

[Lorina]

Hey Jesmin,

You are on the right track, with the questions you came up with to ask the parents of the child with low vision.

Have a look at the following link: Assisting A Young Child Who Is Visually Impaired

This is from the Vision Australia website. The page I'm referring you to, tells you how you can assist a child with low vision in a preschool setting. Just have a quick read through it and from the information you should be able to come up with some questions. For example:

1) Are there any ways we need to change the room set up?
2) How can we modify the environment?
3) Do we need to adjust the lighting in the room?
4) What types of verbal information should we provide? Give an example.
5) Is your child glare sensitive? If yes, are there any other precautions we must take?
6) Would you recommend that we use colour contrast for different activities?
7) What is the recommended working distance your child is comfortable with?

This should hopefully get you started!

Also just to let you know, I deleted your duplicate post and would you be able to tell me the module number for this assignment.

Cheers ,
L.A

[tehmina50]

Scenario 1- Alfie (3 years) has a midrange autism disorder – he has a vocabulary of around 10 words, often attempts to put small objects up his nose, becomes distressed if there are changes to routine, has ritualistic behaviours, hypersensitive to sound, light and touch. He can become extremely agitated/panicked by loud noise and has an aversion to bright light – he will scream and throw himself down or run away.
a) What questions would you ask Alfie’s parents to help you create a safe environment for Alfie?
Scenario 2- Scenario: Heidi
Heidi (4 years) has a genetic motor deficit disorder – she walks with unsteady gait, falls easily, has low muscle tone and needs assistance with all self-help skills. Heidi can only eat soft foods as she has difficulty swallowing.
b) What questions would you ask Heidi’s parents to help you create a safe environment for Heidi?
Scenario 3- Scenario: Callum
Callum (20 Months) is new to the service and on enrolment his mother informs you that he has a severe wheat intolerance.
c) What questions would you ask Callum’s parents to help you create a safe environment for Callum?

[Lorina]

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,
Lorina