Genetic Impacts on Child Development and Supporting Special Needs
Context
- Factors affecting child development from both hereditary and genetic causes
- A child’s overall developmental needs
- Special needs defined
- Supporting a child with special needs
- Key transitions
- Supporting children through transitions
- Policies to meet diversity in a childcaring environment
- Methods to ensure that inclusion within the childminding sector
- Effects of discrimination
Introduction
In this assignment I will talk about the key features of child development. By doing this I will go into detail about how genetics and hereditary have an impact on a child’s development, what a child’s overall needs are and how we can develop and support them while they grow. I will also talk about the meaning of special needs and how we as childcare workers and parents can help support the needs of a child who has got special needs. I will then go into detail about policies of diversity, methods to insure inclusion and the effects of discrimination.
Factors affecting child development from both hereditary and genetic causes
There can be many things that affect a child’s development. Two main factors are;
- Genetic
- Hereditary
With these two factors contributing to a child’s development you will begin to see how they have huge affect on a child. As I go on to describe the sub-factors, you will begin to see why Genetics and Environment are the two most important and influential causes of a child’s development.
During the first stages of a child’s growth, Genetics is the dominant factor as this is the first developmental stage of a child. From the first chromosome of a human the genetics are developed through whether a child will be a boy (xy) or a girl (xx). The hereditary genes of the parents come into context with regards to if the child will be a boy or girl.
When you start to look more closely at the parents of child ‘A’ you can start to see factors that the child might inherit such as ‘eye colour’ ‘nose shape’ and other small factors of child ‘A’. If the mother of child ‘A’ has blue eyes and the father has brown then child ‘A’ will more than likely have brown eyes. The gene from the father’s chromosome is the more dominant gene and the blue pigment in the mother’s eyes is actually classed as a mutation gene, so it therefore becomes the recessive gene.
In some rare cases the blue mutation will be the dominant gene depending on family history so that the child will be born and keep the blue pigment in the eye.
Diagram 1 – FAMILY TREE
Diagram 2 – Gender determination
(Refer to page 20)
Diagram 3 – EYE COLOUR
(Refer to page 20)
Displayed in the three charts above, are examples of variable genetic makeup of a child.
With regards to gender or their eye colour depending on the family history.
Below I have broken down the difference between: how the environment affects a child’s development; and how the genetics of a child affects development.
Environment –
- Family
– Cohabiting family
-Broken family
– Traditional family
– Single parent
- Home/Housing
- Physical environment
As you can see above I have highlighted some aspects of how the environment affects a child’s development. I will go a little into the three main topics and subtopic to describe how they can affect development.
Family
Many things can have a huge effect on a child’s development such as family. This can then be broken down into the type of family such as a more traditional family, co-habiting, broken and even single parent families.
Traditional family
- Married couple – man and woman in the same household
- Two children (classed as the ‘norm’)
- House hold consists of 1 ‘bread winner’ (someone to bring home the income)
Being in a traditional family creates balance between the male and female figures in the child’s life. This also creates a sense of a stereo-typical balance in the family household and the male and female’s interaction with the child. This stereo-type family can be seen as ‘good’ for a child’s development as it creates a safe environment and a loving one too. With this stereo-typical type of family the potential positive impacts of this stereotypical family is that the child’s development is supported through birth into school and further into their adulthood
Some would argue that this is just not true. If the parents are violet or constantly arguing with each other this is not going to be a safe or loving environment for a child to be brought up in. With saying that the stereo-typical family is good for a child’s development it can be argued that a child will be better off to grow up with two parents who love the child but who live in separate houses, and live harmoniously rather than the child living in the home where the parents are continually arguing. It would also impact the child’s development in a positive way if they lived with one parent and in some cases, didn’t see their other parent in some cases of physical abuse, sexual abuse or in some cases when the parent brings drugs into the child’s life. In these cases, its best for the child to not see that parent.
(Above’s scenario is not necessarily socially correct as there is no ‘norm’ for a family development)
Broken family
- Parents separated or divorce
- Bouncing between parents
- Unsettled at school
*Page19 for meaning of ‘norm’
The difference between a child’s development from a traditional family or as above a broken family is that the child could be living with one parent or the other or even if they get bounced between the mum or dad. This could be a difficult environment to be in as the child may not experience consistency, and this could impact on their development.
If the child initially grew up with both parents being in the same household and then their parents’ divorce or separate, this change could cause distress and even anxiety for the child. The environment could potentially be hostile for the young child if the divorce or separation is not an amicable one, which could impact further on their development
Above I have discussed the aspect of families and how this can affect a child’s development, which will vary according to the family structure and dynamic.
Home/house
With regards to the home/house and how it affects a child’s development, you will see as I go onto explaining how a home/house can not only physically but emotionally affect a child’s development.
Physical development due to home/house (poverty or wealth)
- Third world country/under developed *poor-no medication
- Stigma
- Abuse
Mental development due to home/house (poverty/development)
- Books- learning
- Stigma – bullied due to poverty
- Social interaction
- Neglect
- Pressure
- Abuse
Physical development within the home/house environment whether the home is from poverty or wealth can affect a child’s development.
A child’s development can be hindered or affected due to the type of home they come from. If we look at two children from two types of family homes you can see how one child can be affected physically, some in different ways and some ways more than the other.
So, if we have two children, one from a wealthy home this child will be known as child A. the other child is from a poor home, this child will be known as child B.
(These two scenarios of Child A and Child B are on either end of the extreme scale of wealth and poverty. This does not mean that they are correct in the term of how a child will develop)
Child A – comes from a wealthy family. They live in a beautiful, warm welcoming home full of lots of toys, books and love from both parents. This child gets everything they need to help them grow physically and mentally.
Wealth can affect Child A both physically and mentally. Child A can receive a lot of help from toys, books/learning, medication if needed. All of these things can help child A’s development which will help the child later on in life due to being presented with more experiences and chances from their upbringing.
Child B – comes from a poor family. They live in an underprivileged household where they can’t get toys/books, medication and anything else that could help to contribute to their physical or mental development.
Poverty can affect child B’s development both the same as child A; physically and mentally. Child B might not receive all the help they need for physical development due to their family’s status. If child B lives in an underprivileged home that has damp the child could get ill which could affect their physical development, especially if they can’t afford medication or food to help them get better. Poverty can also affect the child’s opportunities and experiences later on in life.
As noted above Child ‘A’ and Child ‘B’ are just two scenarios and are not necessarily true in terms of wealth and poverty. Wealth and poverty doesn’t always determine the positive affect and development in a child. There are of course differences between wealth and poverty or a low-income family but that being said a child who has been brought up in a more wealthier family aren’t always happier, or get all the things they need such as love, time and affection.
It is true that people who come from wealth do get more opportunities and experiences but that does not necessarily mean that someone from a less wealthy family can’t have the same opportunities and experiences. A child who comes from a low-income family can still get all the qualities, toys and experiences to help their development as a child would get if they were from a more fortunate family. Some low-income families are incredibly resourceful and will take their children to libraries, for when the children need to learn and children’s play centres or parks so their kids can enjoy playing around alongside of toy libraries for when the children want to play with toys. So, children from a low-income family might not be able to buy toys, books and pay for them to go to play centres all the time, but they can find other ways to give their children what they need to help their development.
There are sub-factors to the physical development such as; abuse and stigma. These sub-factors can affect both Child A and Child B’. Both child A+B can get physically abused and bullied from their families or from social interactions.
This can go onto affect a child’s physical development if harmed to the point of near death or worse case death.
There are also sub-factors to the mental development such as; social interaction, stigma, neglect, pressure and also abuse. These sub-factors can affect both child A and Child B, the same as physical can.
Both children can receive negative forms of social interaction regardless of their family, home or status. By not getting the correct social development, this will hinder Child A and B’s mind state and eventually how they act towards people and their peers.
With both sets of families, the children can receive neglect, pressure and stigma. With all of these sub-factors happening to both sets of children their mental health may be affected also neglect, pressure and stigma can be very harmful towards their development.
Children learn from their peers/ parents and surroundings, if these surroundings, peers and parents are treating Child A and B with pressure, neglect or stigma this would have an essentially negative outcome on their mental development.
The environment that a child is brought up in can also have an effect on a child’s development, for example if a child is born in the UK, they are given a lot more choices and chances to learn, develop and grow, where as if a child is from a more underdeveloped country they are less likely to be given the same chances at progressing with their intellectual development compared to a child who lives in a more developed country.
With all of the information I have given on genetic and heredity development you can begin to see that there are a variety of choices, chances and opportunities that can be given to a child to help progress their development. With all that said you can also see that not every child will be given the same opportunity to develop their cognitive development due to certain circumstances they might be born into or live in. with every child being completely different from anther it can be hard sometimes to understand, help and develop each child’s cognitive and physical development.
A child’s overall developmental needs
From the moment of conception to the day the child is born, these 9 months are crucial to a child’s development. Within this short space of time the mother will begin to go to pre-natal classes, doctors’ appointments and she might even change her diet to suit to the doctor’s advice and how she treats her body now that a child is growing inside.
Given what the doctor says the mother should never go to extremes to change herself due to the pregnancy, yes, she should stop drinking alcohol, smoking or taking non-medical drugs but she shouldn’t stop eating all kinds of food such as chocolate or crisps. There are some ways to help the child’s development while he/she is growing, is for the mother to start to take vitamins and any other forms of medication suggested or prescribed to by her doctor. Once the child is born this is where nature and nurture start to take place. After birth the child begins to start to learn and develop, some of these stages of development are;
- Baby development
- Child development 1-5 years
- Child development 6-12 years
In these three types of stages I will go into detail about what their overall developmental needs are.
Baby development
Baby milestones are a big factor to a child’s development, for example around these stages your baby will be able to hold their head up by themselves, laying on their back and smiling and even rolling over.
These are just some factors that can affect a child’s development. There are also milestones to expect from child development. Some of the forms, of milestones for a baby to a year old are;
- Smiling – Around 6 weeks, this is your baby’s first milestone
- Head first -Around 6 weeks your baby can hold their head up by themselves
- Roly poly – Around 3 and 6 months your baby will begin to roll from their tummy to their back and vice versa a couple weeks later
- Sitting -Around 5 -7 months your baby will be able to start to sit up with no help from you
- Crawling – Babies learn to crawl from as early as 6 months
- Bottom shuffling – This is for some of the babies that don’t crawl but find other ways to move around.
- Cruising – before walking your baby will start to pull themselves up against furniture and even peoples legs, this usually happens between the age of 7 months up until 1 year old
- First steps – This is a massive milestone for your baby usually happens from 9 months and up to 1 year
- Chatterbox – Around 18 months babies start to use between 6 and 20 words.
These are milestones you look forward to seeing in your child, you also need to look out for any indication of a problem with your baby’s development, such as;
- Sound
- Sitting
- Steps
- Speech
- If your child isn’t responding to any sounds by turning their head towards you or looking up by three months, there could be a hearing difficulty.
- If your baby can’t sit unsupported for short periods by seven months, their muscles may be weaker than expected and may need help with physiotherapy.
- If your child isn’t walking by the age of two years, again there may be some muscle weakness.
- If your child’s speech is still babyish and unintelligible to strangers by the age of four years, they may need some help, perhaps with speech therapy.
These are just a couple of things you need to keep an eye out for with your baby. Late development could lead to problems later on throughout their development if they haven’t been seen to with regards to an indication with their development.
From the moment of birth, the child is always learning and developing, this is always important for any child that they get all the help they can during their development.
Child development 1-5 years
With child development from 1 year to 5 years old there are some factors to their development that you should look out for, such as;
- Physical changes
- Communication
- Emotional development
- Learning
- Social skills
- Challenges
These are some of the factors that can affect a child’s development as a child is growing and now walking they are still going through changes from a baby to toddler and from toddler to young child who will be starting school, by the age of 4. Around the age of 1-2, they will also learn how to pick up small objects between their thumb and index finger. This will make it possible for your child to feed themselves snacks or lunch and dinner, scribble with a crayon or even build towers with blocks.
By the age of 16 months your child should be using between 6 and 20 recognisable words. They begin to start their vocabulary by the time they are two with around 50 words. Around
this time your child will be able to put two words together like ‘Daddy Work’ or ‘Where Mummy?’ and even a few other recognisable words making a sentence to them.
Emotional development is when your child begins to have an attachment to you being around, so when you are not in their sights they miss you, for example many children struggle with your absence – and this can mean anything from returning to work, to going out for a few hours or even leaving the room for a minute or two. The separation can cause anxiety in your child which can arise around 18 months old.
Your child will be learning around the age of 12-18 months and will continue to learn as they get older, but between 1 and 5 your child is beginning to draw, colour, write and even attempt to write their name. With repetition your child will find it easier to remember and learn activities such as writing their name to then writing some sentences.
Social skills are very important to a young child’s development as this can affect their ‘group play’ and even friendships later on in life. With social skills for a child they are just beginning to play with other children and understand that they need to share, by learning this skill at a young age they will easily adjust into a classroom and adulthood later on in life
Most children will begin teething between 1 and 2, this can be difficult for your child to deal with eating and even disturb their sleep if they are in pain. If your child is having problems with their teething, you can give them some Calpol or teething gel to help with the pain.
Child development 6-12 years
With child development from 6 years to 12 years old there are some factors to their development that you should look out for, such as;
- Physical changes
- Communication
- Emotional development
- Learning
- Social skills
From the age of 6 to 12 your child will continually be changing and developing. By the age of 8 your child will have had a few of their adult teeth. It’s important that your children know to brush their teeth twice a day and properly so as to not get any gum infections. Around the age of 9 most children start to go through puberty. In some cases, some children start earlier and later.
Most children’s speech is clear by the age of 6. By the age of seven, your child may begin to get embarrassed, they may want more privacy when having a bath and getting dressed, particularly in front of friends.
Around the age of 6 most children will begin to understand numbers and basic maths skills by the time they are 7. Most children are confident in reading and writing by the age of 8. Their handwriting skills are developing more so that they can join up writing and may begin to use ink pens at school.
Around the age of 6 friendships are very important to children, most prefer to play in the same sex group, where girls tend to stick to friendship groups of two or three, while boys prefer larger groups. Its normal for children to fall out with their friends usually over something little, in most cases they make up pretty quickly so they can get back to playing together
Special needs defined
Special needs poem – Imperfections.
- Why is it, that others place more thought on your imperfections that your perfections?
Is it like loathing a tree for blocking your view, but not realising the fact that this tree is what provides you with shade.
– Julia Martinez
*Page19 Poem
I like this poem because it really makes me think about how society does separate people into categories and how people judge others due to slight imperfections and differences.
Given that every child is unique and none quite the same, a child with special needs is always going to need extra help, time and affection when it comes to their development. This isn’t to say that the average child does not need these things too, it’s just that a child with special needs might have difficulties such as; physical, emotional, behavioural and learning difficulties, due to these qualities it can make it harder for a child with these certain attributes to learn, interact or socialise. When a child carer/ childminder is working with a child with SEN OR SEND its important to keep a happy and calm environment for these children to learn in and it can help to create a lesson plan or a daily plan so that the child with SEN/SEND can slowly get into a routine and not get anxious about the day or any upcoming events.
‘Special Needs’ is a very broad term, every situation is unique and brings on its own challenges, anxieties and triumphs. Generally, ‘Special Needs’ is defined by what a child cannot do, what they cannot eat or even in some cases some activities that they cannot take part in too. It has been said that some families would class these unmet milestones and issues as a loss or a problem, where as they should not just focus on what the child cannot do but to focus on the fact that the child might not be able to do everything that other children their age can but that they can do activities or learn as well as any child. The only difference being that a child with SEN or SEND might take that little bit longer with a bit of help, to complete the same tasks given to any other child.
When you look at a child with learning difficulties the traditional form of support, reward or discipline, won’t be very helpful or effective as a child with SEN won’t really understand or acknowledge the discipline or reward of doing something that they should or should not be doing. Children with SEN will need extra time and attention and will sometimes have to work in a 1-1 situation with a teacher just due to the fact that a child with SEN might not be able to keep up with the rest of the children who are learning the curriculum.
In 2014 the SEND Code of Practice was introduced in line with the Children and Families Act 2014. This basically means that the SEND Code of Practice should be observed and used when working with children or young people who have SEN or SEND. People who work with SEN/SEND children are known as SENCO workers.
*** Page19 for SEN/SEND/SENCO information
Some of the main point of the code (SEND Code) are;
- Taking into account the views of children, young people and families
- Allowing the children and families to take part in the decision making.
- Identifying the needs of the children and young people.
Supporting a child with special needs
One of the first points to helping a child with SEN or SEND is to fully understand what needs the children have or will need through teaching, or observing how they respond through play. First identify the needs of the individual and create a plan in which will help the child through development and learning. The ‘EYFS’ is a statuary framework for the children aged 0-5 years old, during the framework for EYFS the practitioners – teachers, care workers, nannies – are required to review, analyse, take notes and summarise the work or outcome of the child’s development with the parents.
*Page19 for EYFS terminology
During the ages of two and three, Early Years Practitioners must review a child’s development and provide parents with a short-written survey of the child’s skill and developmental state, with this they should also highlight only points which would need to be brought up if the child starts to show any signs of SEN or SEND.
Points in the progress support report must include;
- Good progress being made
- Any additional support that the child might need
- Any concerns that has been brought up
- If they begin to show that they have a developmental delay.
These are all important fact that need to be brought up not only to the child’s parents but also to the school, doing this can help to clarify if the child is showing signs of SEN or SEND and if so there can be a support group, who will come up with any plan or curriculum that might benefit the child more than a regular school curriculum.
When a child does show these signs of developmental delay, it is important that the Early Years Practitioners do make up a plan in writing to also help the parents for when the child is at home and the parents want to give the child extra help with school work or learning progress. Any delay in spotting or analysing that a child has a developmental delay can give a risk to the child’s learning difficulty and can the affect their self-esteem through school and later on in life. Early action is extremely important to the future progress and development to the child.
With any child with SEN or SEND its extremely important that the SENCO or EYP provide day to day support for all the children within the SEN or SEND divisions, so not only do the children feel safe and comfortable you are also helping the parents who might be finding it a little difficult. By providing this support not only to the children but to the parents too you are starting to build links with existing SENCO networks to help with a smooth transition to nursery and reception classes.
**Page19 for EYP terminology
Key transitions
Helping children with transitions, there are four main points to take into consideration;
- Emotional
- Physical
- Intellectual
- Physiological
Some of the most common forms of transition can e from basic tasks such as learning to walk from crawling, moving to a bed from a cot and even simple transitions such as;
- potty training
- starting school
- changing class
- losing baby teeth
- puberty.
All of these forms of transition can have both a positive and negative affect on the child physically, emotionally, socially and physiologically.
Some less common forms of transition can be moving house, bereavement, change in family structure, abuse and even bulling. These are only a few forms of transition that are less common but can happen to anyone at any time in their lives. An effect of these on a child, young adult or even adults can have a negative effect such as sadness, depression, anger, clinginess and even difficulty sleeping. These can all have a negative effect on a person’s personal lives, so with these transitions, people learn how to deal with difficult times even from a young age, they learn how to deal with negative feelings in a way that doesn’t affect their social or intellectual being too much.
There is research found on key transitions which is focused on education related transitions;
- Move from pre-school to foundation
- Move from foundation to KS1
- Move from primary to secondary
- Moving up in the year groups
Supporting children through transitions
As you grow you figure out how to accept transitions/change. You begin to get anxious, excited and even curious about the change that’s about to happen, all the while not actually knowing what the outcome will be. These roots of feelings and how to accept or deal with can be found way back into their childhood and even infancy.
A good way to help and support a child who is going through any of the transitions I previously spoke about is to always support them and help them figure out an easy way to deal with their current transition, its always good to help support a child by telling them that everything happens for a reason, not everything that happens will be okay but that in time you will begin to feel better about what happened. For example, if a child’s parent was in the hospital with an illness that later on takes her life, it’s a good thing to try and support the child grieving by being there for them, listening and telling them that their parent loves/loved them so much and that their love will never die.
By the Early Years Practitioners responding sensitively and reading the needs of the child they can be attuned to the child and what they will need and how to react/treat each and every situation that they come across, by helping and talking to the child in a calm manor, this way you begin to show the child that every situation is different and the child will begin to understand how to manage their feelings/ emotions on their own.
The more you talk a situation through with a child dealing with some form of transition, the more the child will build a resilience to change and cope better when the opportunity of change arises. Always try to show a child that even though the change might seem scary, that its always good to look at the situation with curious eyes and that not all change is bad.
Supporting children and helping them while they go through changes in their lives, a good plan of action to take is to write up a plan that will help the child in their day to day life, such as targets to hit and goals to aim for. By doing this you are not only helping their intellectual development but also you are helping them get through a transition, which in the beginning might have seemed scary to the child but with new targets and goals, which will turn the transition from something daunting to something that they can work to or past.
Policies to meet diversity in a childcaring environment
A policy that I would take with me in my childcare environment will be that all the children in my care will be treated as individuals and respected for their opinions, interests and individual needs. Some more points that I will include are;
- Treat all individuals with equal concern
- Give all children the opportunity to develop and learn
- Encouraged them to learn about people different from themselves and to respect and enjoy those differences
- Accommodated and encouraged children with all their differences
- Respect for others, their culture, beliefs and religion
- To be open to difference, celebrate it and encourage individual’s strengths
- I will not tolerate discrimination of differences
- I will not stand for any discrimination towards any child because of their skin colour, gender, cultural or family background, racial origin, disability, interests, strengths, weaknesses, age or values
Diversity and Equality has been around for many years but in 2010 the Equality Act as founded and this single act replaced previous legislations such as the Race Relations Act of 1976 and Disability Discrimination act 1995.
*Page19 for Diversity and Equality Act
It is always important to make every child feel important and included especially in a childminding/caring environment. By doing this you are not only helping a child’s development bus also showing them that by including others you are not only doing a good thing but this will help them in their ‘working with others’ later on in life.
This is meaning that all are not the same but if you treat each and every individual as the same you are discriminating others as you are putting everyone in the same group. By treating everyone the same you as a child care practitioner are not being very fair to the children as you are ignoring the traits of the children that make them unique. This is unfair as you will not be accepting limitations or even accepting certain traits of each child, this is discriminating against the children and if found to be doing this on a case of discrimination against the equality act, there is in some cases legal action that will be taken. In some cases, if a discrimination has been brought to the attention of someone else e.g. you head of school, first thing they will do is to find out if you have been doing this unknowingly, and found that you have unknowingly done this the next stage is to get you to understand what you’ve been doing and action to take so that you will not carry this on.
Methods to ensure that inclusion within the childminding sector
If you start to care, teach or look after singular or multiple amounts of children and you start to treat each child as the same you are essentially excluding children that are different, by doing this you start to affect the child being left out due to them feeling they are unable to join in the activities. So as to not exclude any child it is vital that you don’t group children into singular categories so that all children can feel included. If you were excluding children due to their differences then you would be discriminating them which can turn into a legal cause/claim as I previously spoke about.
By showing fairness to others you are not only doing this for the child but for others around you such as your staff, colleagues, parents and any other professionals you may come into contact with.
With all that being said you don’t need to be an expert in inclusion just need to have a ‘can do’ attitude and at least this way it shows all that you are trying to include all in group activities or just that you aren’t going to or trying to leave people out.
Make sure that with inclusion that you don’t discriminate others by the choices of activities or lesson plan, such as if you try to do a group activity and you have a child with health conditions or impairments, make sure that you don’t discriminate against that child by leaving them out due to their disability. The more that you include others and don’t discriminate against others, children from the ages of 4 years old begin to mimic and observe actions and behavioural traits of others, so try to always be kind, involve others and don’t discriminate against others due to race, sex or disability.
*Page19 for ‘working with others’ definition
Effects of discrimination
Discrimination is not only leaving children out but choosing to exclude them due to facts about that child. They could be from an ethnical family background, they might be emotionally developed or even because you don’t like that child. By choosing to exclude a child due to differences about them you are knowingly choosing to discriminate against them. Some of the main points to look out for so that you won’t be discriminating against someone is as followed;
- Age
- Disability
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Sexual orientation
By knowing these are some main points of discrimination you can be clear about not knowingly discriminating against others. Below I will point out some direct discriminations and some indirect cases.
Discrimination can occur in some situations deliberately, for example if someone is denied a job or rent/ mortgage or the opportunity to learn or progress in a job due to the persons characteristics, this is known as direct discrimination. If a person is found to be doing this legal action will be taken.
Discrimination can also occur un other situations where the person unknowingly discriminates against someone. For example, in a work place a policy might get put in place for everyone to abide by but is restrictive to people from certain groups such as their ethnicity. For example, if the policy is only in English or if a company provides food at certain times but the company has not taken into account some of their staff’s religion or their beliefs such as fasting periods. This is known as indirect discrimination and should still be taken very seriously.
As previously mentioned there are a few main Policies and Regulations Acts that need to be considered to make sure that you aren’t discriminating against others, some of these acts are;
- Equality Act 2010
- Human rights Act 1998
- Mental capacity Act 2005
- Care Act 2014
- Health and social care Act 2012
- Prejudice
- Gender Reassignment
- Marriage and Civil Partnership
- Pregnancy and Maternity
These are just a few acts that have been put into place so that everyone gets treats equally and without discrimination.
Discrimination is not something that should be taken lightly, there are actions that can be taken to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and for someone who has or thinks that they have been discriminated against then there are actions that they can take to find out if they were correct in thinking they’ve been caught in an act of discrimination and how it can be resolved. There is not a definite way to handle a situation of discrimination but some ways to help settle the dispute is to;
- Challenge or confront the situation, that you know is not right and that does not promote fairness to all.
- Don’t be quick to punish or pass blame but to hear the reasons for the discrimination and figure out what is the best way to handle the situation
- Be firm and clear about the situation and what you’re saying.
- Fully understand the situation. Is it appropriate to challenge the cause straight away? or is there more information you need before you go ahead with your claim?
These are just a few ways to help you when you’re thinking about if you’ve been discriminated against and ways in which you can figure out what are the next steps to take in a situation from which discrimination have been brought up.
I feel that discrimination against anyone is morally wrong, but for someone to discriminate against a child can cause that child distress, anger and even anxiety. A child might begin to feel these sorts of emotion due to the person who has discriminated against the child for them being from a specific type of family, their race or some other reason the person felt it was okay to victimise the child. The child in question won’t really understand why they’ve been left out, or why an adult or child would bully them due to a fact about themselves that the ‘bully’ feels makes them different.
In conclusion, I have gone into detail how hereditary and genetics benefit a child’s development and how parents, home and environment do contribute to the development of a child. I also went into detail what the needs of a child are and how we can support them through their growth. In further paragraphs I went on to explain the meaning of special needs, and how we are care workers, nannies, and parents can support a child with SEN or SEND. After these paragraphs I went onto explain diversity and how the inclusion of children is very important and what the effects of discrimination can have on children and work colleges. I feel that after going into detail I understand a bit more about what the key features of child development is and how things such as the genetics, needs of a child, diversity, discrimination, and even special needs have a huge impact on a child’s development.
Glossary-
*’Norm’- something that is usual, typical or standard. – Page 4
*Special Needs – in the context of children at school- particular educational requirements resulting from learning difficulties, physical disability, or emotional and behavioural difficulties. – Page 7
*SEN – Special Educational Needs – Page 8
*SEND – Special Educational Needs or Disabilities -Page 8
*SEND Code of Practice – Guidance on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) system for children and young people aged 0 to 25, from 1 September 2014. – page 8
*SENCO – Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator – Page 9
*EYFS – Early Years Foundation Stage – Page 9
*EYP – Early Years Practitioners – Early years are the first 0 to 5 years of a child’s development. Of course, there are many people that are involved with this age group, but the word practitioner normally indicates a person who has studied, and gained recognised qualifications, to teach or work with them- Page 9
*Diversity and equality – Equality and diversity is a term used in the United Kingdom to define and champion equality, diversity and human rights as defining values of society. – Page 11
*Working with others – “Working with others is the ability to effectively interact, cooperate, collaborate and manage conflicts with other people in order to complete tasks and achieve shared goals – Page 12
Bibliography
Image (18.01.2018)- http://county.pueblo.org/government/county/department/city-county-health-department/child_care
Norm definition (18.01.2018) – https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=CgtfWs7qEIGukwW57ZPQDw&q=meaning+of+Norm+&oq=meaning+of+Norm+&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l7j0i22i30k1l3.1397.5772.0.6049.17.15.0.1.1.0.464.1602.1j3j1j0j2.7.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..9.8.1610.0..0i131k1j0i10k1.0.a8MArvdwz0E
Diversity (18.01.2018) – http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuomca/diversityinit/definition.html
SEND Code of Practice (18.01.2018) – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
Eye colour diagram (18.01.2018) – http://www.newkidscenter.com/Baby-Eye-Color.html
Gender determination (18.01.2018) –http://hannahhelpbiology.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/322-describe-determination-of-sex-of.html
Richard Woolfson ( 22.01.2018 ) http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/family/144354/Baby-development
Poem (18.01.2018) – www.weheartit.com
Working with others (18.01.2018) – https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=qFBfWo-XO9KtsAez9Km4Cg&q=working+with+others+definition&oq=working+with+others+&gs_l=psy-ab.3.2.0l10.712.4230.0.6774.21.13.0.7.7.0.171.1204.4j7.11.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..3.18.1269.0..35i39k1j0i131k1.0.45h8FTZNxDk
Diversity and equality act (18.01.2018) – http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3017
Diversity and equality meaning (18.01.2018) – https://www.google.co.uk/search?ei=azJfWr7pNcTlUY-BmKAJ&q=diversity+and+equality+act+meaning+&oq=diversity+and+equality+act+meaning+&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i22i29i30k1l2.2700.5570.0.5773.9.9.0.0.0.0.173.789.7j2.9.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.9.784…0j0i22i30k1.0.P9KacoxMrCY
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