Help In Dealing With Special Needs Individuals

I used to words Dealing with Special Needs Individuals as my l last topic. I do not want society to get the ideal that it is burdensome. I mean dealing as having to anticipate their next move like a game of cards. You are always looking for a better outcome each and every time you interact with that individual.

There is a famous quote that goes something like this. Mind you, I am paraphrasing, that if you continue to do the same thing you have always done, you will reap the same benefit you always get. In other words, if you continue doing what you are doing, the same way you have been doing it, you will always end up in the same place.

This may be true in normal individuals, however, with some special needs it is thru repetition that helps the individual gets confidence or comfort to relax and proceed. The more they see the same things, the more at home they feel. A great number of special needs individuals do not like change. If their pattern is disrupted, it causes confusions that they cannot handle.

When you plan to go somewhere or do something different with that individual, you cannot just take off and go and do it without first considering how this is going to affect this individual. Something as common as a horn blowing can send a special needs individual into frenzy. You are so in tuned to driving and what is going on around you that you do not even pay attention to the sound of the horn; therefore, you are at lost to what set this individuals off.

If this individual does not like for you to touch them, then you cannot give them a hug and kiss to make it better, which is your normal reaction. Besides, this could easily happen in the middle of rush hour traffic, on a highway or bridge where you cannot pull over. You, then, have to try and talk this individual calm, by looking thru your rearview mirror because you cannot turn around to attend to them. You must not show them that you are very frightened by their outbreak or the timing of it. If you do, they can sense and react to it which makes matters worst.

They all have the same moods, attitudes and behavior as quote a normal people, but does not know how to express it or even know what is going on with them. In fact, some of their senses are sharper than others because of their challenges. I have heard many say that when you lose one of your senses, the others increase. I know that is true for a fact. My son, who died at the age of 12, was cortical blind, however, he could hear you long before anyone did and would turn his head towards you.

“Special Needs" covers a long array of diagnosis. They can be Medical, Physical, Developmental Delayed, Social Behavior, or Learning Behaviors.

Therefore, it is extremely important that the teachers and students are aware of this individual’s capabilities. It is more important that an Individual Education Plan (IEP) be formulated for students and Individual Treatment Plan (ITP) for adults, so that everyone is aware of their strengths as well as their weakness. However, they must stress their strengths and build on them.

The goal of this plan is for everyone to work together to achieve the best outcome for this individual. It is a guide to determine where this individual has come from; what needs to be worked on next; how far this individual has come; and how long will it take this individual to reach the set goal depending on current progress.

Although every special-needs child is different and every family is unique, there are some common concerns that link parents of challenged individual or caregiver, including getting appropriate care and accommodations; promoting acceptance in the extended family, school and community; planning for an uncertain future; and adjusting routines and expectations. Parents of children with special needs and caregivers are often more flexible, compassionate, stubborn and resilient than other parents. They have to be!