How To Identify A Child With Special Needs?

The term special needs refer to children who require in part or all of their life certain supports. It can be either because they have a disability or because they have a conduct disorder. Some needs, special education; some needs special accessories throughout their life, such as bed for autistic child.

In some cases, parents are already aware of these special needs in their children. But many others are warned by teachers when the children start school for the first time. Therefore, for many families, it can be a real surprise to discover that their child has a special need. 

In today's article, we tell you how to identify a child with special needs.

Are All Child With Special Need The Same?

Much less all children with special needs show the same warning signs. And therein lies the difficulty in detecting this problem early.

The problems can be:

·         Physical problems that cause motor problems. For example, orthopedic disorders, children with cerebral palsy, etc.

·         Mental disabilities, that is, children with a lower than average intellectual level.

·         Total or partial hearing impairment.

·         Total or partial visual impairment.

·         Pervasive developmental disorders. Within this group, we find children with autistic, Asperger, disintegrative, or unspecified disorders.

·         Problems in language acquisition and development.

·         Hyperactivity or attention deficit. To know more, you can click here.

·         Behavioral problems, often caused by emotional problems.

·         High capacities. Highly gifted children also fall into this category because they require adaptations in the educational curriculum.

·         Late incorporation into the educational system. 

How to Identify a Child with Special Needs?

As you can see, detecting a child with special needs is not easy, given the diversity of problems and disorders that can be included. Discovering that your child has special needs can be scary. But making an early diagnosis can make the difference between a correct evolution and the opposite.

The sooner we can start working with the child's difficulties, the better evolution we can see. That is why it is important to be attentive to warning signs that may indicate the need to consult a specialist.

Let's see some of them:

·         Babies who at 3 months do not smile; do not stare; do not hold their head; do not follow objects or people with their eyes; do not respond to auditory stimuli; do not show interest in picking up an object and if they pick it up they cannot hold it.

·         Children who do not babble at 12 months. Do not make gestures such as saying hello or goodbye or pointing. They don't communicate; they don't play.

·         Children who are at 2 years old do not chew solids and cannot climb a small step without help.

·         3-year-olds who have a vocabulary of fewer than 50 words and do not say 2-word sentences together. Nor does she/he collaborate in tasks of personal autonomy such as helping to dress or undress.

·         At the body level, we can observe: if there is hypertonia; if there is an absence of movements or abnormal movements, for example, repetitive.

·         At the expressiveness level, we can see if there are exaggerated fears, language out of context, and absence of expression in the gaze.

·         At a behavioral level, it can alert us: apathy towards the environment, isolation, aggressiveness, low tolerance for frustration, ritualistic behaviors.

·         Children who quickly forget what they have learned.

·         Children who show little emotional contact with parents and close people

·         Babies or children, who do not play, do not manipulate objects, and give the feeling that they are not having fun.

This list does not pretend to be exhaustive. But it does help us to realize that the best way to detect a child’s need is to spend time observing it carefully. We must pay attention to their way of interacting with other children and adults, especially with their parents and closest relatives. It is also necessary to pay attention to her game:

• If she always plays alone or with others,

• If she seeks company or isolates herself,

• If she shows interest in participating in group games or seems that she never has fun,

• If she maintains or avoids eye contact).

Note to Parents

It is important to pay attention to the child's behavior, especially if it manifests violently. But it is also necessary to analyze his affective world and emotional expression. The information that it transmits to us on a non-verbal level, that is, bodily, will give us many clues:

• Very tense or very lax body,

• Repetitive movements,

• Self-injurious behaviors, etc.

They can be warning signs. It is also necessary to know the developmental milestones that are expected for each age group.

Finally

In summary, observation as an early detection instrument will be our best tool. Whether we are parents or education professionals, we must spend time every day observing our children. Then we will be able to detect warning signs. We will see if there are significant changes in their usual way of acting.

All we can hope is the world learns how to identify a child with special needs. Together, we will be able to make this world a better place for all kinds of children.