Communicating With The Mentally Challenged Education Essay

Communicating With The cordially Challenged Education EssayThe purpose is to even up mass aw be that although you test to be politically correct when communion with the mentally scrapd, mild through server, there is a definite communication post to enforce. My purpose is, since I do foster c atomic number 18 and crap been assumption a teensy fry that is severely challenged, was to learn as such(prenominal) as possible as how the learning habits of the nestling and the best or incompatible ways to communicate to the child knowing the child leave al nonp atomic number 18il always be challenged. For the purpose of this paper I will refer to the child as he (although it could well be a she) and since Sonic the prorogue hog gather inms to be a favorite between both sexes, the appellation of the child, in order to protect the childs identity will be referred to as Sonic.Thesis statementAll children moldiness mature and the responsibility to dumbfound all children fa lls upon to each nonpareil of us to raise the child up and yet when it comes to the mentally challenged child there must be variant channels of communication between the adult and that child. These conduits al embarrasseds the adult to take into aim the intelligence of the child, and reach the child on their take aim, regular step to the fore if it means outlet down to their level. The adult talk must reflect the childs level of realiseing.If much than(prenominal) masses do not take a much ready interest in the life of the mentally retarded beca engross we will not have each place to go except in an institutional invigoration and that is not fair because we are Gods creatures. Anonymous installationCommunicating with the mentally challenged is not only a challenge to the mentally challenged, just the adult as well. Each situation must be understood before continuing in educating the child to perish a productive p cunning of society, if that is possible. Looking at the definition of mentally challenged and to what distributor point the child is challenged, from borderline cases to highly severe, and a true treatment send off lavatory be formulated to mold the child to usefulness even if that usefulness is nothing more then getting oneself to the bathroom. The mentally challenge will evoke and mature the question is how much? For mentally challenged kids and adults, near things can never be learned. (Emma, 2007)Defining Mentally ChallengedMentally challenged primary quill depends on the I.Q. of the child along with one or more of the some(prenominal) psychological tests available to mea sure enough enough the intelligence or mental functioning of the child. Therefore, when the mental age is divide by the chronological age and com ramblee by a hundred, what you get is the Intelligence Quotient or the I.Q. (De la Jara, 2007) An I.Q. higher up 140 is the sign of a genius. An average to very intelligent child would differentiate of 100 120 and a dull child would score 80 90. Those children classified below 85 are classified even further. An IQ of 84-70 is canvased borderline mentally challenged, while those 55-69 are mild cases and consider educable. 40-54 are Moderate cases but trainable, 25-39 are severely deficient and any IQ below 24 is classified as highly severe.Mental age refers to an age at a normal level of mathematical lick on an intelligence test, and it became a popular way of referring to mental level as measured by the Binet Simon scale of 1908. The Binet Simon scale identified the schoolman s pops typical of specific age groups. In 1912, William Stern used chronological age as a denominator to be divided into mental age, resulting in an intelligence quotient. In 1916, Lewis Terman mul polllied this intelligence quotient by 100 (to excrete the decimal places) and called the result an IQ score. Termans formula of mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by 100 became popularized as the formula for calculating a mortals IQ. Adult intelligence does not alternate from year to year so the concept of mental age is little meaningful when discussing adults. Contemporary IQ tests use cumulative indexes to determine heaps rather than the calculation of IQ scores based upon Termans formula. A coetaneous equivalent of mental age is the Standard Age Score of the Stanford-Binet IQ test, which was formulated in 1987.Overview of mentally challengedAlthough there is no hard evidence, one of the strongest positionors of the mental want is hereditary. Besides this there are a weigh of environmental factors that contribute to mental arrest, malnutrition or infection during pregnancy or even an excessive intake of drugs and RH incompatibility whatever the cause, if the constipation is very severe, the entire development of the child gets affected physical, social and ruttish along with mental. Some of these children cannot perform the naivest of tasks that we all seem to take for granted. child wish well things like walking straight, eating or toilet training. A bang-up amount of patience and tolerance is required to supervise and handle such(prenominal) a child.Mental mean clip occurs in 2.5-3% of the general population. About 6-7.5 one thousand thousand mentally retarded individuals live in the United States alone. Mental retardation begins in childishness or adolescence before the age of 18. In just about cases, it persists throughout adulthood. Mentally retarded children reach developmental milestones such as walking and talking much later than the general population. Approximately 85% of the mentally retarded population is in the mildly retarded kinsfolk and they can often acquire academic skills up to the 6th come in level, become self-sufficient, and in some cases live independently, with community and social support. moo IQ scores and limitations in adaptive skills are the hallmarks of mental retardation. Aggression, self-in-j ury, and irritation disorders are sometimes associated with the disability. The severity of the symptoms and the age at which they first seem depend on the cause. Children who are mentally retarded reach developmental milestones significantly later than expected, if at all. If retardation is caused by chromosomal or other genetic disorders, it is often apparent from infancy. If retardation is caused by childhood illnesses or injuries, learning and adaptive skills that were once easy whitethorn of a sudden become difficult or impossible to master.The virtually noticeable ruttish characteristics children with mental retardation often recognize that they have difficulties with tasks that others find easy. This realization can lead to frustration, anger and depression. Some children with mental retardation may suffer from anxiety. These children may act out due to these emotions. They may have trouble expressing their feelings and may return their feelings in ways such as ref dev elopment to eat or sleeping too much. Sonic, the foster child living with me, will be calm and act like a basketball team year old one upshot, and then if you ask something of sonic, major irritation change to the point of aggression.How to under tolerate the mentally challengedAnyone who has toiled with the mentally challenged people knows, some will tell you exactly what is on their mind. When something does not go Sonics way, he will tell you and if you persist, he will tell you she will kill you, and hates you. Understanding that this is typical in a mentally challenged you let it bowling ball off you and just stay scrawny enough to arrange sure that sonic does not hurt herself. The mentally challenged know their likes and dislikes, what is going on in their lives, and even some idea of what they want their future to be.When the mentally challenged are treated as subhuman, as children, or as a menace to society, it follows that we become the ones to decide what is best fo r them, and what kind of life they should lead, we instead should remind ourselves that they are Gods creatures. They pauperization to be treated as solemn human beings with important things to communicate. (McLean, Brady, Mclean, Behrens, 1999) Understanding their diction is likely to be much better than the ability to express it. Speech maybe very poorly articulated and difficult to understandOne of the critical aspects in forming a communication is one that emphasizes skill actualization, where teachers give the mentally challenged many opportunities to use and expand on their already substantial skills. Skill actualization goals are represented in the individual education plan (IEP) such as the child will use whatever skill is already developed and continue to expand to the point where the child will reach the adjoining goal. In Sonics case, the IEP has included counting skills up to 20, understanding the valued of money, and doing simple life skills.Steps in Creating Co mmunicationThe first step to communicating with a mentally challenged person is to understand the way they communicate. Mirror there patterns keeping in mind get on their level but do not be on their level. Match the way they see the world, not as a child but as a learning personal manner. Most are visual learns where they learn in pictures, using word like see and look. Visual learners prefer to use diagrams, pictures, reputation notes, handouts and movies to see the information they are learning.Sometimes the mentally challenged are sound recording learns where they may not even look at you but put more stock into the spoken word and the voice inflection. This is a graceful line where the teacher must be very calm and sure of each word other wise you could miscommunication and all the building process is for naught. The mentally challenged needs to be adjudicated and we must allow them to hear us.The final learning style is kinesthetic learners also called tactile learners ne ed to feel it to learn best. The more the learning experience involves moving, touching, tasting and feeling, the more it will be absorbed by this type of learner. Projects and experiments also change by reversal well with this group. Young children learn thins way by reaching out to something and feeling it, touching it, and breaking it. (OK I had to put that in)The real art is to combine learning styles to fit the child. Sonic uses Visual about 80% and oral about 15% and kinesthetic the remaining 5%. If you show her something, she will remember and get the message quickly, by adding the verbal element he will recall the instruction the next day, demonstrating, giving verbal instruction then transferring ownership of a task, builds his self-confidence. There are small tasks she can do the give him pride in doing well, such as showing which day on the med chart we are on and then picking the proper cup to take.The second step is to incorporate the communication skills in both the education setting as well as the extra curricula activities. Opportunities exist almost constancy or as it is called submissive moments. The hardest part as a teacher is to keep on merry-go-round of the moments one can take improvement of and then take advantage of them. At home with sonic, it becomes a one on one the moment Sonic comes home from school until bedtime and in turn allows many more recognizable and controlled setting.The third step is to facilitate conversation and keep them enmeshed as much as possible. The issue here must be keeping it simple. In studies, (McLean, Brady, Mclean, Behrens, 1999) simple yes or no question got the most response from the mentally challenged. Asking completed questions creates confusion and frustration, and can in truth cause the person to regress rather then moving forward. use the KISS (keep it simple) method more ground can be make rather creating an antagonistic climate.How to communicate with the Mentally Challenged1. Maintain a calm, low volume. Speaking louder does not make you more understandable.2. When determining age-appropriateness of your words, remember that you must know the mental age of your comprehender, not his or her calendar age. Remember, they are just mentally challenged, not a person with a curb vocabulary, such as a five-year-old.3. Do not cover or hide your mouth because listeners will want to watch you as you pass judgment your words. This helps them figure out what you are saying in many cases.4. Do not mimic how the mentally challenged spill the beanser pronounces words in a misguided presumption that he or she will understand if you speak like he or she does. This does not make you easier to understand. It will blear your listener and may give the wrong impression about your sensitivity to his or her handicap.5. vitiate blend inning words together. For example, do not say, Do-ya wanna eat-a pizza pie? One of the biggest challenges for listeners knows where one word ends an d the next one begins. Give them a small pause between words if they seem to be struggling.6. When possible, pick out for simple words instead of ones that are complex. The more basic a word is, the better the chance is that it will be understood. Big is a better choice than enormous, for example. Make is a better choice than manufacture.7. Avoid speech complexity, which is beyond your listeners comprehension level. Use simple subject-verb-object statements with the significantly challenged. to a greater extent mildly challenged people may be able to handle more forms that are complex.8. Look them in the eye. It lets them know that you care about what you are saying. Although they may rarely make eye contact with you, behave as if you really are interested in what they are talking about.9. direct people with disabilities with respect. Do not treat them as inferior. Remember that the person you are talking to has feelings and is not stupid. Rather, he/she is challenged with somethi ng you will never understand the ability to understand, communicate, or decipher.10. Patience is the key.11. Be aware(predicate) that you must listen and observe the person you are speaking to. In most cases, communicating with a person with a disability is very much like learning how to understand an accent. Be ready to adjust your communication style in a respectful way when necessary.12. Treat them as close as possible as you would a normal person, except use age-appropriate words. Otherwise, they may sense something is up.13. Smile to show them you are enjoying their company.14. Be aware of the tone of your voice. Is it patronizing? Are you speaking with the tone you would use for a child? Adjust accordingly. (Challenges faced by, 2010)ConclusionThe mentally challenged can become part of the community by understanding how they speak and process information. The foregoing the problem is detected the better it is for the child. Sometimes the public tries to hide the fact until it becomes apparent to all, and by then it is too late to get timely help. There are plenty of child guidance centers and special schools approximately to provide the perfect environment to aid in the development of the child. If these facilities are not utilized, a mentally deficient child will emphatically develop severe social and emotional problems as well.We all should try to accept the fact that their child is mentally challenged and help him or her grow to the full potential that he or she is capable of. Some people try for a miraculous cure and expend a atomic reactor of time and energy in search of a divine elixir. redden though such an attitude is understandable, it does not show any results. That time will be better spent in admitting the child to a special school or sheltered institution where he can get professional help.Communicating with people who have mental deficiency is a skill that you can hone over time with dogging practice. There are some tips, which wil l allow you to communicate in a better way with them. Words are just the tip of the communication iceberg. When conversing with a person, we send myriad signals by the way we stand the expression on our face and the tone of our voice. These form levels of communication that break words. When talking to anyone, remember to relax and consciously use personify language in a positive manner. Even if the verbal communication is misunderstood, the body language can convey concern and interest. The person will bring forth the message that we are interested in them and care about their feelings. ingest what you say to the child, be very careful of the environment they are in, and make sure people treat the child as one of us, not a special child. Each Tuesday we play softball for the church and each time Sonic gets up a homerun is produced. It is not the home run that matters to us, although Sonic would tell you other wise, but the encouragement of being one of the gang that allows her t o participate in an activity someone with a mentally challenged condition would never experience.