Special Needs Children: Identifying Them and Their Unique Needs

A child whose development is atypical (not following the recognized pattern seen in most children) will be termed by childcare and educational professionals as a child with special needs. All children start out on the same track and move along in a continuous process of development, but not all children of similar ages are at the same stage of development. A child with special needs will simply be at a different point in the developmental continuum than his or her peers.

There are many types of special needs, and each child with special needs has the same requirements for love, security and protection as any other child. Children with special needs each have their own individual personalities, likes and dislikes and some will be easy going and others strong willed.

The term special needs child is used to acknowledge the uniqueness of each child and what strengths and abilities they have and at what stage of development they are at. The focus on the word 'need' is a positive one rather than one that focuses on a disability which enables appropriate levels of care and resources to be put in place which will be provided to support the child in everyday life. But unfortunately there are some who just see the term as a label implying separateness and segregation.

There are some possible causes of special needs. Hereditary factors can play a part as does prenatal, birth and postnatal developments. Sometimes childcare and parenting factors can play apart in a child having special needs and in some cases it is just not possible to identify a clear cause.

Special needs can be recognized in various ways. A child could be recognized as special needs pre-natally or at birth. As the child begins to develop special needs can be recognized through child health promotion and surveillance programs. It could be a parent's observation and concern or by a professional in the home and in care and education settings that first recognizes a child showing signs of special needs.

A child may show signs of special needs if they have had an accident or a serious illness. Whatever the cause or whenever a child is recognized as special needs the importance of every child as a unique individual with their own potential must be recognized and valued.

Parents whose child has been recognized as special needs may need genetic counseling in cases of inherited conditions to discuss the risk of passing it on to other children or grandchildren. Inherited disorders are passed on from the parents to their children and are always present at birth even if they are not immediately identifiable.

Source - Authors work as an NNEB with special needs children

Good Practice in Caring for Young Children with Special Needs by Angela Dare and Margaret O'Donovan