Risk Factors
Alice is a four-year-old girl. She has appeared in a risky position, and the symptoms of intellectual disability may be developed for a number of reasons. Alice is raised in a family with two parents. From the very beginning, she was in a risky group.
Alice’s mother is 45 years old; that means that she was 41 years old during pregnancy, and this is a valid risk factor for the development of the disease. Additionally, the mother suffered from constant colds during her pregnancy, which added to the effect. As a result, a child was born with low weight and suffered from constant illnesses.
The low income of the family does not allow have the appropriate treatment, and a child remained at home waiting for a disease to go away. Even though the child was carefully treated in relation to behavioral aspects and no aggression was displayed, the child was under constant pressure from the side of parents who wanted to do their best in upbringing (Olsson, & Hwang, 2008).
Early Interventions to Reduce the Risks
One of the first measures which are to be taken is to remove all the illegal drugs which a child may reach. It is inadmissible to leave such dangerous substances within an easy reach of a child.
Then, it is important to make sure that parents do not consume and do not sell narcotics to others when a child is present. It is important not to show children such illegal acts. The absence of constant supervision is a huge mistake. It is obvious that a child was raised in a negative environment without the appropriate care.
A child was left to himself, and this is considered as the greatest mistake. Being restricted in parental love, a child could grow up aggressive and resentful for all who surround him. It was necessary to make sure that a child is under constant supervision of one of the parents. Moreover, it seems that a child was restricted from communication with peers.
Parents had to spend more time on teaching a child to communicate with people by means of helping him find friends. Parents had to support a child in his street entertainment with other children. However, the fact that a child is playing with other children should not be the reason for leaving a child alone with them.
Identifying Individual Risk Factors
First of all, parents and teachers should work together. It is important for parents to teach Maria to stay focused on one and the same thing for several minutes.
Second, Maria should understand the meaning of obligation and responsibility. And finally, Maria should learn discipline. Starting with several minutes’ focus on the activity Maria likes, parents should increase the time for this activity. Each time parents should add just a minute trying to keep the child-focused.
The next step is to make Maria remain focused when she is involved in the activities she does not like. The change of the activity with leaving the same topic may help in this affair. Finally, Maria should be restricted in some actions while lessons, and she should understand that the violation of the disciplinary rules may lead to punishment (further restrictions are various activities).
Parents should be the role model for Maria and when they are at home, they should try to gather all children together being preoccupied with their problems without digressing from this activity on cooking, cleaning and other activities which may be necessary for completing. Maria should see that concentration is important.
Reference List
Olsson, M. B., & Hwang, C. P. (2008). Socioeconomic and psychological variables as risk and protective factors for parental well-being in families of children with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 52(12), pp. 1102-1113.