Young People Development

Unit 1: Understand Child and Young Person Development

Research and then explain the sequence and rate of each aspect of normal development from birth to 19 years. (1.1)

When a child is developing normally the sequence is usually the same for most children however, the rate at which each individual develops will vary from person to person. The expected pattern of development from birth to 19 is usually categorised into stages referring to their age: 0-3,3-5, 5-8, 8-12 and 12-19 years. There are several aspects of normal development including, physical, intellectual, communicational, emotional, behavioural, social and moral development
The first 3 years of a baby’s life show rapid growth and development physically. Within the first year the baby develops gross motor skills to enable them to sit up then eventually stand and walk. By the age of 3 most children can use their balance and coordination to run, jump and cycle. Fine motor skills also develop rapidly through this stage. Children will begin to hold objects in a palmer grasp (whole hand), which will advance to a pincer grasp (using thumb and index finger) at about 10 months. This hand to eye coordination and manipulative skills develop while toddlers become more skilled using their hands. Between 3-5 they are physically stronger with improved gross motor skills shown with much greater control of their body’s coordination and movements. While by the age of 5 their fine motor skills have developed through manipulative skills, enough to have a dominant hand for more complex tasks. Between 5-8 years children’s physic is gaining more stamina and improved body co-ordination enabling them to play a range of outdoor activities. Children also improve their manipulative skills to a level of a detailed drawing.
Childs physical development includes major transitions through the ages of 8-12 and 12-19 with both genders beginning the stage of puberty. Girls can start their menstruation from early as 10 or 11 while boys starts slightly later at the age of 13 or 14. Physical changes include girls growing breasts, larger hips and developing a menstrual cycle, while boys become more muscular, grow facial/body hair and develop a deeper voice. Males can develop poor spatial awareness through this stage.

Babies’ intellectual abilities rely primarily on their senses such as touch, sight and hearing to help understand the world around them. Simple problems solving skills such as ‘cause and effect’ help the toddler learn what to do and how to do things to get what they require. By the age of 3 children understand the basics concepts of colour, shape and size and are able to correspond these through simple insert puzzles. Object permanence is developed by the age of 3 in which the child will understand an object still exists although it may be out of sight. Children then begin to learn more difficult concepts such as time, and weight and gradually begin to complete problem solving tasks by themselves. By 5 years old most children are beginning to learn how to read and write. From 5 years onwards most intellectual information children learn is based around their school education. From ages 5-8 they are taught how read, write, pronounce words, basic mathematics, understand problems solving and many other skills such as tell the time by 8 years.
By then they have begun to developed abstract ideas such as feelings. Their reasoning and problem-solving continue to develop as well as their mathematical and literacy skills. Children aged 10 can use basic algebra, interpret graphs and read/write complex stories. These intellectual skills continue to develop through education with the use of examinations and coursework, which help structure each individual’s preference of what they enjoy learning and eventually help them choose a career they want to achieve in. Social interaction also helps advance

The first stage of communication is very limited to mainly crying. The child will begin to babble and use gestures such as pointing. Singluar words will be initialled and by the age of 3, with plenty of encouragement they will have a vocabulary of approximately 200 words. Between ages 3 and 5 the children’s vocabulary expands rapidly with them beginning to use full sentences and beginning to ask questions. Encouragement to talk, ask questions and give answers helps the child communicate using complex sentences. Their communication then improves with descriptive language and the use of correct grammar. By the age of 8 most children will be having complex conversations and begin to enjoy and tell jokes. Different subcultures and peers groups begin to emerge between 8 and 12, which can change how an individual communicates. They will begin to learn slang and use different types of communication such as texting and email. This is then advanced with the use of social networking and communicating through media sources. Further and higher education introduces individuals to express themselves more through different educational subjects and helps them analyse information and discuss specific ideas.

Children at their first stages of social/behavioural/emotional development are very egocentric and do not understand basic social skills such as turn taking and sharing. Social interaction helps them develop these skills and begin to cooperate with others. At the age of 5, children’s attachments from their parents slowly reduce and begin to produce multiple attachments to other peers. This then develops into becoming more mature and independent. By the age of 8 peer groups become more stable and children are more expressive about themselves. The transition to secondary school can be quite difficult for most with fear and anxiety of others. However, individuals begin to develop self-concept, self-esteem and confidence in themselves, which can cause them to change their behaviours positive and negatively. For example. joining extra curriculum social societies or they could rebel against their parents. In the final stage of social/behavioural/emotional development many begin to experiment with ideas, feelings and behaviours in different situations. This can include having a romantic relationship that can lead to complicated emotions that they will learn to manage. Some can become anxious about their body image and appearance through this stage and develop personal identity with how they deal with their anxieties.

Morals aren’t introduce to a baby until near the age of 3. They are just beginning to understand basic morals such as acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. This continues to establish with what is fair and unfair. By 5 years children will confront others when rules have been broken and explain it is wrong to do so. By 8-12 children learn about consequences for their actions and more understanding of social norms. Once in their teenage years children are much more concerned about their moral issues and begin to experiment with what they are told is ‘wrong’ such as, smoking, drug taking and consumption of alcohol. Kohlberg’s outlined a 3 level theory of moral development. Level 1, between ages 0-9 included punishment-obedience orientation which children follow rules to avoid punishment. Also if children are satisfied with what they have done then it may be morally correct, this is called instrumental relativist orientation. Level 2 occurs from 9-19 and relates around conventional morality. Good boy – nice girl orientation is explained through if they please others then their behaviours must be correct. Finally, the law and order orientation establishes the fixed rules and laws of the world need to be obeyed to maintain social order.

Explain the difference between sequence of development and the rate of development and indicate why the difference is important.

From birth, children show different aspects of development that they will achieve at different ages throughout their life. The sequence each individual goes through has usually the same pattern in the way. The rate of each individual is what differentiates from person to person. This can be clearly seen through physical changes of an individual as some children as young as 13 can begin to grow facial hair whereas the same can occur at a much later age for others. The same instance can be applied to intelligence, communication, and emotional, behavioural and moral developments. This establishes the importance of individual differences and how an individual could be developing at a slow rate does not mean they underachieving, as they will still follow the same sequence of development. If the ‘normal’ sequence of development is not achieved and the rate at which they should achieve it then there could be issues with the child’s development and should be investigated further to look for signs of learning difficulties.

Explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of different personal factors.

Personal factors that influence ones development can include their health, a disability, sensory impairment and learning difficulties. A child’s poor health can prevent them from achieving their full potential as it may restrict what they what to achieve. Individuals parents can pass down conditions genetically that could cause and influence in child’s development. Chronic conditions such as asthma or meningitis can prevent people from attending school or achieving their highest in physical activities. Having a disability can also effect someone the same way for example people with cerebral palsy have difficulty with mobility and can also develop brain damage. Sensory impairments can include hearing, vision, sight and touch. The most common impairment to reduce development is hearing as their will be a delay in language/communication. Learning difficulties such as Autism and Down’s syndrome have shown many defects in development from a young age and can also have severe health problems.

Explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of different external factors.

External factors influence the development of a child through how and where they are brought up including factors such as, family background, environment, poverty/deprivation, care given and personal choices. Family values, culture and how a child is encouraged can improve a child’s development however can also cause great problems if these values and cultures are not positive stable ones. Decent housing environments, safety and opportunity to play can help children progress further especially when the education given is to a high standard. Families with low financial stability can find it difficult to supply a high quality of life and therefore children may become affected through poor nutrition, lack of opportunities and having low expectations of themselves. The type of care given to a child can also strongly effect development. It’s established that Finally, each individual has their own personal choices to make that have being shaped through the external factors of development. These choices are the most important for individuals as they can be life-changing opportunities/decisions.

Explain how theories of development and frameworks to support development influence care practises.

There are many theories devised by Psychologists that attempt to explain individuals develop and how it has affects the practise of improving developments. Constructivist Psychologist Piaget believed children’s knowledge and understanding was achieved through a learner-centred educational philosophy in which, children learn best through play. He believed children built up knowledge of and understanding of objects around them and then begun to gain more understanding as they interact more with the environment. He believed children would build up a number of schemas, which are mental structures that can be generalised to a variety of different situations. With these schemas children begin to associate new environments and gain understanding of different situations.

Sigmus Freud was one of the first Psychologists to construct a theory on development. Freud believed in an each person has an ID, ego and superego. These processes develop individuals in the way they think. ID is unconscious thinking while ego is conscious thinking. The superego is the final stage of moral development and is where individuals begin to develop a conscience and ideas of what is correct behaviours and what is wrong.

Skinner believed children learnt best through operant conditioning. A child is rewarded for desirable behaviours or anything positive they may have done. The theory establishes the importance of positive reinforcement and shows the child is more likely to repeat these good actions as they are likely to be rewarded again. The social learning theory devised by Bandura explained children learn through observing and then imitating others actions/behaviours. This shows the importance of the caregivers to be good role models and only portray certain behaviours to child which they would like them to follow. Using operant conditioning and SLT together in a positive manner can result in children developing good morals and understanding about society and others.

Finally, Pavlov a behaviourist Psychologist believes that behaviours are learnt through classical conditioning. He founded this when he conditioned his dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell, which was rung just before mealtime. The sound of the bell conditioned the dogs to salivate as the dogs learnt they would get food after the bell is rang. This can be used in modern care practice by teaching a learned response that occurs through an association with a specific stimulus. For example, a child with autism can be taught to associate a toy bus with going on a bus trip; so when given the toy bus they will indentify they are going on a bus journey.

Explain how to monitor children and young people’s development, using two different methods.

Standard measures in schools and education set out assessment frameworks such as National Curriculum and Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to find out the rate of which each individual is developing. These enable professionals to assess a child’s current progress and compare it with others of the same age. If they are underachieving then they can focus on helping the child in the necessary way.

Observations help monitor children’s development progress by looking at each child individually and how they react in specific situations. Observation techniques can focus on specific development processes by using structured formal observations. Informal observations would be useful to gain an overview into how a child development is on a general basis such as how they play. Where as a formal observation can focus on specific factors as they are more structured such as sharing toys activities

Explain why children and young people’s development may not follow the expected pattern, give two reasons

Children may not follow the expected pattern of development due to a variation of reasons. The family background can cause problems in development due to several factors. The social economic status of a family can affect the child development as underprivileged children may lack opportunities to play or learn, have lower expectations to meet and poorer nutrition for their child. In addition, family background can influence the stages of development. Family values, culture and how a child is encouraged and cared for can affect a child’s development progress. Supplying good morals and rewarding good behaviour will increase the likeliness of a child following the expected pattern of development and vice versa.

Explain how disability may affect development.

There are disabilities that affect children’s development in many different ways. Firstly, physical disabilities can prevent children from achieving their potential in sports, other physically challenging activities and even academically. This can be from having limited mobility to being unable to hold a pen correctly. Sensory and physical disabilities can affect development physically however, this does not mean other developments with be effected such as cognitive, social or behavioural development as well.

However, cognitive, social and behavioural developments can be effected by having Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome and other learning disabilities. Some of these conditions cannot be explained to why they prevent development from occurring. There is a broad spectrum on how development can be affected with each condition. Therefore, each condition has to be identified to an individual and then further observed to find how the individuals’ development may be affected.

Explain how different types of interventions can promote positive outcomes for children and young people where development is not following the expected pattern.

Social workers are used to ensure the safety and well being of the children. They will record the child’s health and development phases and ensure the child is been given the best care possible. The social workers will co-operate with parents, schools and support workers. Support workers are used to help children, which can be both beneficial for the child in the short and long term. The support workers help children with their day-to-day routine and provide a safe, healthy and happy lifestyle, while also encouraging positive behaviours and helping them develop their skills to their highest potential. Physiotherapy intervention specialises in supporting mobility and function of those with physical deficiencies. It can help strengthen muscles, prevent stiffness of joints and help control gross motor. Hydrotherapy pools are commonly used to help those with mobility difficulties skills especially useful for those with cerebral palsy. Speech and Language therapists provide support for children who are having difficultly with speech, pronunciation and language. This can include having special classes and introducing other means of communication such as sign language (Makaton) with those who can’t speak. Extra support in educational classroom has increased to help children with cognitive, social and behavioural difficulties. This is achieved through employing psychiatrists for emotional support and psychologists for learning and behavioural support. Special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCO) have been put in place to help reach the potential of those who are not following the expected pattern of development. Finally, assistive technologies enable children to enhance their abilities with the use of computer programmes, speech devices and in recent developments, tablets such as iPads have shown they have provide a lot of support to individuals with physical as well as learning difficulties.

Explain why it is important to detect early speech language and communication late development and disorders and the potential of late recognition.

It is very important to detect communications deficiencies as soon as possible as it can affect other areas of development in the short and long term. If these are not identified immediately it can lead to difficulties in learning and understanding information which will prevent educational enhancement. In addition, having communicational difficulties will prevent an individual from creating a peer group as it is difficult to be understood.. This could lead to having a low sense of confidence, low self-esteem and problems with expressing feelings/emotions. These can lead to anti-social behaviour through the amount of upset, frustration and anger it can cause. In the long term, children will not be able to reach their full potential academically and may experience difficulties sustaining a relationship.

Explain how multi-agency teams can work together to support speech, language and communication, relate your answer to any experience that you may have of this.

There are many professionals that specialise in the health and well-being of children when referring to their communication. Multi-agency teams work together to supply the best possible treatment/therapies for the individual. A GP can do basic tests for speech and communication and refer each patient to the appropriate expert. These can include audiometric assessment, speech and language therapists and even educational psychologists. With the help from these professionals and SENCO within education, children can be supported and communication boundaries can be expanded.

Explain how play and other activities can be used to support the development of speech language and communication, relate your answer to any experience that you have of this.

Children with speech, language and communication difficulties can be stimulated through playing and other fun activities. With strong encouragement and positive reinforcement children can become more confident within themselves to expand their vocabulary or even begin to sound out words. Many techniques while playing can help children progress their communication skills. In particularly, songs, rhymes, books, stories and even the use of puppets can help individuals practise saying words and establish some words for communication.
Within the house I work in, daily songs and poems are read at certain times of the day in which everyone is encouraged to sing. I work with a boy who is 15 years old who did not have a large vocabulary and found it difficult to pronounce specific words. Within 6 months of repeating similar songs/poems everyday, this same child is now singing along and pronouncing most of the words correctly.

Explain how different types of transitions can affect children and young people’s development.

There are many different transitions children have to go through during their development stages, these have been categorised into emotional, physical, physiological and intellectual transitions. Emotional transitions can be include difficult circumstances such as bereavement, changing carers or going into foster care. Emotional change can become increasingly worse when combined with a physical and intellectual change such as changing school and moving house. These emotional/physical transitions can lead to regression in development or reoccur some past problems such as bedwetting. Changes in behaviour can also occur with feeling of withdrawal, and often aggression. Physiological transitions are most important through the teenage years due to puberty changing each individuals appearance and body. This transition causes individuals to be nervous about their appearance and how they are presented, resulting in possible negative effects such as eating disorders or sleep disturbances.

Some of the most negative outcomes of transitions can be mental problems from a young age including lack of concentration/motivation, depression and suicidal attempts/suicidal behaviours such as drug taking and unprotected sex. Although, transitions can also have positive affects as it develops each individual’s self-identity while increasing chances of new friends and opportunity to experience and learn new things.

Describe why it is important for children and young people to have positive relationships during periods of transition, use aspects of your experience to emphasis this.

From looking at the negative affects of the transitions it shows they are delicate matters and the assistance of a positive relationship with somebody can have a great affect on the child’s emotional, physical, psychological and cognitive development. The positive relationship should be a care-giver such as parent, support worker or even a strong bond with a teacher. This caregiver should provide the child with someone to talk to, give stability/security and give them with opportunities that will not only help them undergo their transition but provide support if they want to talk about specific transitions.

Positive relationships can help a child/young adult becoming increasingly independent and begin to build relationships of their own and create a sense of empathy towards others. Personal decisions and future prospects can be recognised and talked over to help the individual know the benefits as well as the consequences of their decisions. There is also the opportunity to identify and negative behaviours of the transition and if required refer to an local authority or appropriate person.