Activity 8.3 IDENTIFY ISSUES AFFECTING CHILDREN WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES & Other topics

READ THE CONTENT BELOW AND COMPLETE THE CHECKPOINT  IN YOUR NOTEBOOK AND IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW WITH YOUR NAMES. 

 IDENTIFY ISSUES AFFECTING CHILDREN WITH EXCEPTIONALITIES

The professionals referred to in the previous element, work either individually or together to
provide community services for the care and development of children with exceptionalities.
Children can access a range of community services depending on their specific disability,
medical condition, family needs, location (urban or rural) and funding. These community
services vary according to their:
• Location
• Level of inclusion
• Focus (child or family)
• Level of formality (formal/informal)
• Ownership/funding (private or government)
Once it has been determined that a child needs community services, some of the issues that may
arise include:
• Inadequate information about the available community resources
• Criteria for accessing community services may be confusing to parents
• Getting a referral to see the specialist – some services can be accessed directly by
parents/guardians, while other need a referral from the Early Childhood Institution and
others may require a referral from a medical doctor or another related professional  • Matching the community service/resource to the family need
• How soon the service can be accessed – there are sometimes long waiting lists to see
specialists
• The cost of the service and who will pay for it – some individuals have health insurance,
others pay privately while others who cannot afford either, will have to rely on
government funding
• Lack of continuity of services/programmes from one community to another
• The limited availability of needed services/resources in certain areas, for example rural or
inner city areas
• The level of cooperation/participation that can be expected between parents and the
service delivery system – For example, if mothers work, home-based services will not be
a feasible option unless specialists are prepared to work in the evenings and on weekends

CHECKPOINT
• What are some of the differences between the different community
services provided for children with exceptionalities?
• What are some of the issues affecting access to the various community
services by children with exceptionalities?

DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN EFFECTIVE NETWORK OF COMMUNITY SERVICES

As an early childhood worker, you are a part of the early intervention team and as such, you will
be required to take specific action in order to assist parents to deal with difficulties experienced
with accessing community services. You may need to update your knowledge on various options
for accessing services/resources. In addition to knowing where to start looking for resources in
any community, you should also be aware of how to build links in the community to stay abreast
of new information.
You will also be required to develop and maintain a network of community services that can be
easily accessed by children with exceptionalities. Social networks are made up of people who are
outside the home but engage in activities or support (material and/or emotional) for the family.
Support networks can be formal or informal.
• Formal networks - are usually made up of professionals involved with service agencies.
• Informal networks – are usually made up of friends, neighbours and family members
There is some concern that families with disabilities may lack informal networks and rely mainly
on the support of professionals. One of your roles is to help families to develop and rely on an
informal support network rather than on a formal one.
Support networks offer three major types of support. They include:
• Providing material goods and services when needed
• Providing emotional support by communicating the person’s value and worth to them
• Providing information about and referrals to other support systems
Support empowers families to strengthen and add to their already existing networks. One easy
way for parents to increase the size of their support network is to meet parents of other children
in their child’s setting. As an early childhood worker, you should try to facilitate this process
whenever possible.

CHECKPOINT
• What is the difference between formal and informal networks?
• What are some of the supports that these networks offer?
• Why is it important for you to develop and maintain effective networks
for children with exceptionalities?