Children with Learning Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder

This report focuses on the management of children with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder within a hospital setting. The student selected an article discussing the challenges these children face, including comprehension and communication difficulties, and the increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders. The report emphasizes the need for specialized education for healthcare professionals and the implementation of multidisciplinary approaches to patient care. It highlights the importance of strategies like social stories, augmentative communication, and caregiver involvement to minimize distress and improve the hospital experience for these children. The report also discusses the role of academic writing in professional practice, the need for early interventions, and the importance of hospital policies that support children with disabilities. The student reflects on the need for improved nursing techniques and personalized interventions, as well as the use of various methods of communication such as visuals and gestures to help such patients.

Running Head: CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM SPECTRUM
DISORDER
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

1CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
The article focuses on the improvement procedures and skills adopted by the health care
management and family members of management of children who faces learning disability and
autism spectrum disorder when they get admitted in a hospital.
I have selected this article for my assignment as it focuses on the needs of the children
suffering from learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. In UK, around 286,000
children suffer from learning disability (NIHR Centre, 2018). This has an adverse effect on their
lives the common being comprehension and communication. There is an increase in the
incidences of autism spectrum disorders among children. It has become a necessity for providing
education for health care professionals and hospital management methods. It is important to
discuss the management strategies that would help the children with autism spectrum disorder in
caring areas.
The target audience are the hospital doctors, nurses, staffs and the family members who
need to provide primary speech, language, behavioral and educational interventions. Since these
children are specially abled, I think they require utmost care and attention from the surroundings
so that they does not feel alienated and develop any other hospital related ailments like
depression and frustration.
The most interesting part that I found in this study was the clinical management
procedure. The management of learning disability and autism spectrum disorder requires a
multidisciplinary approach towards the patients and identify behaviors that would interfere with
the learning ability of that individual and make them get the best benefit out of those
interventions (Kennedy et al. 2016). The interventions needs to be continuously updated so that
the children can get the best out of it. There are certain strategies that some hospital teams have
established to approach this problem and minimize the distress faced by these children in their

2CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
most critical and traumatic situation of hospital admission. Some strategies like social stories,
augmentative and alternative communication systems, and classroom education is of utmost
importance. Some hospitals have also started to involve caregivers who values the importance of
listening to the patients, their reaction in diverse situations, noting the things that gives them
luxury or distress (Morgan 2016).
I have learnt that we should not give up in any distressed situation. There are a number of
ways to address any type of problem. There are some hospitals which have made good
advancement in their methods and policies that support autistic children with learning
disabilities. Macclesfield General Hospital in UK has received The National Autistic Society’s
Autism Accreditation Award as it has developed autism knowledge and understanding for the
practice within the hospital (Povey 2016). Hospitals also employ acute liaison nurses as well as
consultant nurses to help and support the children with learning disabilities.
Other professionals including writers, practitioners, policy makers, politicians, fellow
students might have understood the importance of interventions and its implementation on the
children with learning disabilities and autism (Muskat et al. 2016). They describe it with their
own perceptions. The writers describe it as intervention is required only in the education system
of the healthcare professionals who would be able to implement the new education practices on
the children. This method is critiqued by the practitioners as they follow intensive interventions
including behavioral, educational, psychological components which is very effective for the
children’s health (emedicine.medscape, 2018). The implementation of the treatments should
begin early during infant period to gain a favorable outcome in the upcoming years. The
politicians can implement new laws regarding regular screening of the infants and children for
any type of symptoms and signs for detection of autism syndrome and learning disability. This

3CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
would allow early identification and treatment of the disease which would reduce the number of
children suffering from learning disability and autism related syndrome.
It is important to my subject area as I want to do research in this area. I want to develop
new schemes and interventions for those little children who are suffering from such adverse
situations. I want to develop certain medications which would help in developing the condition
for those children with least side effects (Gadow 2018). I would like to include an additional
procedure of detection of autism disorders among the pregnant mothers during ultrasound
procedures. Screening or PCR methods can help to detect these problems faster and would allow
early identification and treatment of the disease.
Improvement in the management of the children with learning disability and autism
disorder is of utmost crucial requirement for the mental health of the children when they are
admitted in a hospital (Povey 2016). The children have variable levels of verbal and intellectual
abilities and may have distinct requirements which are very unique and specific to that particular
child. They may find the hospital surrounding intimidating and upsetting. The medical staffs and
the nurses need to adapt and change their approach towards these children with learning
disability and autism related disorder (Dern and Sappok 2016). Children with disabilities find it
uncomfortable in a health care center as the setting might be frightening as they would not be
able to cope up with the change in their daily routine and would not be able to figure out and get
accustomed to their surroundings. This would provoke anxiety within them (Da Paz and
Wallander 2017). This might create withdrawal symptoms or behavioral outbursts making the
clinical demographic procedure challenging. Certain symptoms like hand flapping or repetitive
body movements can develop due to anxiety in children. The hospital professionals can help to
decrease this symptoms by ignoring undesirable behavior, adapting cooperative behavior,

4CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
dealing with the children in a calm and peaceful manner. Usually there are doctors and nurses
who had a reasonable understanding of the symptoms of these children (Brammer, Kennedy and
Binns 2016). But there lies a significant amount of medical professionals who lack the sensation
towards these children with disabilities and cannot resolve their behavioral problems.
There are a lot of methods that these health professionals can uptake for these children.
They need to be conscious of the fact that children with learning disability and autism disorder
can be treated by visually presenting any information or imitating any act which would impact
more on them rather than trying to communicate with them verbally (Nicholas et al. 2016).
Usage of objects and equipment as a method of intervention can help to intensify the
probabilities of the patient’s cooperation. Using pictures or photographs for communication with
the children is also beneficial. Children suffering from autism spectrum disorder may find it
difficult to understand facial expression or actions. In this case it would be helpful if the
intervention provided to the child includes simple language spoken and the breaking down the
actions and gestures into short steps which would have greater impact on the mind of the child
(Case-Smith, Weaver and Fristad 2015). Misunderstandings should be avoided by repeating the
interventions a multiple number of times until the child gets to understand the whole meaning.
Too many questions should not be asked at a time which might be challenging for them and they
might get upset. Conversations must include distractions towards their special areas like any toys
or games, singing or story telling. This reduces the anxiety from the mind of the child. Parents
and carers play a pivotal role during admitting the child in hospitals (Muskat et al. 2015). A brief
conversation of the hospital staffs with the parents at the time of admission can make the clinical
encounter of the hospital professionals with the child successful.

5CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
In certain cases, the hospital staffs and nurses lack the training and the skills required for
the management and understanding of the symptoms of these children. Parents play a vital role in
this situation. They can inform the respective department about their child’s health and
disabilities and accordingly they would be able to deal with the problem. One of the most
challenging tasks for these disabled children are waiting for their appointment turn. Some might
prefer the first or the last appointment of the day which would involve least waiting but this is
very unpredictable. Waiting might lead to the development of anxiety and behavioral
disturbances (Mammarella et al. 2016). This problem can be solved by making these patients
priority for clinical administration. There should be scopes and opportunities for the doctors and
nurses to increase their awareness regarding the special requirements for the children suffering
from learning disabilities and autism related disorder. They should be aware of delivering
optimum best health care services to them. If required, the hospital authority should provide
learning materials to the staffs and other personnel so that they can study and deliver good
service to the patients (Al Sharif and Ratnapalan 2016).
Academic writing is significant as it encounters all the aspects of professional practice.
During professional practice one might forget the implementation of an important intervention
on a patient which might hinder the health improvement procedure. But academic writing
includes all the steps and interventions required for implementation on a patient. It includes the
procedure of the interventions, the method of implementation on the patients, the mental
condition and all related aspects of the patient and the family members (Richards 2017). This can
give a brief idea of the disease and the outcomes of it. The academic writing procedure has
helped me gain knowledge over my profession and improved my skills and ability of

6CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
understanding patients. The research has helped me to go through the conditions of many such
disability problems and its ways of cure.
In my research, I chose the topic about the improvement of managing children suffering
from learning disability and autism related disorders during hospital admission. This would help
me to acknowledge a brief idea and description of the children with disabilities and the methods
of coping up with their disabilities.
Personally, I felt that the hospital management and the programs up taken by them were
reluctant in their activities and duties towards these disabled children and their parents. Mainly
the staffs and nurses were not able to implement the intervention specific to the child and as a
result the health of the child deteriorated. I felt very bad for those parents who watch their
children in such distress helplessly. They try their best to provide utmost care to their child but
fail to achieve. The hospitals need to improve their nursing techniques and get updated regularly
with all kinds of ailments and its specific person centered intervention. A multidisciplinary
approach needs to get activated to achieve the target for curing the patients.
The parents tried to give their best support to their children. The hospitals have also
regulated their actions towards these patients and improved their techniques. They have
implemented training guidelines and educated their staffs. During admission, the hospital
authorities take a brief description of the patient from the parents so their first interaction with
the patient is fruitful. The health care professionals should treat these learning disability and
autism related disorders on a priority basis to avoid any patient deterioration.
The carers have adopted new techniques to improve the health of the Disabled children.
Screening and PCR methods during pregnancy of a mother can detect these disabilities much

7CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
before and earlier detection can help to reduce the number of patients with disabilities.
Medicines like neuroleptics, antiepileptic drugs, neurostimulants, and many others have been
used to meet the target specific behaviors of the patients. Using audio visual methods of
approach or pictures and gestures can help to better the interaction procedure.
I could have implemented new techniques like engaging the child into social activities or
playful activities which can enhance their mind and thinking procedure. The verbal method used
for communication can be broken down into syllables for easy understanding of the language.
Certain entertaining activities can also be carried out to keep the mind of the child engaged. The
programs should make the child participate in the activities that would help them in
communication processes. Psychiatric counselling should be carried out in certain intervals of
time to eliminate any kind of depression or anxiety thoughts.

8CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
References
Al Sharif, S. and Ratnapalan, S., 2016. Managing children with autism spectrum disorders in
emergency departments. Pediatric emergency care, 32(2), pp.101-103.
Brammer, A., Kennedy, R. and Binns, F., 2016. Marginalised children and young people with
autisM spectruM disorders. Working with Marginalised Groups: From Policy to Practice, p.52.
Case-Smith, J., Weaver, L.L. and Fristad, M.A., 2015. A systematic review of sensory
processing interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. Autism, 19(2), pp.133-148.
Da Paz, N.S. and Wallander, J.L., 2017. Interventions that target improvements in mental health
for parents of children with autism spectrum disorders: A narrative review. Clinical psychology
review, 51, pp.1-14.
Dern, S. and Sappok, T., 2016. Barriers to healthcare for people on the autism
spectrum. Advances in Autism, 2(1), pp.2-11.
emedicine.medscape (2018). Autism Spectrum Disorder Treatment & Management: Approach
Considerations, Special Education, Speech, Behavioral, Occupational, and Physical Therapies.
[online] Emedicine.medscape.com. Available at:
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/912781-treatment [Accessed 11 Aug. 2019].
Gadow, K.D., 2018. Children on Medication Volume I: Hyperactivity, Learning Disabilities, and
Mental Retardation. Routledge.
Kennedy, R., Binns, F., Brammer, A., Grant, J., Bowen, J. and Morgan, R., 2016. Continuous
service quality improvement and change management for children and young people with autism

9CHILDREN MANAGEMENT WITH LEARNING DISABILITY AND AUTISM
SPECTRUM DISORDER
and their families: a model for change. Comprehensive child and adolescent nursing, 39(3),
pp.192-214.
Mammarella, I.C., Ghisi, M., Bomba, M., Bottesi, G., Caviola, S., Broggi, F. and Nacinovich, R.,
2016. Anxiety and depression in children with nonverbal learning disabilities, reading
disabilities, or typical development. Journal of learning disabilities, 49(2), pp.130-139.
Morgan, R., 2016. Continuous Service Quality Improvement and Change Management for
Children and Young People with Autism and Their Families: A Model for Change.
Muskat, B., Burnham Riosa, P., Nicholas, D.B., Roberts, W., Stoddart, K.P. and Zwaigenbaum,
L., 2015. Autism comes to the hospital: The experiences of patients with autism spectrum
disorder, their parents and health-care providers at two Canadian paediatric
hospitals. Autism, 19(4), pp.482-490.
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Craig, W.R., Kilmer, C. and Zwaigenbaum, L., 2016. Parent and health care provider
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Nicholas, D.B., Zwaigenbaum, L., Muskat, B., Craig, W.R., Newton, A.S., Cohen-Silver, J.,
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improvement. [online] Discover.dc.nihr.ac.uk. Available at:
https://discover.dc.nihr.ac.uk/content/signal-000645/general-hospital-care-for-children-with-
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SPECTRUM DISORDER
Povey, C., 2016. Helping children on the autism spectrum deal with hospital admissions.
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