The paper involves presenting the issue, identifying the relevant psychological theories and concepts, summarizing the current research, and stating why the issue is important
Expert Answer and Explanation
Developmental Disabilities
Developmental disabilities comprise a group of medical conditions that occur as a result of impairment within the physical, language, learning, and behavioral area. These conditions occur in children during their developmental stages and can negatively affect the day-to-day functionality with possibilities of lasting throughout the life of the patient (Benzing et al., 2018).
The development of children can be evidenced by various developmental milestones that depict how the progress of the child’s development model. Different children develop at different paces which makes it difficult to tell how the child will respond to external stimuli. Dealing with a child with developmental disabilities is a major challenge especially for a homosexual married couple.
Presenting the Issue
The issue at hand entails the diagnosis of a 3-year-old patient with developmental disabilities. The child was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (Benzing et al., 2018). As a gay couple, it was difficult to provide sufficient information at first concerning the characteristics and behavior of the mother during her pregnancy. As a responsible parent, the responsibility to conduct a well-child visit to follow up with the developmental monitoring and screening of the child as they grow (Benzing et al., 2018).
During one of the visits. The doctor noticed some characteristics from the child and suggested performing a developmental screening to ascertain the suspicion. The screening entailed a series of tests including observing the attention span of the child and how they respond to a series of questions without straying out of topic. The screening also focused on the other tests to demonstrate whether the child was learning basic skills on time or the possibilities of delays. Following the diagnosis, the doctor identified that the child was experiencing mild symptoms of ADHD as a form of developmental disability.
Causes and Risk Factors
The onset of developmental disabilities manifests amidst the developmental period and can persist throughout the life of the individual. The majority of the developmental disabilities begin event before the child is born while others can develop after delivery as a result of infections, or injuries. Various causal effects are associated with the disabilities that occur during pregnancies.
Some of these factors include but are not limited to parental health, genetics, and lifestyle choices such as alcohol and indulgence in smoking during the pregnancy period (Danielson et al., 2018). Other potential causes include complications during birth, exposure to environmental toxins, and other infections that a mother might have during pregnancy.
With the case of the child battling ADHD, the cause is still unclear. However, the nature of the disease shifts towards heredity and genetics the primary cause and determinant of ADHD. The condition is evidence by several symptoms including the lack of focus in the child, exaggerated emotions, poor time management, inattention, and hyperactivity among others. However, the child did not demonstrate all these symptoms apart from the lack of focus and small attention span (Danielson et al., 2018).
Depending on the characteristics of the disease, ADHD can be categorized into three different segmentations. The primarily hyperactive or otherwise called impulsive ADHD is characterized by the inability to control impulses and the outcome includes squirming, moving, and talking even at the most inappropriate times. The primarily inattentive type of ADHD is characterized by difficulty in finishing tasks, focusing, and following instructions (Danielson et al., 2018).
Children with this type of ADHD are often forgetful and easily distracted and can lose track of time, conversations, and roles assigned to them. The third form of ADHD is the Primarily combined ADHD which demonstrated the characteristics of the hyperactive and inattentive ADHD (Franke et al., 2018). A patient that meets the guidelines for diagnosing primarily hyperactive and inattentive ADHD can then be perceived to have a combined type of ADHD.
The case of the 3-year-old was in line with inattentive ADHD which explains the difficulty in identifying its symptom. The child was reserved, very quiet in that one could mistake for shyness. Upon the screening, the doctor was able to identify the condition and suggested the use of the different interventions.