The potential effects of the five different life factors on the development of the individual Essay Example

The potential effects of the five different life factors on the development of the individual Essay Example The potential effects of the five different life factors on the development of the individual Essay The potential effects of the five different life factors on the development of the individual Essay In this audio recording I will be explaining the potential effects of the five different life factors on the development of the individual. I will be using the case study of Jonathan to do this. Genetic factors Genetic factors are factors that would be inherited by the child from the mother and father. There are a lot of different illnesses/ diseases that can be inherited from the parents such as; cystic fibrosis, coeliac disease, asthma, brittle bone disease etc. These are passed to the child through their genes. If one of these illnesses is passed on to the child like brittle bone disease then this will affect the child in a negative way because they might not be able to do things properly when they are older, like sports and exercise. It would limit their opportunities and stop them from doing things that they would later want to do. Jonathan was born with a medical condition called Down’s syndrome; this condition will affect all areas of his development. Down’s syndrome is also known as trisomy 21, which is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21 in a babys cells. Around 750 babies are born with the condition each year in the UK www. nhs. uk/conditions/downs syndrome/pages/introduction. aspx. Children with Down’s syndrome will have learning disability and delayed development, but this may be different with other children. Also they will have short arms and legs and low muscle tone, making it hard for them to learn to move. Jonathan’s development in all areas will be delayed and he will find hard to learn certain things such as talking, reading, walking and sitting etc. He will take longer to learn to do these things than an average child. Some children with Down’s syndrome will have few health problems as a result of their condition. Possible health complications of Down’s syndrome might include heart disorders, bowel abnormalities, digestive problems, hearing and vision impairments, increase risk of infections etc. ww. nhs. uk/Conditions/Downs-syndrome/Pages/Complications. aspx Jonathan may have these health problems which he may need to get checked or get treatment for it in hospitals. Biological Factors Biological factors are things that are passed onto an individual through the blood stream or other means such as during pregnancy the mom can pass on substances through the placenta to the child in her womb. An example of this is when women during pregnancy ingest alcohol and crosses the placenta barrier. This can cause developing problems during fatal stages and can stunt fatal growth or weight, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structures which in later life they will have problems with intellectual development within learning and understanding concepts and cause other physical, mental or behavioural problems later on in the individual life. Jonathan hasn’t got anything passed down to him when he was in her mum’s womb. But Jonathan was born with a medical condition called Down’s syndrome; he has also got heart conditions which he has to take medication often for. Having heart problems will mean he will get tired and become breathless which will mean he won’t be able to do certain activities in school such as football, basketball and running etc. because he would become tired and might start to cough a lot which is not good for his health. Not being able to do certain activities will mean he will feel left out and might feel his different from other children and this might affect his self-esteem and confidence because he might feel that his left out. Although he could do other activities that are not tiring like gymnastics, tennis and cricket etc. hich will make him feel that his part of the group and he won’t feel left out. Jonathan might also have thyroid problems, which is located in the neck and is responsible for controlling your metabolism (the rate at which your body uses up energy). The effects of thyroid that Jonathan could have are lack of energy which means he won’t be able to do certain things, gaining weight, slow physical and mental reactions, difficult breathing and difficult sleeping. nhs. uk/Conditions/Downs-syndrome/Pages/Complications. spx Environmental factors Environmental factors are things such as housing conditions, neighbourhoods, communities, pollution and access to that can affect an individual’s development. Jonathan has good housing as he lives in a wealthy area with his mum and sister. His father and mother divorced five years ago but his father pays large amount of maintenance for Jonathan’s care and helping the mother to pay for bills etc. so they don’t have to worry about Jonathon being cold or catching any illness because of his condition. It is important that he does have a good housing because it will help to improve his development. Jonathan comes from a wealthy family meaning he will have access to different types of health services and the family will be able to afford to take Jonathan to private doctors meaning he will be looked after properly and the medication he will get will be much better because he won’t be getting cheap medications because the family will be able to pay for expensive medication so just could get better quickly. The family have hired specialist nurses and portage workers to look after Jonathan. â€Å"Portage is a home-visiting educational service for preschool children who have additional support needs and their families. Portage services aim to work with your child’s developmental needs to develop their strengths, fulfil their potential and build their confidence. A portage service worker may assist with play activities, behaviour, communication, relationships and learning in your own home’’. nhs. uk/CarersDirect/guide/kinds/Pages/portage. aspx Jonathan would benefit from portage worker because they would support his development needs, learning new skills, build their confidence and helping him to fulfil his potential. They would also teach his mother how to support Jonathan’s in learning new skills and helping him to improve on his development. This would support all areas of Jonathan’s development because they would work on helping him to walk, talk and how to interact with other people and he knows how to do these things then they would look at things which he needs more help on and provide him with these skills. Jonathan’s parents might also hire speech therapists to help Jonathan with his speech, language and communication problems so he can communicate better with other people. Jonathan parents won’t have money issues as they earn a large income so they won’t have problems providing Jonathan with quality care. Socio-economic factors Socio-economic factors are social and economic activities that influence an individual’s development in life. These include things such as family and peer groups influences, housing and community influences, education, social class etc. Income and education will impact Jonathan, because Jonathan comes from a rich family he won’t have any problems with money because his father pays high amount of maintenance, this means the parents can afford to pay for private doctors who will monitor his health every time, portage workers who will help him develop new skills and also they may help the parents. Also they can get speech therapist for Jonathan if he needs it; they can also afford to buy special equipment and toys for Jonathan to use for example soft toys that are not dangerous i. e. toys that are broken or sharp. Having specialist equipment would help support Jonathan’s physical development and will protect him from injury. Jonathan’s parents are also able to afford to send Jonathan to a private school. Private schools are better than public schools because they offer better quality teachers and this would affect Jonathan intellectually and socially because private schools offer better qualified teachers and better facilities. Also private school have small class which will mean that the teacher can spend more time with every student, if Jonathan needs help with anything then the teacher will be there to help him. Also private schools are most likely to support children with special educational needs and they are aware of how to support children with different conditions. Going to private school will affect Jonathan positively because he will learn to interact with other children his age, make friends and he will discover what things that make him happy. This will affect his social and emotional development as he’s socialising with other children and his self-confidence and self-esteem will improve. Lifestyle Factors Lifestyle is the chosen way an individual chooses to lead there life which includes – chosen dietary and nutrition intake, amount of physical exercise individual chooses to undertake and substances abuse and how much an individual subjects there body to. Lifestyle factors that may affect Jonathan would include diet, nutrition and social interaction. Jonathan comes from a wealthy family; this means that he will have good diet because his parents will be buying healthy food such as fruits and vegetables which is good for you because it’s full of nutrition. This will affect Jonathan positively as he will be healthy and it will help him avoid further health complications such as high blood pressure etc. There are certain foods which Jonathan should avoid such as fast food, takeaways or microwave food that are not good for you because it can make you fat if its eaten a lot and when older you can get health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease and you might get heart attack and stroke . It is important that Jonathan stays away from unhealthy food. Jonathan takes part in activities through school, scouts and a performing arts group for children with special needs. Attending scouts will have a positive effect on Jonathan because he is interacting with other children, making friends and doing different activities such as cooking, sports activities and camping which will build his confidence and self-esteem and it will help him to know what he likes and dislikes. Participating in different activities will also help Jonathan develop intellectually as his learning new skills. This will broaden his knowledge and skills that he has. Attending scouts and performing arts will be a positive influence because he will stay active and he will be healthy, also it will have positive effect on Jonathan’s emotional development because when he participates in scouts, he is able to earn medal or badges and this will make him more confident and it will boost his self-esteem and have a better view upon himself which will make him happy.