Helping Children with Special Needs ($2) Introduction By the end of this article, you should be able to: Discuss bow to identify', rehabilitate and refer children with special needs. Explain ho ...

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Helping Children with Special Needs ($2)
Introduction
By the end of this article, you should be able to:
Discuss bow to identify', rehabilitate and refer children with special needs.
Explain how to counsel children with special needs.
Children with special needs are those whose performance, experiences or life patterns from, what is considered the norm. They may be children who are intellectually gifted or those severely challenged. These therefore, include children who are gifted, talented, physically or mentally challenged and those with hearing and visual impairment. Also included are children who are abused, affected by or infected with HIV, children from divorced parents and emotionally disturbed children. These children are very much in need of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation means to restore to useful life through therapy and education. It is the treatment designed to facilitate the process of recovery from injury7, illness, psychological problems or diseases to as normal a condition as possible.
Counseling an abused child
Child abuse consists of anything which individuals or institutions fail to do which directly or indirectly harms children or damages their prospects of safe and healthy development into adulthood. It is also defined as failure to provide the child with the care that circumstances demand. It is an act that harms the child physically, socially, emotionally and psychologically.
Child abuse takes place different, ways and may take place within the family outside the family or in institutions like schools orphanages or rehabilitation centers. A child may be abused through sexual harassment in the form of rape or incest, child labour, physical assault, abandonment, neglect, verbal abuse ridiculing, infanticide or bullying.
Identifying an abused child
There are signs or symptoms that may help in identifying children who are abused. However, it should be noted that the signs do not necessarily indicate child abuse, but they do help adults recognize that something is wrong. When a child displays a number of these symptoms, or any of them to a marked degree, the possibility of abuse should be investigated.
Aggression towards others.
Low self-esteem and lack confidence.
Poor performance, lack of concentration and absenteeism in school.
Inability to communicate clearly, such as having speech disorders.
Overreaction to critism.
Extreme reactions such as depression, self-mutilation, suicide attempts running away and overdoses.
Sudden change in behaviour, specially portrayed in withdrawal and lack of interest in life.
Injuries, bruises and cuts in the body including, sex organs and unexplained fractures.
Poor health and malnutrition.
Regressing to younger behaviour patterns such as thumb sucking and bed-wetting.
Using the above criteria, parents, teachers and caregivers can detect an abused child in die community, schools and other institutions. Other people in the community or neighbourhood may also assist in id