Analyse the care needs of individuals with specific needs

Answer

Executive Summary

Healthcare organizations work to ensure equality in healthcare delivery for the benefit of the individuals seeking care. However, equality in healthcare delivery can only be ensured when the needs of the individuals with disability are identified for effective care plan documentation. People living with disabilities are part of the community and should not be ignored in the healthcare sector. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the renowned mental illnesses that affect the ability of the patients to reason soundly or perform the activities for daily living perfectly. Despite the culture of ignoring persons with such disabilities, the government has developed initiatives and policies such as the Equality Act that demands every individual with disability be treated with dignity and offered health services as the rest of the population. ASD affects individuals in three domains; communication impairment, improper imagination, and poor social relationship. It is usually a difficulty to deal with persons with ASD because they cannot communicate their needs comprehensively, they appear aloof, and may be unfriendly. Therefore, appropriate systems have been put in place to support the persons with ASD get access to the services they need. Advocacy and better staff training and motivation are the key supportive mechanisms for the individuals with ASD. Technological advances such as use of smartphones have also been critical in supporting ASD patients in communicating their needs. ASD have negative impacts on organizations and staff such as poor attitudes of the staff to care for aloof and uncooperative patients.

Rational Purpose of the Document

This paper is purposely documented to discuss the care needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and provides details on how to support the persons with ASD. ASD causes the effects of challenging behavior in the affected individuals and the need for staff training to care for the patients is paramount. Inadequate training of the staff managing individuals with ASD can lead to provision of poor services to the patients and abuse of the mentally challenged. Therefore, this paper is documented to help match the care needs of individuals with ASD with the systems that can be used to support them to get their needs.

Paper Trail

This extensive research on the care needs and supportive systems for the individuals with ASD was performed by retrieving secondary information from various sources. The sources of information included organizational websites and articles on ASD. A thorough reading of these sources was critical for obtaining information on ASP.

The Phenomenon

Analyze the care needs of individuals with specific needs

The triad impairment framework presents the three main symptoms of the mental illness. According to the National Health Service (2016), the three challenges individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder face are deficits in social communication, social interaction, and social interests and imagination (p. 1).

Communication

Individuals with ASD may develop incomprehensive speech or fail to develop speech at all. The speech impairment can be diagnosed when the individual reports last sentences they hear or when they repeat words. Additionally, the individuals with ASD may have problems processing language understanding the figures of speech, and following long sentences. Therefore, individuals with ASD have difficulties in explaining their needs leading to their frustration. As a result, there is a need to train the individuals with ASD to use their impaired speech appropriately in communicating their needs.

Imagination

Individuals with ASD have difficulties in understanding and predicting other people’s behavior. They cannot make sense of abstract ideas and, therefore, cannot imagine situations that are outside their immediate context. The ASD patients cannot predict danger in any situation because of the low imagination capability. Also, they cannot interpret others’ feelings or expressed thoughts and as a result cannot engage in interpersonal play. Lastly, individuals with ASD cannot plan for their future and have low ability to cope in new situations. Therefore, they have a need for support to help them understand their environment and the people around them. Additionally, they should be cared for to cope in new environments especially that might present danger to their lives.

Social Relationship

The individuals with the ASD are vulnerable to the poor relationship and learning disabilities in the society. For example, they appear aloof and indifferent to other people. The main problem is established by the poor communication and social interaction skills. Therefore, there is a need for special training for the individuals with ASD to learn how to interact with others, communicate effectively, and develop imaginative capabilities.

(Source: Autism Bedfordshire, 2016)

The individuals with ASD need special care to live with their mental disorder positively because there is no known cure for ASD. Therefore, such patients will need language and speech therapy, educational support, and occupational therapy to prevent their sufferings due to the developmental deficits. The language and speech therapy would help them develop good communication skills while occupational therapy would be effective in helping the disabled with guidance on how to excel in the desired activities. ASD affected persons also require training on social skills to improve their social interaction with the society to avoid alienation. Additionally, special care might be needed whereby the persons are assisted in personal care, housekeeping, and even meal preparations due to their incapacity to make better decisions by coordinating the events in their environment to predict the outcomes.

Explain current systems for supporting individuals with specific needs

The first support system is the provision of direct financial assistance to the individuals and families affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder are eligible to direct financial assistance by the state in the United Kingdom. According to Beatty and Fothergill (2013), the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was replaced by the Personal Independence Payments (PIPs) to provide more comprehensive financial support to help cater for the additional costs individuals with disabilities face in healthcare (p. 5). The DLA payments range from 15 to 35 pounds per week. The immense financial support can help the ASD victims to pay for training programs for speech and language therapies, occupational therapies, and educational support. There are also grants that offer individuals with ASD direct financial support. According to Disability Grants (2016), the Fred Foundation funds various educational programs for Children living with Autism and the Autism Aware UK purchases specialist equipment for groups and schools to educate and support people with Autism (p. 1). Therefore, the direct financial assistance is a suitable system for supporting people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The second system is through various advocacy plans to ensure people living with ASD enjoy dignity and human rights. Young disabled persons require advocacy support to enable them to go through life changes that require critical decisions effectively. The advocacy plans in the UK ensures that people living with ASD are empowered and their rights respected. According to the Autism Education Trust (2016), advocacy agencies for children with ASD include parents, family members, independent advocates, children’s rights officers, social workers, friends, teachers, and foster carers (p. 1). In other words, anyone can advocate for the rights of people with autism spectrum disorder. The Advocacy Allowance is a coalition between the national charities and the advocacy and the engagement user sector to enhance access to advocacy for the individuals with marked communication difficulties (Autism Education Trust, 2016, p. 1). Independent advocacy organizations also provide support to people with autism to represent their views and fight for their rights. However, most families are not able to afford the cost of independent advocacy organizations. Therefore, the Department of Health should consider increasing funding to independent advocacy services to enable more people to use them.

Staff training on the special needs of the individuals with ASD is also critical in supporting ASD patients. The unpredictability of the behaviors of individuals with ASD can make the staff have difficulties in providing care to them. For instance, aggressive behaviors of such patients could be frustrating to the staff leading to abuse of individuals with ASD. Therefore, the staff is likely to provide care to individuals with ASD on a more professional way if they are trained on the special needs of the patients they provide with care. Also, financial incentives such as salary increments can motivate employees to actively support individuals with ASD. Therefore, health organizations should positively influence their staff for the benefit of the individuals with ASD.

Evaluate the services available in a chosen locality for individuals with ASD

There are several services offered by the Borough Council of Derbyshire to assist persons with disabilities, particularly, ASD. The Derbyshire helps in diagnosis and self-referral for patients with ASD. The local authority also provides community care assessment services through the Adult Social Care and Housing Department. The assessment is designed to evaluate the needs of individuals with autism and plan for the necessary steps for achieving the desired outcomes. Individuals who qualify for financial support are directed to specialists such as psychologists who document appropriate care plans.

General practitioners are also available at the local authority level to provide care to individuals diagnosed with autism. Additionally, according to the Derby City Council (2016), the Umbrella is a body designed by the local authority to support the individuals with ASD to access better leisure and social activities and provides health and social services to all the affected family members (p. 1). Sensory rooms are important in promoting sensation for people with autism because one can focus on the senses such as sound, taste, touch, smell, and touch while in the sensory room. Examples of schools with sensory rooms for people with ASD in Derby are Becket Primary School, Newtons Walk, and Lakeside Primary School. The council has also initiated independent advice agencies to advise people with autism and their families on how to cope with the mental illness. The local social services department also provides home-based support by providing practical assistance at home and ensuring access to recreational facilities.

My experience with individuals with ASD has been significant in understanding the services available to patients with ASD. First, most individuals with ASD cannot care for themselves by performing the daily activities for living. As a result, they need special care such as assistance in personal hygiene and intake of meals. The individuals are also always predisposed to danger and this demands that the caring organization watches them always. Working with ASD has been involving and as a result puts pressure on the care providers.

Explain the approaches and interventions available to support individuals with ASD

Self-help and guardianship are suitable approaches for supporting the individuals with ASD. Independence in carrying ones desired activity is a very important expression of freedom. Similarly, people living with autism are impressed with increased ability to function independently in carrying their daily activities such as eating, dressing, and performing personal hygiene. According to a book review by Lucker (2009), children can be taught self-help skills such as self-feeding, personal hygiene, and dressing after they have been trained on concentrate to the instructions were given (p. 66). These personal skills help people with autism to live independently with minimum supervision.

On the other hand, guardianship is an approach that would ensure the interests of the individual with ASD are protected even in the absence of the parents. In the case of guardianship, a sibling, a close family member, or any other trusted person is given the legal responsibility of making important decisions on behalf of the individual with ASD (Autism Society of Pittsburgh, 2016, p. 1). A legal guardian also has control over the properties of the individual with autism. However, a court of law must first validate that the individual with ASD cannot make decisions about their properties or themselves before a guardianship strategy is ascertained. A child with autism automatically becomes an independent adult if a parent or other eligible person does not obtain guardianship by the time the child attains the majority age. Guardianship is important to ensure the safety of adults with autism having a profound cognitive impairment. Guardianship also enables the guardian to visit the individual with ASD in the facility of care. Individuals with autism might feel offended with the guardianship approach due to the limitation of the freedom to make choices as independent adults.  Therefore, parents should consider the limited guardianship approach that enables the adult with ASD to have control of certain decisions in their life.

There are no confirmed medications that can be used to cure ASD. Dietary interventions are examples of medical approaches to supporting people with ASD. There is evidence that good nutrition can help in the management of the symptoms of autism. According to the Research Autism (2015), special diets such as the inclusion of the essential fatty acid omega-3 in the food benefits individuals with autism by enhancing the thinking capacity (p. 1). Dietary supplements such as amino acids, digestive enzymes, botanicals, and vitamins also benefit individuals with autism. On the other hand, the therapeutic interventions are intended to help people with ASD function better. For example, administration of antidepressants such as fluoxetine reduces the depression level an individual with autism (Research Autism, 2015, P. 1). Similarly, antipsychotics such as risperidone might reduce the symptoms of psychological disorientation such as the inability to concentrate or make proper judgments. These medications provide support to the individuals with ASD by increasing their comfort level. 

Evaluate the effectiveness of the medical and therapeutic interventions explained above

Self-help is effective in ensuring individuals with ASD get skills for conducting some of the daily activities for living such as personal hygiene by themselves. The lives of individuals with ASD can be more comfortable if they can properly perform some of the activities that translate to improved quality of life. The ability to perform these activities would also lead to less frustration among the mentally ill individuals because they can perform the activities that could have been difficult to communicate due to their speech impairment. On the other hand, guardianship is effective too in promoting the quality of life of the individuals with ASD. The guardian can make important decisions that can positively influence the quality of life of the patients. The decisions made by the guardians are for the interest of the ASD patient since most of the guardians are either parents or first degree relatives of the mentally challenged. Lastly, the guardians can also safeguard the financial resources of the sick and this ensures individuals with ASD have funds to cater for the services they require.

The medical and therapeutic interventions are important for the individuals with ASD. These interventions help the affected individuals in improving the quality of their lives. The medical nutritional intervention of supplementation of diets with fatty acid omega-3 is beneficial for the brain development. Luchtman and Song (2013) opine that omega-3 fatty acids are recognized for their cognitive-enhancing effects and are essential for cognitive functions and brain development (p. 550). Therefore, the nutritional intervention will be effective in boosting the cognitive skills of the individuals with ASD. Vitamins are important cofactors for making neurotransmitters used in the brain, and this corroborates the effectiveness of multivitamin supplementation in delivering the neurologic symptoms of ASD. On the other hand, the therapeutic intervention emphasized on the use of antidepressants and antipsychotics to alleviate the symptoms of ASD, and this is effective in ASD management. Antipsychotics would help in promoting orderly thoughts while the antidepressant would help in alleviating depressive disorder that might result from the ASD. Therefore, the individuals with ASD will develop more positive self-concept and lead more independent and normal life.

Discuss the potential impact of some emerging developments (e.g. technology and legislations) on support for individuals with ASD

The emerging developments influencing support for the individuals with ASD are technological advances and the amendments in the existing policies and laws. Technological advances affect how services are delivered to the individuals with ASD while changes in the laws and policies influence the perceptions of the society on people with ASD. Programs such as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) are assistive in helping children with ASD to initiate more comprehensive communicative interactions within a social framework. Emerging technologies such as Apple Watch helps individuals with ASD to interact with the environment effectively. Assistive communication technologies such as mobile devices and apps help in alleviating communication disabilities among people with ASD. Changing policies that encourage financial support to the disabled such as the Disability Living Allowance promotes the welfare of people with ASD and therefore, they can pay for their increased medical costs. The enhanced emphasis of the Equality Act 2010 prevents discrimination of the people with ASD and, therefore, enables them to access services they need.

Explain the concept of challenging behavior and how individuals with ASD may be viewed as demonstrating challenging behavior

According to Scope (2016), challenging behavior is a portrayal of unmet needs that should be addressed and these problems presents challenges to professionals such as teachers, carers, and even parents (p. 1). The categories of the challenging behaviors are self-injurious, aggressive, stereotyped, and non-person directed behaviors. The self-injurious behaviors include scratching, head-banging, eye poking, and eating inedible substances. Aggressive behaviors include the use of abuse words, throwing objects, and screaming while examples of stereotyped behaviors are rocking, repetitive movements, and repetitive speech. Lastly, the non-person directed behaviors are stealing, lack of awareness of peril, hyperactivity, and damage to property.

Individuals with ASD conduct themselves in particular ways suggesting they have challenging behavior. Individuals with ASD demonstrate behaviors that are difficult for parents or carers to manage. According to Raising Children Network (2016), children with ASD might demonstrate the following behaviors; hurting others or themselves by biting or head-banging, behaving in a socially inacceptable way such as undressing in public, being aggressive, and involving in self-stimulatory activities such as hand-flicking (p. 1). These activities are challenging behaviors because they correlate with the concepts of self-injury, aggression, stereotypes, and non-person directed behaviors aforementioned. Individuals with ASD have these challenging behaviors because they cannot interact with their environment and they cannot communicate effectively about their needs leading to frustrations.

Describe some potential impact of challenging behavior in health and social care organization

It is very difficult to manage people exhibiting challenging behavior because they have altered mental status. Challenging behaviors make it difficult for health and social organization to communicate with and provide care for persons with disabilities with high efficiency. Therefore, health and social care organizations employ highly skilled personnel who can manage individuals with such indifferent and aggressive behaviors. The next impact is the enhanced need for financial and emotional support because of the stressful events caused by the undesirable behaviors.

The impact of ASD on staff is based on the frustrations the staff members undergo while caring for the mentally ill. For instance, aggression is one of the challenging behaviors of ASD patients and this can remarkably risk the lives of the staff members. Therefore, the care team members might be reluctant to offer care to such aggressive ASD patients as recommended due to the fear of physical violence. The reliance of the individuals with disabilities such as ASD on others due to their challenging behaviors for support makes them more susceptible to abuse. The demanding needs of the persons exhibiting challenging behaviors also make them prone to abuse due to the annoyance of the carers in health and social care organizations.

Analyze intervention strategies for dealing with challenging behaviors

It is possible to assess challenging behavior before documenting a care plan in support of positive behavior. The assessment might also identify the cause of the challenging behavior. Pratt and Dubie (2016) opine that an ABC chart is a suitable assessment tool that can be used in describing an individual’s behavior alongside the incidences before and after a change in the behavior was observed (p. 1). The meaning of the ABC abbreviations are: A-Antecedent; B-Behavior; C-Consequences. First, data can be collected on one behavior at a time before filling the ABC form. The antecedents are the activities that happened before the behavior was observed. For instance, asking a child to leave a computer before the child shouts “No!” The consequences are the responses are actions following the behavior. The data on the ABC chart can be used to plan for positive behavior change based on the antecedents that led to the challenging behavior.

Most challenging behaviors develop due to incapacity to communicate needs and lack of attention deserved. Furthermore, ASD presents with difficulties in communication. Therefore, developing alternative methods of communicating needs would be appropriate for preventing challenging behaviors among individuals with ASD. Alternative communication strategies can include the use of sign language in case of speech impairment. Triggers such as loud noises and beliefs about the carers can also lead to challenging behaviors (Scope, 2016, p. 1). Therefore, such triggers should be identified and removed from the environment where individuals with ASD stay. In the case of poor perception about the carers staff education would be appropriate to ensure the staff does not frustrate individuals with ASD. The vulnerable individuals should also be occupied with so many activities to reduce their propensity to portray undesirable behaviors. Therefore, health and social care organization should arrange for activities such as recreational activities for individuals with ASD to ensure they do not have time to concentrate on activities such as self-harming actions or destructive acts.

Conclusion

In summary, individuals with ASD should be treated with respect and dignity they deserve. Several laws and policies promote the wellbeing of people with various mental illnesses. ASD should be managed by both the community and household level to prevent further complications of the mental conditions.