Decided Question: How does it impact children and their families when there is a mental disorder diagnosis in the family?
L: What you learned
[Directions: First we will formulate RAR prompts for the four categories listed below (physical cognitive, emotional, and social). These prompts should relate back to your three curiosities listed above. Technologically speaking, add widget anchors here for easier reading, then delete instructions in the brackets]
Physical
Cognitive
Emotional
Social
Observation Site Information
Camp Flame Catcher run by the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.
A. Site details:
Name of site: Camp Flame Catcher
Link to site: Camp Kern
Contact person: my cell phone number: 513-910-2676
B. Describe your setting
From October 4-6th I will be a camp counselor at a camp for children with epilepsy. It is run through the Epilepsy Foundation. Camp Flame Catcher is held each spring, summer, and fall at Camp Kern in Morrow, Ohio. Throughout the weekend I will monitor these children and watch how they interact with one another while experiencing an overnight camp, for many of them this is their only experience to get away from the parents and really experience an away camp like your typical little kid.
Some forms of epilepsy are more severe than others, and I want to tie this in with my inquiry question because I think it will be interesting to see how the more severely epileptic children will be treated by their peers, as well as by the counselors and directors of the camp. In addition to epilepsy, some children have other mental or physical diagnoses, and I want to see how that impacts their interactions with their peers, as well as how their families seem to be handling and interacting with their children. I think that it will be very interesting to see how some of the more severe children will behavior socially, as well as in the environment.
C. Describe what you did at the site (free-write/journal formatting)
1st visit:
Over this past weekend I went to Camp Flame Catcher, which is a camp put on by the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and Columbus. Throughout the weekend we were able to allow the children to be typical kids, not letting their disease impact their lives. It will so interesting to talk to the kids, because the younger ones had a totally different perspective on epilepsy and how it has impacted their lives. I was talking to a 16 year old named Emily, and she told me about how much she loved coming to camp because for once she was amongst people that understood exactly what she was going through. If she had a seizure at lunch and dropped her plate, nobody was going to look at her like she was the odd person out. She said that she knows she has made long lasting friendships because she has met a "family" at camp who she can always talk to and she knows they will never look at her funny because of her disease, nor will they treat her any differently. It was really cool to hear her open up to me so much, because while from an outsiders perspective I had thought about it, I did not realize how much she really comprehended the situation.
Hanging out with some of the kids who had other challenges aside from the Epilepsy was a completely different experience. I found myself constantly questioning how much some of these kids comprehended the world around them. There was a 12 year old boy named Aidan who was Autistic, as well as had Epilepsy. I really spent a lot of time with him, as well as discussed his situation with the RN who attended the camp and I expressed my thoughts about how much he understood the world around him vs. just went with the flow of things. He was a struggle for me, because there would be moments where he was so affectionate and caring towards me, wanting to hold my hand and singing the Batman theme song. Then it was like the flip of a switch and he would punch me in the back and throw leaves on me from the ground. For me it was a constant struggle because I just did not know what side of him I was going to get. I think that a lot of the kids saw that as well, and tried to avoid him. I recall a specific incident where Aidan picked up a baby pumpkin from a Halloween display, and just threw it at Adam's (another camper) head. I found that a lot of kids avoided him, and some of the other Autistic children who were there would pick fights with him because of some of his behaviors.
2nd visit:
While all of this was conducted within a weekend, I was able to highlight on different children and how I watched them interact amongst peers as well as in their environment. One little girl, Melissa, was a very interesting case. She was adopted from Russian orphanage when she was very little. Melissa is severely epileptic. She has had 3 different brain surgeries in an attempt to control the seizures, but she still experiences spells in which her mind blanks and she loses sight of her surroundings. As a result of the surgeries, it has left her with partial paralysis on the left side of her body. Because of this, she walks with an assisted leg device and cannot keep up with the other kids. When it comes to her peers, Melissa does not get included on a lot of things for various reasons. While the surgeries have left her physically disabled, the brain surgeries also removed large portions of her brain, leaving her developmentally delayed compared to other children her age. Melissa is a sophomore in high school, but her size and mental capacity is that of a 10 year old. A lot of the counselors had a soft spot for Melissa because she could not be as physically fit. A counselor, Cece, would always go out of her way to make sure that Melissa had something to do that was up to her mental and physical speed. Something that I really enjoyed watching was Melissa's interactions with the horses at Camp Kern. Melissa was not social with her peers, but when you put that girl in front of a horse she just completely lit up. She got to ride a horse named Sparkles, and that was all she could talk about for the rest of camp. I think it is amazing to see horses and how they respond to kids with developmental disabilities. A creature that is so larger can really be so gentle when the sense a certain amount of vulnerability amongst its riders.
3rd visit:
Over the weekend, I met a girl and her mother stayed the weekend with the camp. She did this because Anna's type of epilepsy is so severe, that she needs to be injected with a special kind of medicine or else she could die within minutes of her seizure. Anna was a very interesting girl to watch, because her case was so complex. Anna had very poor communication skills, she was developmentally and cognitively behind, and she was not potty trained, when someone her age should have been able to know when she needed to use the restroom etc. Anna's mother was also an interesting woman. She brought Anna's older brother with her (he is 12 years old, Anna is 10 years old) to camp, in an attempt to help him better understand his sister's disease. Anna's mom was a very sweet woman, but because of the severity of her daughter's diagnosis, she is a very protective mother. She was always arms-length of Anna, just in case she were to have a seizure. She carried around a fanny pack of medicine, always prepared for anything that could happen. I also noticed that during meal times, she would constantly be checking food labels and asking the Camp Kern staff about the different ingredients in our food. I sensed the fact that certain foods would cause Anna to seize. After watching her family interactions, her older brother was very distant from Anna. He would cling to his mom when she was not tending to Anna, but the two siblings had little to no interaction. I found that sad, because I know that my relationship with my little brother is so important to me, and if I wouldn't have that then I would feel like I was missing out on a crucial part of growing up.
4th visit:
While at camp, there were two girls that were sisters at the camp. Faith and Kylie were sisters that received scholarships to go to the camp each summer, fall, and spring. Faith is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Epilepsy when she was 5. Kylie is 13 years old; she is 13 years old. I got to see their interactions over the weekend, and it was very interesting to watch. Unlike Anna and her brother (who had no interaction with one another) Kylie and Faith were very close. Kylie has been there from the beginning, so she knows how Faith acts right before she has a seizure, and can help her sister so that she doesn't panic when she knows she is about to have an epileptic episode. Kylie was really good about making sure that Faith always took her medication on time, and she was always good about looking out for her when we were spending time out in the woods or on different camp expeditions. Kylie was like Faith's mom when they were at camp because Faith tended to be one of the rowdier kids in the bunch, and Kylie was always there to keep her in check so that Faith didn't have a seizure due to over-stimulization. For example; Kylie and Faith got into a screaming match in the cabin one night because Faith and her friend, Savannah, refused to go to bed and proceeded to jump off of their top bunks. Majority of the campers, due to seizure activity, were required to sleep on bottom bunks, but her parents agreed that she was allowed to sleep on the top bunk under the condition that she went to bed at a decent hour so that she wouldn't get too stimulated. So because Faith and Savannah refused to go to bed, Kylie got really upset with her. I understood where Kylie was coming from because as a sibling of someone who has epilepsy, I can relate to the fact that it is really scary to see your sibling have a seizure. It automatically impacts your family structure, because you learn to work around things that would cause a seizure. With my little brother, we have to avoid bright lights and other things that would impact his seizure activity.
5thvisit:
The end of camp was probably the saddest. It was so hard to watch a lot of these kids go home to families that didn't understand their disease. So many of the kids told me about how they came to camp so that they could be somewhere that they felt normal. A lot of the children were lower functioning, so camp was one of the places where they really felt included and never got set to the side because of their disease. It took some of the kids a while to come out of their shells, but once they did it was apparent that all they wanted to do was be a "normal" kid. So often when children are diagnosed with a disease they get tip-toed around and treated like they are fragile. At camp the kids are riding horses, climbing walls, and doing crazy things that you would find at a typical summer/fall camp. It was awesome to see the kids act like just normals kids, having so much fun and really experiencing camp, sometimes for the first time in their lives. So many of these children have been dealing with this disease since they were little, so they never got to experience being normal and having your typical camp experience.
D. Summarize and describe your experience in relation to the concepts in our textbook
Physical
From a physical perspective, I think that it is hard for children with mental disorders, and their families, because some disorders impact the mind and body in different ways. For instance, when I was at camp last weekend, there was an Autistic boy named Aidan. He could not communicate well, and even when he did speak you could not understand him. So while Aidan was roughly 12 years old physically, he was mentally a lot younger. Aidan did not know his own strength. There would be times when he wanted to hug me and play kickball with me, then he would turn around and throw things at me. And he had surprisingly good force and aim. So relating that to the text, I can see why it would be hard for Aidan to socialize with other children when he isn't aware of his own physical strengths. Other kids do not want to be around him because he is strong, but he does not know it, therefore he is more likely to hurt people when he doesn't even realize that he is doing anything wrong. Another thing that I saw at camp, which ties into page 226 in our book, was that there were some children who suffered from obesity at camp. When you are epileptic and you cannot participate in sports with your peers, it would be very easy to gain weight. A girl named Madison was extremely overweight at camp, but her parents would not let her participate in sports. Instead, she stayed on her phone or hand-held gaming device which only isolated her further. If her parents could find some form of physical activity that did not impact her seizures, she would be able to lead a healthier lifestyle. But after meeting her parents, I understand that there is more of an issue with the family lifestyle, and it is not something that Madison can really change for herself given her young age. On page 216, it talked about uninvolved parenting styles, amongst other parenting styles. Parents that are not involved are going to physically impact a child with a diagnosed disorder for any number of reasons. Parents who are physically uninvolved will impact their children because children with a diagnosed disease often times will miss out on physical activity at school because schools/teachers have an overall lack of knowledge when it comes to the limitations of the child in reference to their disease. On page 269 it referred to sibling relationships. This also ties in with physical involvement, because I know that if I didn't hug and love on my brother, then I would feel as though we were missing out on a crucial part of being a sibling. Part of having siblings is learning to live gracefully with others, if you do not have that physical interaction as a child with a disease, you will not know how to interact with others and educate them about your disorder. That also goes along with what was written on page 283 about the transition into adulthood. It is crucial that a child learns, through physical interactions, how to transition into an adult. Page 244 talked about stereotypes, and I believe that that can impact children on all 4 spectrums. Physically, children can get beat up if they are negatively stereotyped. Children that are diagnosed with a disease need to help educate their peers to that it does not become an issue growing up in the school system.
Cognitive
On page 232 they begin discussing cognitive development in our book. Something that I realized at camp, was that so many of these kids were on completely different pages when it came to their cognitive development and overall mental understanding of the world around them. While they all share the same diagnosis, there are so many different levels of epilepsy, that no two children are going to have the same cognitive development and reasoning. There were kids that were very high functioning, if they were not at epilepsy camp then you would not know that they had the disease. Then there were children the seized so often, that they had to have brain surgeries that severely impacted their cognitive mind. Many of the kids had had brain surgeries to remove parts of their brain in the hopes that that would stop their seizures. For some it worked, others were not as lucky in getting their disease under control. On page 216 the parenting styles was brought up, and at camp it was clear to me that a lot of kids had an authoritarian upbringing. These children were cognitively wired so that they knew they were different growing up. It took coming to camp and realizing that they were capable of doing everything that other kids were doing to realize that it was okay to be different, and that different wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I think it was great that we could give those kids that satisfaction and help knowing that they were just like any other kid! From a cognitive standpoint stereotypes are also a concern. On pages 244-245 the book talked about positive and negative stereotypes, and how those stereotypes can in turn impact how a child views themselves. I saw a lot of negative stereotypes at camp because kids would be labelled something like the "troubled kids" and once they had it in their heads that that is how people saw them, they rose to the title and acted very troubled, often causing a lot of conflict amongst other campers. On page 283 the book talked about transitioning, and I noticed that children that were diagnosed younger their parents were more involved. Once they got to be older, the camp was more of a way to get a free weekend away from kids vs. actually sending them there because they wanted to be there. I wonder how that impacted some of the kids from a cognitive standpoint. One boy, Ray, was 22 years old and still going to camp. He was very cognitively delayed, but I always wondered if he realized that he was so much older than the other kids. They didn't treat him different, but I wondered if deep down her knew. On page 236 the book talked about ADHD and how it originated. That really struck a nerve with me because when we were at camp we saw not only ADHD but a number of other cognitive and mental disorders. Epilepsy was just the tip of the iceberg as far a disorders were concerned when I attended camp.
Emotional
For emotional I have learned through the readings that a mental disorder diagnosis can really impact a child's feelings of self worth, and their overall self esteem and outward look on school and their peers. Teachers automatically label these children as "troubled" so the kids see this as an excuse to slack off. On page 236, the book talks about the symptoms, biology, and origin of ADHD, which is something that many children at Camp Flame Catcher were diagnosed with. Aidan, an Autistic boy who also suffered from ADHD, would constantly get bored and distracted with the tasks at hand, which led him to wander away from his peers. Those actions labeled him as a "troubled" kid, thus some of the counselors would allow his actions instead of correcting them because they just fit him into the "troubled" category and refused to try and bring him back to the task at hand. I think that that impacted his emotional state, because he would get very restless, and that is when he would throw things at other kids and often cause troubles. He was feeding right into the category that prior counselors had placed him in. On page 216 it talked about parenting styles, and I think that some are better than others when it comes to handling a child with a disorder. Not only ADHD, but other disorders as well. It takes a certain kind of parent to be able to handle it. On page 232 the book also talked about cognitive development and how there can be a variety of different cognitive delays. From an emotional standpoint that would be a lot to handle as a parent. Hearing that your child is cognitively delayed would be a hard pill to swallow because everyone goes into parenthood wanting the best for the child. Then hearing that their child has some sort of a delay, they automatically think about what their child it going to miss out on. It is human nature; you can be as proactive and as optimistic as you'd like, at the end of the day you are still going to think about the things that your child is going to miss out on because they have been diagnosed with some sort of a delay. That ties in with my inquiry question and observation hours because these children at Camp Flame Catcher, many of them are cognitively or developmentally delayed. Their parents have had the emotional burden of having to come to terms with that at some point in their child's lifetime. From an emotional standpoint, stereotyping a child can also impact them. On page 244-245 the book discusses a variety of different stereotypes. It really impacts a child to be negatively or positively stereotyped from an emotional standpoint for so many reasons. What people think of you can impact how you view yourself. When watching Anna and her brother's lack of interaction it played in with page 269 and how the book talked about sibling interactions. It was sad to see that there was no emotional connection between the siblings. They had little to no communication and their emotional connection was nonexistent.
Social
Social For social I have learned that children who are diagnosed with a mental disorder often time get labeled as outcasts and neglected kids(page 218-219), not getting a real positive or negative reaction from their peers, but getting a negative reaction from their teachers which in turn, damages their emotional outlook. A boy at camp named Ray was often neglected by his peers at camp. Because of this, he sought out love and affection from some of the female counselors. It was hard, because that love and affection is what made Ray happy, but at some point we had to try and push him into social settings with other kids at camp. It was hard because Ray is developmentally slower than most, but he is also 22 years old, so here I am having to try and help a 22 year old socialize with kids half his age. He was also older than I was, so it was something that was hard to wrap my head around. It was apart that others felt the same way, because not many kids would try and include Ray in on their activities because of his age and his inability to try and get along amongst his peers. In reference to page 216 about the type of child and parenting style, I definitely think that there would be a strong impact on the child/parents relationship. On page 236 the book talked about ADHD. Children at camp who had ADHD were often times stereotyped (page 244) as the troubled kids. In turn, those children acted out even more because they had an excuse for acting the way they did. People dismissed their actions and did not hold them accountable because they just said the children couldn't help it. On page 232, the book talked about cognitive development. The kinds of delays that I saw at camp were things that would impact children in social settings, because other children would not understand the limitations of the child's disorder. Kids also tend to not like people that are different than them, having said that, the kids with cognitive delays would be socially ostrasized.
Revisiting Your Curiosities
W: What you want to know (curiosities) 1. How does it impact children and their families when there is a mental disorder diagnosis in the family?
Children and their families are impacted by a disorder diagnosis in a variety of different ways. While I think that the child is the one most impacted from a cognitive standpoint, I think that the support system takes on many of the other burdens. On page 231, the text talks about how physical activity supports many aspects of a child's development including their health, sense of self worth, etc. So if the child is diagnosed with a physical disorder, or a disorder that impacts them physically in a variety of ways, that will take a toll on the child and their family. Always worrying if the child is safe, always making sure that surroundings are conducive to their physical needs; all of this impacts the child and their family, ultimately putting stress on the family dynamic as a whole. On page 232-233, the text talks about cognitive development in children. The text highlights on Concrete Operational Thought and how that stage of development takes place around roughly 7-11 years old. This stage deals with logic and organization. If the child is diagnosed with a disorder that impacts their ability to cognitively develop, that stage of life will essentially be useless, thus impacting so many other stages along the road. Many of these stages are building blocks, and if one block is not developed, then the structure is sure to crumble. When these stages are impacted, children often times can fall back in development, and can often times be stereotyped as a troubled child. On page 244 the text discusses stereotypes and how children become increasingly aware of those stereotypes around the middle school age. Those stereotypes alone is bound to have a social impact on the child. When kids get stereotyped an outcast or a troubled student, it is very hard for them to turn things around at that school thus impacting them socially and emotionally. Often times these stereotypes could be caused by their disorder that has either gone undiagnosed, or untreated. On page 261, the text talks about Emotional Understanding and how children understand internal emotional thoughts better than they did at earlier stages. If the child is diagnosed with a developmental disorder that stunts their mental and cognitive growth, they may not necessarily reach the stage of understanding their own emotions. I know at camp I saw some severely handicapped children who could not communicate, and while I could blatantly see that they experienced the feeling of happiness or sadness, I also questioned whether or not they understood where the feeling stemmed from. That has an impact on the family more-so than that child, because they are the ones having to process and deal with those emotions because their child does not have the ability to do so. So in conclusion, there really isn't a straight forward, concrete answer. A diagnosis impacts the entire family, in so many different ways. 4. What new questions emerge for you as a future teacher?
I do not plan to be a teacher, but I do plan to be a School Counselor. As a Counselor, a question that arises for me concerns Anna's brother. Did Anna's parents get her brother the help he needed to cope with his sister's diagnosis? Was there any family therapy available so that they could all cope as a family?
This article pertained to my inquiry question because it gave a nice break down of the different mental disorders that children are commonly diagnosed with, as well as possible trigger factors like environmental agents that would heighten the mental disorder in the child. The article also details a variety of different treatment methods that have been used by various doctors to help the children cope with and control their mental disorder. While it is clear that it takes a good deal of work, it is also very manageable when the child has a strong support system to help him/her not allow for the diagnosis to define them.
Article 2: Mental Disorders in Obese Children and Adolescents GILBERT VILA, MD, PHD, EWA ZIPPER, MD, MYRIAM DABBAS, MD, CATHERINE BERTRAND, PH, JEAN JACQUES ROBERT, MD, PHD, CLAUDE RICOUR, MD, PHD, MARIE CHRISTINE MOUREN-SIM´EONI, MD, PHD
This article was interesting because it talked about the difference in mental disorder diagnosis between children who suffer from obesity and children who do not. Though some studies showed no real difference between the two, others chowed a difference in self-esteem and depression. Studies also indicated that the parents of kids who are considered "obese" tend to have overall higher levels of depression. The article talked about family patterns, which makes sense when you think about it. You are going to partake in the same kind of physical activity and lifestyle decisions that your parents are making. It is very hard for kids to make the change, they need their parents to help be the change in order to make it a permanent lifestyle change. This relates to my inquiry question because I see how diagnoses affects not only the child, but the family and support system around them.
This article is about how a child's support system copes with the diagnosis. When a child is diagnosed with any spectrum of disorders, each person in the family is affected by it. It is important that each family member have a concrete understanding about what is going on. This article talks about 5 steps that can be taken in order to help understand how this diagnosis will affect their family and what they can do to ultimately let this least affect everyone involved. It is important to learn about the disorder. It is also important to learn about your child. While two kids may be diagnosed with the same disorder, their symptoms can be completely different. It is also important to have a strong support system outside of your initial family. It also helps to inform others about your child's disorder. That way the people that are surrounding your child can be supportive and understanding. Finally, it is important to help your child channel their obsession into their passion. While this article was specific to Autism, which is something I saw a lot of at camp, it really can apply to any number of disorders. When kids are interacting in something that they love, they are more likely to succeed!
Article 4: WHEN A CHILD HAS EPILEPSY AND ATTENTION PROBLEMS: THE ROLE OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGY Gina Christopher, Ph.D. and Jacqueline Kiefel Ph.D.
This article talks about epilepsy, and how common it is amongst children. The article stated that roughly 5% of children will experience some form of a seizure in their lifetime, and 25% of children meet the diagnostic criteria for epilepsy on a regular basis. It just goes to show how prevalent it is, and considering the fact that I did my observation at an Epilepsy Camp, I found it very interesting to read. The article talked about how school-aged children that are diagnosed with epilepsy also display ADHD in the classroom. It is important to address such problems at an early age, because it can cause other problems in school and amongst peers. While many children that are epileptic are classified as daydreamers, it is important that teachers acknowledge that there is a larger problem, and that they get children the help that they need early on. The article goes on to detail a variety of different seizures and how they impact children in their daily lives.
Take a look at page 216 which talks about different parenting styles. It would be interesting to see if how someone parents their child (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved) might change once they learned that their child has a disorder. It would also be fascinating to see if parents change their parenting styles based on the child they are speaking to, such as a child with a disability versus a child without one.
Page 244 talks a lot about stereotypes. If a child is diagnosed with a mental disorder, how does previous knowledge of this disorder impact how the family views the child, and views the situation? If a family has little knowledge of the disorder, it may be easier to start fresh and understand it from a non-biased point of view. If the family had a positive or negative image of the disorder from the start, it might cause the family to react positively or negatively to the situation.
Page 283 discusses adolescence which is "the transition between childhood and adulthood." Looking further into the age at which the diagnosis occurred and how that impacted the family differently would be interesting. It seems that it would be harder to understand and accept the diagnosis if the child was older, compared to younger because the family has gone so long without having this label placed on their loved one.
Sibling relationships would also be a beneficial topic to look in to. On page 269 it talks a lot about sibling relationships. Talking more about how close in age and how close in friendship the siblings are, might impact how the sibling without the disability reacts to the diagnosis. If the children are close in age and friendship, it would be harder for them to accept, whereas if they do not have a special bond and are further apart in age, it might be easier to accept. Also, understanding if the child without the disorder is older or younger than their sibling with the disorder would impact how they reacted.
Name of Student: Megan Korengel
Table of Contents
Pre-Adolescence
W: What you want to know (curiosities)
Decided Question:
How does it impact children and their families when there is a mental disorder diagnosis in the family?
L: What you learned
[Directions: First we will formulate RAR prompts for the four categories listed below (physical cognitive, emotional, and social). These prompts should relate back to your three curiosities listed above. Technologically speaking, add widget anchors here for easier reading, then delete instructions in the brackets]Observation Site Information
Camp Flame Catcher run by the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.
A. Site details:
B. Describe your setting
From October 4-6th I will be a camp counselor at a camp for children with epilepsy. It is run through the Epilepsy Foundation. Camp Flame Catcher is held each spring, summer, and fall at Camp Kern in Morrow, Ohio. Throughout the weekend I will monitor these children and watch how they interact with one another while experiencing an overnight camp, for many of them this is their only experience to get away from the parents and really experience an away camp like your typical little kid.
Some forms of epilepsy are more severe than others, and I want to tie this in with my inquiry question because I think it will be interesting to see how the more severely epileptic children will be treated by their peers, as well as by the counselors and directors of the camp. In addition to epilepsy, some children have other mental or physical diagnoses, and I want to see how that impacts their interactions with their peers, as well as how their families seem to be handling and interacting with their children. I think that it will be very interesting to see how some of the more severe children will behavior socially, as well as in the environment.
C. Describe what you did at the site (free-write/journal formatting)
1st visit:Over this past weekend I went to Camp Flame Catcher, which is a camp put on by the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and Columbus. Throughout the weekend we were able to allow the children to be typical kids, not letting their disease impact their lives. It will so interesting to talk to the kids, because the younger ones had a totally different perspective on epilepsy and how it has impacted their lives. I was talking to a 16 year old named Emily, and she told me about how much she loved coming to camp because for once she was amongst people that understood exactly what she was going through. If she had a seizure at lunch and dropped her plate, nobody was going to look at her like she was the odd person out. She said that she knows she has made long lasting friendships because she has met a "family" at camp who she can always talk to and she knows they will never look at her funny because of her disease, nor will they treat her any differently. It was really cool to hear her open up to me so much, because while from an outsiders perspective I had thought about it, I did not realize how much she really comprehended the situation.
Hanging out with some of the kids who had other challenges aside from the Epilepsy was a completely different experience. I found myself constantly questioning how much some of these kids comprehended the world around them. There was a 12 year old boy named Aidan who was Autistic, as well as had Epilepsy. I really spent a lot of time with him, as well as discussed his situation with the RN who attended the camp and I expressed my thoughts about how much he understood the world around him vs. just went with the flow of things. He was a struggle for me, because there would be moments where he was so affectionate and caring towards me, wanting to hold my hand and singing the Batman theme song. Then it was like the flip of a switch and he would punch me in the back and throw leaves on me from the ground. For me it was a constant struggle because I just did not know what side of him I was going to get. I think that a lot of the kids saw that as well, and tried to avoid him. I recall a specific incident where Aidan picked up a baby pumpkin from a Halloween display, and just threw it at Adam's (another camper) head. I found that a lot of kids avoided him, and some of the other Autistic children who were there would pick fights with him because of some of his behaviors.
2nd visit:
While all of this was conducted within a weekend, I was able to highlight on different children and how I watched them interact amongst peers as well as in their environment. One little girl, Melissa, was a very interesting case. She was adopted from Russian orphanage when she was very little. Melissa is severely epileptic. She has had 3 different brain surgeries in an attempt to control the seizures, but she still experiences spells in which her mind blanks and she loses sight of her surroundings. As a result of the surgeries, it has left her with partial paralysis on the left side of her body. Because of this, she walks with an assisted leg device and cannot keep up with the other kids. When it comes to her peers, Melissa does not get included on a lot of things for various reasons. While the surgeries have left her physically disabled, the brain surgeries also removed large portions of her brain, leaving her developmentally delayed compared to other children her age. Melissa is a sophomore in high school, but her size and mental capacity is that of a 10 year old. A lot of the counselors had a soft spot for Melissa because she could not be as physically fit. A counselor, Cece, would always go out of her way to make sure that Melissa had something to do that was up to her mental and physical speed. Something that I really enjoyed watching was Melissa's interactions with the horses at Camp Kern. Melissa was not social with her peers, but when you put that girl in front of a horse she just completely lit up. She got to ride a horse named Sparkles, and that was all she could talk about for the rest of camp. I think it is amazing to see horses and how they respond to kids with developmental disabilities. A creature that is so larger can really be so gentle when the sense a certain amount of vulnerability amongst its riders.
3rd visit:
Over the weekend, I met a girl and her mother stayed the weekend with the camp. She did this because Anna's type of epilepsy is so severe, that she needs to be injected with a special kind of medicine or else she could die within minutes of her seizure. Anna was a very interesting girl to watch, because her case was so complex. Anna had very poor communication skills, she was developmentally and cognitively behind, and she was not potty trained, when someone her age should have been able to know when she needed to use the restroom etc. Anna's mother was also an interesting woman. She brought Anna's older brother with her (he is 12 years old, Anna is 10 years old) to camp, in an attempt to help him better understand his sister's disease. Anna's mom was a very sweet woman, but because of the severity of her daughter's diagnosis, she is a very protective mother. She was always arms-length of Anna, just in case she were to have a seizure. She carried around a fanny pack of medicine, always prepared for anything that could happen. I also noticed that during meal times, she would constantly be checking food labels and asking the Camp Kern staff about the different ingredients in our food. I sensed the fact that certain foods would cause Anna to seize. After watching her family interactions, her older brother was very distant from Anna. He would cling to his mom when she was not tending to Anna, but the two siblings had little to no interaction. I found that sad, because I know that my relationship with my little brother is so important to me, and if I wouldn't have that then I would feel like I was missing out on a crucial part of growing up.
4th visit:
While at camp, there were two girls that were sisters at the camp. Faith and Kylie were sisters that received scholarships to go to the camp each summer, fall, and spring. Faith is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Epilepsy when she was 5. Kylie is 13 years old; she is 13 years old. I got to see their interactions over the weekend, and it was very interesting to watch. Unlike Anna and her brother (who had no interaction with one another) Kylie and Faith were very close. Kylie has been there from the beginning, so she knows how Faith acts right before she has a seizure, and can help her sister so that she doesn't panic when she knows she is about to have an epileptic episode. Kylie was really good about making sure that Faith always took her medication on time, and she was always good about looking out for her when we were spending time out in the woods or on different camp expeditions. Kylie was like Faith's mom when they were at camp because Faith tended to be one of the rowdier kids in the bunch, and Kylie was always there to keep her in check so that Faith didn't have a seizure due to over-stimulization. For example; Kylie and Faith got into a screaming match in the cabin one night because Faith and her friend, Savannah, refused to go to bed and proceeded to jump off of their top bunks. Majority of the campers, due to seizure activity, were required to sleep on bottom bunks, but her parents agreed that she was allowed to sleep on the top bunk under the condition that she went to bed at a decent hour so that she wouldn't get too stimulated. So because Faith and Savannah refused to go to bed, Kylie got really upset with her. I understood where Kylie was coming from because as a sibling of someone who has epilepsy, I can relate to the fact that it is really scary to see your sibling have a seizure. It automatically impacts your family structure, because you learn to work around things that would cause a seizure. With my little brother, we have to avoid bright lights and other things that would impact his seizure activity.
5th visit:
The end of camp was probably the saddest. It was so hard to watch a lot of these kids go home to families that didn't understand their disease. So many of the kids told me about how they came to camp so that they could be somewhere that they felt normal. A lot of the children were lower functioning, so camp was one of the places where they really felt included and never got set to the side because of their disease. It took some of the kids a while to come out of their shells, but once they did it was apparent that all they wanted to do was be a "normal" kid. So often when children are diagnosed with a disease they get tip-toed around and treated like they are fragile. At camp the kids are riding horses, climbing walls, and doing crazy things that you would find at a typical summer/fall camp. It was awesome to see the kids act like just normals kids, having so much fun and really experiencing camp, sometimes for the first time in their lives. So many of these children have been dealing with this disease since they were little, so they never got to experience being normal and having your typical camp experience.
D. Summarize and describe your experience in relation to the concepts in our textbook
Physical
From a physical perspective, I think that it is hard for children with mental disorders, and their families, because some disorders impact the mind and body in different ways. For instance, when I was at camp last weekend, there was an Autistic boy named Aidan. He could not communicate well, and even when he did speak you could not understand him. So while Aidan was roughly 12 years old physically, he was mentally a lot younger. Aidan did not know his own strength. There would be times when he wanted to hug me and play kickball with me, then he would turn around and throw things at me. And he had surprisingly good force and aim. So relating that to the text, I can see why it would be hard for Aidan to socialize with other children when he isn't aware of his own physical strengths. Other kids do not want to be around him because he is strong, but he does not know it, therefore he is more likely to hurt people when he doesn't even realize that he is doing anything wrong. Another thing that I saw at camp, which ties into page 226 in our book, was that there were some children who suffered from obesity at camp. When you are epileptic and you cannot participate in sports with your peers, it would be very easy to gain weight. A girl named Madison was extremely overweight at camp, but her parents would not let her participate in sports. Instead, she stayed on her phone or hand-held gaming device which only isolated her further. If her parents could find some form of physical activity that did not impact her seizures, she would be able to lead a healthier lifestyle. But after meeting her parents, I understand that there is more of an issue with the family lifestyle, and it is not something that Madison can really change for herself given her young age. On page 216, it talked about uninvolved parenting styles, amongst other parenting styles. Parents that are not involved are going to physically impact a child with a diagnosed disorder for any number of reasons. Parents who are physically uninvolved will impact their children because children with a diagnosed disease often times will miss out on physical activity at school because schools/teachers have an overall lack of knowledge when it comes to the limitations of the child in reference to their disease. On page 269 it referred to sibling relationships. This also ties in with physical involvement, because I know that if I didn't hug and love on my brother, then I would feel as though we were missing out on a crucial part of being a sibling. Part of having siblings is learning to live gracefully with others, if you do not have that physical interaction as a child with a disease, you will not know how to interact with others and educate them about your disorder. That also goes along with what was written on page 283 about the transition into adulthood. It is crucial that a child learns, through physical interactions, how to transition into an adult. Page 244 talked about stereotypes, and I believe that that can impact children on all 4 spectrums. Physically, children can get beat up if they are negatively stereotyped. Children that are diagnosed with a disease need to help educate their peers to that it does not become an issue growing up in the school system.Cognitive
On page 232 they begin discussing cognitive development in our book. Something that I realized at camp, was that so many of these kids were on completely different pages when it came to their cognitive development and overall mental understanding of the world around them. While they all share the same diagnosis, there are so many different levels of epilepsy, that no two children are going to have the same cognitive development and reasoning. There were kids that were very high functioning, if they were not at epilepsy camp then you would not know that they had the disease. Then there were children the seized so often, that they had to have brain surgeries that severely impacted their cognitive mind. Many of the kids had had brain surgeries to remove parts of their brain in the hopes that that would stop their seizures. For some it worked, others were not as lucky in getting their disease under control. On page 216 the parenting styles was brought up, and at camp it was clear to me that a lot of kids had an authoritarian upbringing. These children were cognitively wired so that they knew they were different growing up. It took coming to camp and realizing that they were capable of doing everything that other kids were doing to realize that it was okay to be different, and that different wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I think it was great that we could give those kids that satisfaction and help knowing that they were just like any other kid! From a cognitive standpoint stereotypes are also a concern. On pages 244-245 the book talked about positive and negative stereotypes, and how those stereotypes can in turn impact how a child views themselves. I saw a lot of negative stereotypes at camp because kids would be labelled something like the "troubled kids" and once they had it in their heads that that is how people saw them, they rose to the title and acted very troubled, often causing a lot of conflict amongst other campers. On page 283 the book talked about transitioning, and I noticed that children that were diagnosed younger their parents were more involved. Once they got to be older, the camp was more of a way to get a free weekend away from kids vs. actually sending them there because they wanted to be there. I wonder how that impacted some of the kids from a cognitive standpoint. One boy, Ray, was 22 years old and still going to camp. He was very cognitively delayed, but I always wondered if he realized that he was so much older than the other kids. They didn't treat him different, but I wondered if deep down her knew. On page 236 the book talked about ADHD and how it originated. That really struck a nerve with me because when we were at camp we saw not only ADHD but a number of other cognitive and mental disorders. Epilepsy was just the tip of the iceberg as far a disorders were concerned when I attended camp.Emotional
For emotional I have learned through the readings that a mental disorder diagnosis can really impact a child's feelings of self worth, and their overall self esteem and outward look on school and their peers. Teachers automatically label these children as "troubled" so the kids see this as an excuse to slack off. On page 236, the book talks about the symptoms, biology, and origin of ADHD, which is something that many children at Camp Flame Catcher were diagnosed with. Aidan, an Autistic boy who also suffered from ADHD, would constantly get bored and distracted with the tasks at hand, which led him to wander away from his peers. Those actions labeled him as a "troubled" kid, thus some of the counselors would allow his actions instead of correcting them because they just fit him into the "troubled" category and refused to try and bring him back to the task at hand. I think that that impacted his emotional state, because he would get very restless, and that is when he would throw things at other kids and often cause troubles. He was feeding right into the category that prior counselors had placed him in. On page 216 it talked about parenting styles, and I think that some are better than others when it comes to handling a child with a disorder. Not only ADHD, but other disorders as well. It takes a certain kind of parent to be able to handle it. On page 232 the book also talked about cognitive development and how there can be a variety of different cognitive delays. From an emotional standpoint that would be a lot to handle as a parent. Hearing that your child is cognitively delayed would be a hard pill to swallow because everyone goes into parenthood wanting the best for the child. Then hearing that their child has some sort of a delay, they automatically think about what their child it going to miss out on. It is human nature; you can be as proactive and as optimistic as you'd like, at the end of the day you are still going to think about the things that your child is going to miss out on because they have been diagnosed with some sort of a delay. That ties in with my inquiry question and observation hours because these children at Camp Flame Catcher, many of them are cognitively or developmentally delayed. Their parents have had the emotional burden of having to come to terms with that at some point in their child's lifetime. From an emotional standpoint, stereotyping a child can also impact them. On page 244-245 the book discusses a variety of different stereotypes. It really impacts a child to be negatively or positively stereotyped from an emotional standpoint for so many reasons. What people think of you can impact how you view yourself. When watching Anna and her brother's lack of interaction it played in with page 269 and how the book talked about sibling interactions. It was sad to see that there was no emotional connection between the siblings. They had little to no communication and their emotional connection was nonexistent.Social
Social For social I have learned that children who are diagnosed with a mental disorder often time get labeled as outcasts and neglected kids(page 218-219), not getting a real positive or negative reaction from their peers, but getting a negative reaction from their teachers which in turn, damages their emotional outlook. A boy at camp named Ray was often neglected by his peers at camp. Because of this, he sought out love and affection from some of the female counselors. It was hard, because that love and affection is what made Ray happy, but at some point we had to try and push him into social settings with other kids at camp. It was hard because Ray is developmentally slower than most, but he is also 22 years old, so here I am having to try and help a 22 year old socialize with kids half his age. He was also older than I was, so it was something that was hard to wrap my head around. It was apart that others felt the same way, because not many kids would try and include Ray in on their activities because of his age and his inability to try and get along amongst his peers. In reference to page 216 about the type of child and parenting style, I definitely think that there would be a strong impact on the child/parents relationship. On page 236 the book talked about ADHD. Children at camp who had ADHD were often times stereotyped (page 244) as the troubled kids. In turn, those children acted out even more because they had an excuse for acting the way they did. People dismissed their actions and did not hold them accountable because they just said the children couldn't help it. On page 232, the book talked about cognitive development. The kinds of delays that I saw at camp were things that would impact children in social settings, because other children would not understand the limitations of the child's disorder. Kids also tend to not like people that are different than them, having said that, the kids with cognitive delays would be socially ostrasized.Revisiting Your Curiosities
W: What you want to know (curiosities)1. How does it impact children and their families when there is a mental disorder diagnosis in the family?
Children and their families are impacted by a disorder diagnosis in a variety of different ways. While I think that the child is the one most impacted from a cognitive standpoint, I think that the support system takes on many of the other burdens. On page 231, the text talks about how physical activity supports many aspects of a child's development including their health, sense of self worth, etc. So if the child is diagnosed with a physical disorder, or a disorder that impacts them physically in a variety of ways, that will take a toll on the child and their family. Always worrying if the child is safe, always making sure that surroundings are conducive to their physical needs; all of this impacts the child and their family, ultimately putting stress on the family dynamic as a whole. On page 232-233, the text talks about cognitive development in children. The text highlights on Concrete Operational Thought and how that stage of development takes place around roughly 7-11 years old. This stage deals with logic and organization. If the child is diagnosed with a disorder that impacts their ability to cognitively develop, that stage of life will essentially be useless, thus impacting so many other stages along the road. Many of these stages are building blocks, and if one block is not developed, then the structure is sure to crumble. When these stages are impacted, children often times can fall back in development, and can often times be stereotyped as a troubled child. On page 244 the text discusses stereotypes and how children become increasingly aware of those stereotypes around the middle school age. Those stereotypes alone is bound to have a social impact on the child. When kids get stereotyped an outcast or a troubled student, it is very hard for them to turn things around at that school thus impacting them socially and emotionally. Often times these stereotypes could be caused by their disorder that has either gone undiagnosed, or untreated. On page 261, the text talks about Emotional Understanding and how children understand internal emotional thoughts better than they did at earlier stages. If the child is diagnosed with a developmental disorder that stunts their mental and cognitive growth, they may not necessarily reach the stage of understanding their own emotions. I know at camp I saw some severely handicapped children who could not communicate, and while I could blatantly see that they experienced the feeling of happiness or sadness, I also questioned whether or not they understood where the feeling stemmed from. That has an impact on the family more-so than that child, because they are the ones having to process and deal with those emotions because their child does not have the ability to do so. So in conclusion, there really isn't a straight forward, concrete answer. A diagnosis impacts the entire family, in so many different ways.
4. What new questions emerge for you as a future teacher?
I do not plan to be a teacher, but I do plan to be a School Counselor. As a Counselor, a question that arises for me concerns Anna's brother. Did Anna's parents get her brother the help he needed to cope with his sister's diagnosis? Was there any family therapy available so that they could all cope as a family?
Articles
Article 1:Mental Illness in Children
Reviewed by Marina Katz, MD on February 20, 2012
© 2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
This article pertained to my inquiry question because it gave a nice break down of the different mental disorders that children are commonly diagnosed with, as well as possible trigger factors like environmental agents that would heighten the mental disorder in the child. The article also details a variety of different treatment methods that have been used by various doctors to help the children cope with and control their mental disorder. While it is clear that it takes a good deal of work, it is also very manageable when the child has a strong support system to help him/her not allow for the diagnosis to define them.
Article 2:
Mental Disorders in Obese Children and Adolescents
GILBERT VILA, MD, PHD, EWA ZIPPER, MD, MYRIAM DABBAS, MD, CATHERINE BERTRAND, PH,
JEAN JACQUES ROBERT, MD, PHD, CLAUDE RICOUR, MD, PHD, MARIE CHRISTINE MOUREN-SIM´EONI, MD, PHD
This article was interesting because it talked about the difference in mental disorder diagnosis between children who suffer from obesity and children who do not. Though some studies showed no real difference between the two, others chowed a difference in self-esteem and depression. Studies also indicated that the parents of kids who are considered "obese" tend to have overall higher levels of depression. The article talked about family patterns, which makes sense when you think about it. You are going to partake in the same kind of physical activity and lifestyle decisions that your parents are making. It is very hard for kids to make the change, they need their parents to help be the change in order to make it a permanent lifestyle change. This relates to my inquiry question because I see how diagnoses affects not only the child, but the family and support system around them.
Article 3: How Will I Deal with the Diagnosis? How Will This Affect My Family?
http://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/documents/as-hfa/fam_as-hfa_tool_kit.pdf
This article is about how a child's support system copes with the diagnosis. When a child is diagnosed with any spectrum of disorders, each person in the family is affected by it. It is important that each family member have a concrete understanding about what is going on. This article talks about 5 steps that can be taken in order to help understand how this diagnosis will affect their family and what they can do to ultimately let this least affect everyone involved. It is important to learn about the disorder. It is also important to learn about your child. While two kids may be diagnosed with the same disorder, their symptoms can be completely different. It is also important to have a strong support system outside of your initial family. It also helps to inform others about your child's disorder. That way the people that are surrounding your child can be supportive and understanding. Finally, it is important to help your child channel their obsession into their passion. While this article was specific to Autism, which is something I saw a lot of at camp, it really can apply to any number of disorders. When kids are interacting in something that they love, they are more likely to succeed!
Article 4: WHEN A CHILD HAS EPILEPSY AND ATTENTION PROBLEMS: THE ROLE OF NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
Gina Christopher, Ph.D. and Jacqueline Kiefel Ph.D.
This article talks about epilepsy, and how common it is amongst children. The article stated that roughly 5% of children will experience some form of a seizure in their lifetime, and 25% of children meet the diagnostic criteria for epilepsy on a regular basis. It just goes to show how prevalent it is, and considering the fact that I did my observation at an Epilepsy Camp, I found it very interesting to read. The article talked about how school-aged children that are diagnosed with epilepsy also display ADHD in the classroom. It is important to address such problems at an early age, because it can cause other problems in school and amongst peers. While many children that are epileptic are classified as daydreamers, it is important that teachers acknowledge that there is a larger problem, and that they get children the help that they need early on. The article goes on to detail a variety of different seizures and how they impact children in their daily lives.
Power Point
Partner Review
By Paige Smigelski: