Influence of Social Learning in Children
Down’s syndrome
Influence of Social Learning in Children with Down’s syndrome
Social skills are considered as the developmental landmarks for a growing child. When children with certain disabilities are concerned, it becomes all the more important to help them develop the social skills so that they become readily acceptable to the society. Like all other children, the children suffering from Down’s syndrome also develop these skills through their interactions with their parents, family members, and friends and from the way the society treats them. The way a child behaves, depends on the surroundings he is exposed to. In an environment where the child feels accepted and loved, he will behave more balanced and calm; whereas in an environment where he feels surrounded by negative emotions he may become reckless and violent(Buckley, Bird & Sacks, 2002).
It has been found that teaching social skills can prove to be extremely helpful for the patients suffering from Down’s syndrome. In an article by Laura Nota and Salvatore Soresi, they attempted to analyze the effects of teaching social skills to the patients suffering from Down’s syndrome. For the purpose of the study they selected twenty patients of the disease. All these patients were subjected to the social ability teaching modules. The module consisted of ten different didactic units which aimed at increasing positive relationships with the teachers and friends of the patient. Other ten didactical units aimed at favoring generalization. Some criteria were set in order to analyze the results of the training, the patients were directly observed and the responses of their teachers were evaluated. The results suggested that there were significant improvements in the social skills of the patients post training (Soresi & Nota, 2000). The article throws light on the fact that if Down’s syndrome children are trained properly then they can surely present good results in terms of their development.
Another research carried out by Marita Aronson and Kerstin Fallstorm, they tried to analyze the effects of developmental training on the children of Down’s syndrome. This study included eight children of Down’s syndrome within the age group of twenty- one to sixty- nine months. These children were trained as per normal developmental functions for a period of eighteen months. In order to ascertain the effects of the training, the mental age of the children were compared with normal children before and after the training. These normal children were considered as the control group. the training depicted that post the training period, the children have shown positive effects in terms of their mental age. However, after one year of the program, the children did not show that level of development as they did during the training period. This shows that there can be remarkable improvement among the children of Down’s syndrome if treated at an early age. However, it is important to continue with the training program for a long lasting effect (Aronson & Fällström, 2008). The article states that a continuous and a long-term training program can enhance the mental abilities of the children suffering from Down’s syndrome.
Another study, although somewhat old, brings about a very important aspect of social skills training among the Down’s syndrome affected children. The study was conducted by Moira Pieterse and Yola Center. They admitted eight children suffering from Down’s syndrome into a regular school. They were provided with special support. These children received normal academic, cognitive and social skills as the other normal children of the school. The children having Down’s syndrome showed remarkable improvement and good mathematical skills. This study showed that if children are trained at an early age then they can easily cope up with the normal studies of a school and can adjust themselves in the normal school environment (Pieterse & Center, 1984).This study, in particular, is highly appreciable as it focuses on getting the children with Down’ syndrome integrated with the normal children in their schools.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that all these three articles aim at analyzing the effects of social training in the children suffering from Down’s syndrome. The first article presents the fact that training these patients properly through well-designed modules can help in improving their mental abilities. The second article brings about the fact that social training indeed improves the mental and social abilities of the children suffering from the disease, but the training process must be a continuous one. If programs are conducted on a short term basis then they cannot bring about a long term result. They must be repeated at a frequent interval in order to obtain the maximum benefits from these training programs and have a long lasting effect. The third and the last article aims at integrating children with Down’s syndrome into the normal schooling pattern along with normal children. It can thus be said that proper training can help these children in developing normal social and developmental skills. The more they are subjected to social environments, the better they learn to adjust to the normal surroundings. Exposure to good and healthy social environments can help these children learn better and at a faster pace. They can adapt more easily and develop better skills when growing in a hospitable surrounding and a comfortable environment, both in terms of mental and physical aspects.
References
Aronson, M., & Fällström, K. (2008). Immediate and Long-term Effects of Developmental Training in Children with Down's Syndrome. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 19(4), 489-494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.1977.tb07942.x
Buckley, S., Bird, G., & Sacks, B. (2002). Social development for individuals with Down syndrome - An overview. Down Syndrome Issues And Information. http://dx.doi.org/10.3104/9781903806210
Pieterse, M., & Center, Y. (1984). The Integration of Eight Down’s Syndrome Children into Regular Schools. Australia And New Zealand Journal Of Developmental Disabilities, 10(1), 11-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13668258409018662
Soresi, S., & Nota, L. (2000). A Social Skill Training for Persons with Down's Syndrome. European Psychologist, 5(1), 34-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027//1016-9040.5.1.34
