Mental Illness In Children Essay

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This week’s reading focused on infant mental illness and the problems with trying to classify these illnesses in young children. We also looked deeper into sensory processing disorder, autism and the different forms of autism.

In Handbook of Infant Mental Health we learned that psychopathology in early childhood involves the study of mental illness in children such as Autism and Attention deficiency hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Mental Illness in children cannot be easily classify. Because toddlers are still developing it makes it hard to classify their behaviors as a mental problem and not a developmental issue. The concern is that a normal development might be identified as psychiatric symptoms or disorder. This is not just a problem for the the mental health profession but for the parents …show more content…

I was upset to hear the mother's account of the pediatrician decision not to let the parents know that their son had a medical problem because of his personal believe that fathers don’t take that type of news well. The doctor then hands her some pamphlets that said Autism. The whole encounter sounds so cold. It's hard to imagine a doctor who you trust to take care of your most prized possession would do that to a child. I would have been so broken if that was my son. The mother also mentioned she had her suspicions and people told her to “ wait and see”. I have been in that same situation as the mother in the video. I was concerned about my son and my family advised me to wait and see what happens. I did not wait and see. I had my son evaluated for early intervention and i never regretted doing it. He did not need services but at least I knew early. It is tough at times to figure out if your child might need help or it's just a developmental delay. However, i believe it's better to seek professional advice than “wait and see” only to find out he does need help and never got it early

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