Child Development Issues - Book Report/Review Example

Child Development Issues The book selected for this review is “The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and coping sensory processing disorder” written by Carol Stock Kranowitz. The revised version of the book was published in 2005 by Perigee of Penguin Inc with hardcopy version having 322 pages (including index, appendices and glossary). In this book, Kranowitz has discussed symptoms, causes, risk factors, co-morbidities, diagnosis, treatment and a guide for parents and teachers for dealing with children having SPD. It also sheds light on visual, auditory and sensory impairments along with overactive senses borne by such children and their reactions to different external stimuli. This book is of exceptional importance as it discusses rather unexplored area of cognitive disorders in children. Furthermore, it also explains terms related to SPD with rich glossary and discussion of nervous system, general physiology and several case studies. The purpose of this analysis is to explore how this book addresses problems faced by children having SPD, their parents and teachers. Presence of cognitive disorders leads to impaired learning and growth in childhood. Children with SPD show unusual sensitivity to external stimuli which affects their quality of life. Carol Kranowitz helps in understanding why such children face meltdown when touched or forced to wear certain types of clothes. The book also illustrates how general senses like touch, sight, sound etc are misinterpreted by brain leading to general disorientation and abnormal or extraordinary responses by a child. Where parents may overlook such responses assuming that the child is just being needy or demands extra attention, there are symptoms that can be separated from general aggressive behaviour of growing children. According to Kranowitz (2010), “Inattention, impulsivity, fidgetiness, constant movement” are the symptoms of SPD and ADHD. This book illustrates how to differentiate between these two disorders along with various other cognitive dysfunctions in children in order to avoid wrong treatment. Elaborated discussion of similar cognitive disorders further allow readers to compare their child’s symptoms and make an informed decision about seeking clinical assistance. Furthermore, it also helps in differentiating between general behaviour of children that may just seem awkward, clumsy, fearful, disoriented and withdrawn. Hence, SPD not only affects information processing but also has a negative impact on the way these children operate in their daily lives. As far as internal structure of this book is concerned, it is divided into ten chapters discussing different stages and attributes of SPD. With chapter 1 and 2 providing definition and overview of sensory integration dysfunction, chapters 3,4 and 5 illustrate what symptoms should make parents alert when it comes to tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive senses. Same chapters explain how impairment, under/ over reaction of these senses can affect child’s quality of life. For this purpose, the author explains what constitutes as normal functioning sense and the traits of out-of-sync senses. To make these attributes more clear, various case studies are made part of this discussion. Later part of the book deals with parental guide to diagnosis and different treatments available for child’s care. Furthermore, the book is particularly effective in explaining parents what to expect of their therapists. Chapter 9 and later chapters provides guidance to teachers and parents about managing daily life activities of these children. These chapters allow readers to gain knowledge of what constitutes as sensory diet and different activities that would allow children to create equilibrium between their sensory input and output. The author of the book is a former preschool teacher having extensive practical experience and hands-on knowledge of dealing with children having SPD. With the help of this book, the author has made it rather clear that problems in motor skills and general cognition become evident in early phase of childhood and children with SPD tend to become more sensitive towards external stimulants like touch, noise or light. Such children are on the extreme sides of spectrum when it comes to responses; they either want to respond to everything around them or respond to nothing. SPD itself can cause major behavioural issues resulting in compromised academic performance and also result in various kinds of depression. Different types of treatment such as occupational or physical therapy can be suggested for children with SPD however selection of treatment is dependent on children’s symptoms. One of the major strengths of this book is clear and elaborative description of sensory integration and detailed discussion of manifestation of problematic sensory inputs. Unnecessary use of jargon is avoided and all the technical terms that are used within the text are either defined in appendices or explained with the help of context of discussion. Such in-depth clarity makes the book fill the gap between cursory reviews and complicated literature regarding SPD. Furthermore, segregation of SPD into three different categories of disorders and their explanation with the help of case studies allows parents to examine their child’s behaviour which can be deemed as not normal or over-expressive and correlated it with the findings of this book. These case studies also provide a description of sensory dysfunctional taking a toll on children’s physical and mental health and affecting their socializing skills. Separate description of home-based and school-based treatment helps caregivers and educators to devise separate plans for treating such children which itself would result in a holistic treatment for such children. Various exhausting and overload circumstances are also discussed at length. The checklists given in the book with reference to symptomatic behaviour and sensory integration helps parents to diagnose SPD in early phase and acquire necessary help by forming collaboration with educators and therapists. Multiple formats i.e. tables, checklists, text and charts allow effective and concise integration of necessary information which makes identification of disturbed behavioural patterns rather easy. Various neurological concepts are explained well with the help of drawings given in appendices that allows readers to get grip of underlying ideas. Furthermore, glossary of this book is exceptionally helpful in understanding technical terms. Also, references of various organizations make this a single source of major guidance for parents, teachers and therapists dealing with SPD. An important element of this book is Kranowitz’ caring approach towards children having cognitive disorders. The authentication of research and observation combined with valid theoretical framework shows Kranowitz desire to help these children via this book. There is an extensive discussion of peripheral disorders like sensory modulation disorder, sensory discrimination disorder and sensory-based motor disorder that helps in understanding subtypes of SPD. The book acts as a single source of information for disorders categorized under SPD. This book also has several drawbacks as well. Kranowitz (2005) mentions that the child is not expected to show all the symptoms of SPD. Furthermore, they may not show the same symptoms daily or frequently along with showing hypersensitivity as well as hyposensitivity. The author also accepts that every child may show slightly disoriented and dysfunctional behaviour. Such notions slightly undermine the effectiveness of the checklists and author’s assertion that SPD needs immediate attention by caregivers. Comparative analysis of a typical child and child with dysfunction requires continuous reference of the checklist concerning particular dysfunction which may require reader to go back and forth again and again. Also, the book emphasizes more on addressing needs of younger children than older ones and adolescents (Mauro, 2013). Separate use of case studies also makes it difficult to have a consolidated view of child’s symptoms. Also, critical circumstances like exposure to technology, disturbed family history, separated parents, day care, pre-school care are not addressed. Unnecessary discussion of physiology also makes the book a little less appealing to regular readers lacking scientific backgrounds. Lastly, there are multiple disorders discussed in the book. Such discussion provides too much information which is difficult for laymen to follow and also correlate with the actual issue faced by a child. Cognitive disorders like ADHA, dyslexia and autism are terms with awe attached to them. Discussion regarding them may add to reader’s confusion. The book is recommendable to parents, teachers and therapists having children with SPD as part of their lives as it is an interesting piece of research and analysis. A synchronized explanation of causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment followed by discussion of case studies and various aspects of children’s life keep the reader busy in exploring new areas of SPD with every new page unravelling new piece of information. Where the book cannot be replacement of clinical diagnosis, it does provide parents with necessary help when it comes to identifying behaviour that is not-so normal and can be named as sensory integrative dysfunction. The book has been a milestone in providing a complete manual of SPD to parents and teachers. The second part of the book is very helpful in providing coping mechanism to the parents and is also followed by another book of Kranowitz (2006), “The Out-of-Synch Child has fun”. The new book has multiple activities that can assist children with SPD, their parents and teachers with education as well as daily life. Use of Dr. Ayres’s description of various sensory systems and their roles in coordinated motor activity act as a root of overall discussion and formation of interventions that are part of sensory integration therapy. Forward provided by Dr. Larry Silver also provides an exceptional preamble for the book as it engages reader by providing an account of problems that they have encountered in their daily lives while dealing with their children. As Dr. Silver wrote, “This child did not need to “change his behaviour”. We needed to understand his behaviours and what they suggested as the probable underlying reason for the behaviours” which indicates how behaviours are indicating towards a problem, and are not a problem themselves (Kranowitz, 2005, p. xvii). Dr. Silver has provided an elaborated discussion on how parents can use this book step by step from understanding cognitive dysfunction and therapies available for SPD. The book acts as roadmap of what kind of help should be sought by parents and how to get it. Carol Kranowitz has provided a detailed account of sensory processing dysfunction through this book which helps parents and teachers to identify symptoms of SPD in their children at early stage. The book also provides guidance and suggestions to caregivers and educators as to how such children should be treated in their day-to-day activities. The concise account of this disorder in a clear, layman language helps readers to relate to it whereas its rich glossary also helps readers to understand other literary works available on the same subject and also technical terms used within the book that cannot be replaced with simple language. The references given also provide extra help to parents regarding whom to contact and how to reach them when their child shows symptoms of SPD. Extensive use of checklists, diagrams, tables, comparative analysis and case studies help readers analyze as to what constitutes normal behaviour and what is a deviant response. The book slightly lacks a convincing approach and leaves readers with a little undecided about seriousness of SPD however it does not undermine the extensive and depth of information provided on the subject matter. Perhaps, it can be a better guide for parents having suspicions about their child’s behaviour and need an evidence prior to contacting professionals, and also those who have their child already diagnosed with this disorder as it describes activities that may play an important role in facilitating such children. References Kranowitz, C. (2010). Two “Look-alikes:” Sensory Processing Disorder and Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder. Nami Beginnings, 15, pp. 5-6. Kranowitz, C.S. (2005). The Out-of-Sync Child: Recognizing and Coping with Sensory Processing Disorder. New York: Perigee. Kranowitz, C.S. (2006). The Out-Of-Sync Child Has Fun: Activities for Kids with Sensory Processing Disorder. New York: Perigee. Mauro, T. (2013). Book Review: The Out-of-Sync Child. Retrieved 17 November, 2013 from http://specialchildren.about.com/od/sensoryintegration/gr/outofsync.htm Read More