Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion
Discussion: Working with Children and Adolescents versus Adults
Importance of Developmental Assessments
Developmental assessment in children is used to evaluate different facets of the child’s functioning like behavior, social interaction, cognition, communication, sensory abilities, motor abilities, as well as adaptive skills (Sadock, et al, 2014). Developmental assessment entails conducting accurate evaluations to determine the ability of a child to meet the essential developmental milestones and objectives. Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion. In addition, it examines the performance and the ability of the child to perform common daily activities and tasks. Therefore, developmental assessment can help in identifying potential developmental problems and the need for more diagnostic examination; provides an objective account of the child’s deficits and abilities; and also helps in planning for suitable interventions (Thapar et al, 2015). In children diagnosed with or with suspected autism, all developmental domains should be assessed.
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Assessment Instruments to Evaluate Children and adolescents
The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) instrument: This tool is utilized to evaluate children aged 16 months to 2 years and a half to examine their risk for autism. The tool has a set of 23 questions and it can be administered and scored as a component of well-child review and can also be utilized by specialists and other healthcare providers to assess a child’s risk to autism spectrum disorders. The main aim of this instrument is to make the most of sensitivity and hence identify a high number of children with autism (Kleinman et al, 2013). Children who fail more than three items are supposed to be referred for diagnostic assessment by a specialist. Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion.
Pediatric Symptom Checklist-17 (PSC-17): This is a brief questionnaire that is used to identify and evaluate for any emotional and behavioral changes and problems in children. This tool covers numerous behavioral and psychological problems. It is purposely used to examine the psychosocial functioning of the child. The tool has 35-item parent-reported questions as well as a youth self-report, a graphic version as well as a shorter 17-item version for parents and children (Murphy et al, 2016).
Treatment Options for Children and Adolescents
Floortime: This treatment entails the parent lying on the floor with the child and playing and performing the activities the childlike playing. Therapist and the parents engage the child through the activities preferred and enjoyed by the child and follow the child’s lead while playing. Floortime intervention aims at supporting the child’s emotional and cognitive development by assisting the child to learn emotional and communication skills (Mercer, 2015).
Kapvay: This is a non-stimulant and a long-acting clonidine used to treat AD/HD in children/adolescents aged between 6 to 17 years. The medication is normally prescribed two times a day and it is normally started at 0.1 mg and can be increased up to 0.2 mg two times a day.
The Parents’ Role
Parents play an important role in the assessment and treatment of children. First, parents have the duty of giving consent when children are being assessed and treated because minors are not supposed to give consent to their treatment. Secondly, during assessment parents act as informants and providing important information that may facilitate making an accurate diagnosis. Lastly, parents play a key role in ensuring that their children adhere to the treatment regimen (Sadock, et al, 2014). Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion.
References
Kleinman J, Robins D, Ventola P, Juhi P, Hilarly B, Esser E, Wilson L et al. (2013). The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers: A Follow-up Study Investigating the Early Detection of Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord. 38(5), 827–839.
Mercer J. (2015). Examining DIR/Floortime™ as a Treatment for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Research and Theory. SAGE Journals. 27(5), 625-635
Murphy M, Paul B, Chiang C, Sturner R, Howard B, Abel M & Michael J. (2016). The PSC-17: Subscale Scores, Reliability, and Factor Structure in a New National Sample. Pediatrics. 138(3), e20160038.
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leckman, J. F., Scott, S., Snowling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell. Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion.
Discussion: Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults
Infant, childhood, and adolescent development are a continual interplay between nature (genetic or biologic predisposition) and nurture (environmental experiences). The nature/nurture continuum and debate will always be a part of your career as a PMHNP. Knowing common developmental milestone is important in the role as a child provider. Not only is it essential to the diagnostic process, but it is also important to the interdisciplinary interactions with other mental health professionals. The study of normal developmental processes, however, is only one tool that allows the mental health professional to understand the child being evaluated. There are many different assessment instruments and interviewing techniques that PMHNPs can have in their toolkit when working with children and adolescents.
In this Discussion, you examine the differences in assessing and treating children and adolescents versus adults. You take into consideration your own clinical experiences, as well as your experiences in your clinical rotation, and the information from the readings thus far.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
•Analyze the importance of developmental assessments
•Analyze assessment instruments used for evaluating children and adolescents
•Analyze treatment options used for children and adolescents
•Analyze roles parents play in assessment and treatment
To Prepare for the Discussion
•Review the Learning Resources concerning psychiatric assessments and assessment tools.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the “Post to Discussion Question” link and then select “Create Thread” to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts and cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking Submit!
By Day 3
Post your answers to the following:
•Explain why a developmental assessment of children and adolescents is important.
•Describe two assessment instruments and explain why they are used for children and adolescents but not adults.
•Describe two treatment options for children and adolescents that may not be used when treating adults.
•Explain the role parents play in assessment and treatment. Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion
Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
•Chapter 2, “Contributions of the Psychosocial Sciences” (pp. 93–130)
•Chapter 6, “Classification in Psychiatry” (pp. 290–299)
•Chapter 31, “Child Psychiatry” (pp. 1107–1152)
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
•“Neurodevelopmental Disorders”
•“Intellectual Disabilities”
•“Communication Disorders”
Note: You will access this book from the Walden Library databases.
Resume, Portfolio, and Cover Letter Resources
CoverLetter.us. (2017). Nurse practitioner cover letter sample 1. Retrieved from http://www.coverletter.us/nurse-practitioner-cover-letter/ Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion
Dahring, R. (2013). Cover letter caveats. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20161117160433/http://nurse-practitioners-and-physician-assistants.advanceweb.com:80/Columns/Career-Coach/Cover-Letter-Caveats.aspx
Porche, D. J., & Danna, D. (2015). Cover letter & resume preparation: Every detail is important when applying for a job. Advance Healthcare Network for NPs & PAs. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20160818183515/http://nurse-practitioners-and-physician-assistants.advanceweb.com:80/Features/Articles/Cover-Letter-Resume-Preparation.aspx
Walden University Career Services Center. (2017). Resumes & CVs: Home. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/careerservices/resumesandcvs
Document: Cover Letter, Resume, and Portfolio Assignment Guide (PDF)
Optional Resources
Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leckman, J. F., Scott, S., Snowling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
•Chapter 2, “Diagnosis, Diagnostic Formulations, and Classification” (pp. 17–30) Working With Children and Adolescents Versus Adults Essay Discussion