Self-Efficacy and Developmental Delays

We know that children learn differently and children with developmental delays struggle far more with learning than others do. Those children who struggle need a feeling of success that they can achieve an activity. When a child's progress is viewed based on their own learning, not somebody's else's, this helps develop self-efficacy. Children shouldn't be expected to be good at everything. It's important for children to learn and to be challenged and they should be allowed to be successful in some areas and struggle with others. A child who excels at learning how to read but struggles in sports should be given more leeway in gym class. A child who  likes art but has problems focusing should be acknowledged for the art they are developing while being supported to find ways to focus on a task. A child needs to learn that they are good at everything. When a child learns this they don't put pressure on themselves to be good at everything. Parents need to tell children it's acceptable not to be good at everything and help children find things they are good at.

At the first center I worked at I had a child who had spina bifida. She couldn't walk, or crawl (she did learn to do a sort of army crawl but never a real crawl). I had to carry her everywhere or put her in a wagon to get her outside. She had a wheel chair she had to learn to use to get around and I had to find ways to help her feel included and capable of doing the same activities as the other children. She couldn't stand so she couldn't stand at the sensory table and do activities at the sensory table so I had to put the same activity in a smaller container, sit her on the floor with the container in her reach and let her do the activity that way. This helped her feel included, the activity didn't need to change for her it just needed to be modified. By doing this I based her learning on her own learning style and helped her develop self-efficacy in the way it needed to be developed for her.

By modifying the activities for her I didn't expect her to be good at everything but I acknowledged the challenges she had and found ways for her to be successful while struggling in the areas she did struggle in. I allowed the leeway she needed but supported her to find a way to do the same tasks as her friends. Dealing with Special Ed children takes a very special kind of person because of the challenges those children have. Where I have over the years had children in my classroom to take care of who have had challenges I'm not the kind of person who could deal with the challenges these children face on a daily basis and am thankful for the people who can.