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What are developmental disabilities? How do developmental disabilities develop? Who is usually affected with developmental disabilities? How do we treat developmental disabilities? What are the different types of developmental disabilities? Are developmental disabilities curable? Read on to find the answers to your questions about developmental disabilities.

Counseling individuals with developmental disabilities – e.g., autism, cerebral palsy, brain injury, and Down syndrome – is honestly tough. Your clients are mostly kids who acquired the neurological disorder from birth or several years after that. They have not lived long enough to identify how to think and behave like regular people. Developmental disabilities are attributable to a cognitive impairment, physical impairment, or both. These developmental disabilities manifest during the developmental period from birth to early adulthood, and are likely to continue indefinitely,” explains Clarissa Kripke, M.D. of the University of California. It may even be easier to get through to depressed or addicted folks as they at least lived a life without developmental disabilities in the past.

It does not help either that most – if not all – developmental disabilities are incurable. It’s hard to decide if that is because the developmental disabilities are too complex to resolve or there’s only a little research being done on those developmental disabilities. The outcome is that the children who have the developmental disabilities mentioned above usually need to stay on therapy for years. “If you are looking for a way to make an important contribution to the services available in your town or city or you have been searching for a niche to help you stand out from the professional crowd, consider learning how to tailor therapy to this unique and rewarding population,” notes licensed psychologist Marie Hartwell-Walker, Ed.D.

Nonetheless, in case you are new at giving counseling to someone with developmental disabilities, check out the following tips.

1. Earn Their Trust

The unfortunate truth about individuals with developmental disabilities who are older than five years old is that they may have been exposed to the world. That cannot produce a positive impact on the person with developmental disabilities all the time because they get to deal with the harsh comments from other people, no matter how much their family tries to protect them from their developmental disabilities. Some gaze at them pitifully because of their developmental disabilities; others are inconsiderate enough to talk about their developmental disabilities openly.

The thing is, whether the developmental disabilities altered someone’s brain function or not, he or she can still realize at one point that strangers see them differently because of their developmental disabilities. It may enable them to retreat under their shell and not want to even be around mental health professionals like you. Because of that, you ought to earn their trust first.

The easiest way to do that is by not pushing the client to do the activities you laid out for their developmental disabilities. It will not be the only meeting you’ll have, and perhaps he or she can become comfortable around you the more you stay in their life. You may also learn about their favorites so that it can be like a conversation starter between the two of you instead of starting right away with their developmental disabilities.

2. Assess Non-Verbal Cues

When someone has developmental disabilities, it entails that he or she has problems using his or her senses or body parts regularly. For instance, the twinkling lights that look fun for non-disabled people are triggering for folks with developmental disabilities such as autism. Walking is practically impossible for patients with developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy. Others have developmental disabilities with their speech, behavior, and deduction process.

Even if the individual refuses or cannot speak, an excellent counselor should be able to understand the client with developmental disabilities by assessing their body language. Say, in case a patient who has never looked up when you tell a story suddenly meets your eyes, that is a sign that you got their attention. Once a child with special needs tries the activities you suggest to them, it means that the treatment is slowly but surely working.

3. Tailor The Treatment For Each Client

You can obtain better results as well if you make every activity or discussion relatable for your clients with developmental disabilities. However, you need to ensure that the technique you will employ is custom-fit to each person’s developmental disabilities. “That may mean revising a worksheet to meet their unique needs or explaining the same concept 10 different ways until it’s clear,” says Rose Reif, LPC, CRC, QDDP. “Whether it’s challenging their client on a cognitive distortion, or assigning homework, or engaging in a role-playing session, I think many counselors are afraid that they will somehow hurt or confuse their client if they try to introduce new skills or ideas.”

Remember that you will never get two people who have the same case of developmental disabilities, despite their condition being under one category. They are different when it comes to the severity of the developmental disabilities, their age, the trigger factors, and many more. So it is only proper to plan how the treatment should go for a specific client with developmental disabilities after a couple of sessions, not right after the first consultation.

When you give counseling to someone with developmental disabilities, give it with confidence. The guidance you can offer to clients is essential for improving their lives with developmental disabilities and their future. It is impossible not to know how to do with all developmental disabilities, primarily now that you have these basic tips.

Good luck!

After finding out that a loved one got into an accident that gave him or her a physical disability, you can’t help but feel pity immediately towards that person. “He or she was so close to fulfilling his or her dreams, and then this disaster happened,” you might say. Whenever you meet the disabled individual even years past the incident, therefore, you want to treat him or her with gentleness and not talk much about your successes to avoid making the person feel sorrier about his or her situation.

While you mean well, though, you fail to look at the possibility that maybe – just maybe – your loved one with a disability does not want the special attention. Perhaps the individual wishes that you look at him or her the same way you did before the accident to feel some normalcy. After all, it is already tough to deal with the fact that that individual can’t do many things now due to the physical condition. It can perform magic on his or her self-esteem if you give the following to the disabled person:

Encouragement

Someone whose world practically turned upside down because of one incident tends to experience an all-time low during this phase. Hence, to help the individual handle the matter better, you need to throw some words of encouragement here and there. Speak of the places you can visit together, for instance. Show him or her different hobbies to do. Also, always remind this person that the disability does not define his or her talents, so he or she should get moving.

“Encouragement can provide people with strength to look ahead, move forward, and reach for the next goal,” writes Julie J. Exline Ph.D.

Respect

“Respect honors the uniqueness of each person,” writes Arthur Dobrin D.S.W. You ought to understand that even somebody who cannot walk without crutches or function without a wheelchair wants to feel as if he or she is not entirely dependent on other people. That allows the fellow to have some control over his or her life. So, say, if he or she is trying to go to bed, it is not right to utter, “Wait for me. I will help you get on the matter.” Instead, it is more acceptable to let the individual know, “I am here if you need my help.” You get to prove that you respect his or her ideas by doing so.

Trust

After a couple of years of living with a disability, some folks gain enough strength and confidence to look for a job or at least deal with household chores. In case your initial reaction to this news is to tell the person to stay at home and chill, though, we are advising you against doing that now. Not only will it hurt the disabled fellow but it shows that you do not trust him or her, which can impede with the resurgence of his or her self-esteem.

Support

“Providing support to someone, while usually well-intentioned, can have negative consequences: it can make the person getting the support feel like they can’t do things on their own, it can make them feel guilty (for being a burden), and it can hurt their self-esteem,” writes Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton Ph.D.

Whatever your loved one with a disability wants to do, as long as it does not involve self-harming, drinking to death, or doing drugs, you should say yes to it. He or she wants to get his or her life back together, and it will mean so much to have even a single person believing that he or she can do anything. If the individual wishes to re-enter the workforce, for instance, you can assist in finding companies he or she can apply to. If opening a business is what this fellow has in mind, you should strategize with him or her and offer your support physically and emotionally.

In The End

Of course, a disabled person needs your love, not your pity. Some may argue that it is difficult to separate the two, especially when you see someone who used to do everything on his or her own suddenly deal with an infirmity. Despite that, you have to realize that pity makes you want to treat the individual like fragile glass, while love lets you support, respect, and trust any decision that your beloved comes up with, no questions asked.