Tag: culture

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1.3 Adaptive: Sleep Patterns

Sleep Patterns

Adaptive (Self-Help) Development: Typical Sleep Patterns in Infants, Toddlers And Young Children1

Newborns spend a good portion of their time sleeping. As months go by, they spend more hours awake. However, sleep and rest continue to be essential for the healthy physical and emotional development of infants, toddlers and older children. Recent research has also connected good sleep patterns to cognitive skills development. In fact, those children with poor sleeping habits who do not get the minimum 10 hour sleep per night may experience stunted growth and development in children in preschool ages. These children may also be more irritable and cranky when they are awake―very much like adults who have difficulties with their sleep!

Sleep habits and a family’s’ cultural background and beliefs are connected. Different families hold different views of nighttime sleep. They can also hold different views on the “correct” way a baby is put to sleep, where they sleep and for how long they are left asleep.

  • For example, some parents may prefer keeping their babies in the same room and sleep with them, instead of having a special room for the baby; some families try to keep their babies awake for most of the day with short naps on and off, instead of fostering mid-morning and mid-afternoon naps.

Night waking happens at different stages. It’s important for parents to realize there are different reasons a baby may wake up during the night. Parents react and respond differently to night waking based on why the infant or child is up.

  • For example, if a baby is distressed, in pain or hungry, a natural response for the parent will be to pick the baby up, soothe them, feed them, comfort them and gently put them back to bed.

By the time they between 6 and 9 months old, most babies are not hungry when they wake up during the night. At this stage, the recommendation from experts in baby sleep is for parents to give baby a chance to calm themselves down before picking them up, unless the parents learn, through the baby’s cry, that they might be in pain or discomfort. For babies who are not hungry, in pain or discomfort, self-soothing and self-regulation are important skills they need to develop early in life. These skills will help them be able to take good care of themselves when they are older. For some children, it could be more difficult to learn this type of independence if they are not given the opportunity to calm themselves down when they are babies. Giving the baby a gentle pat on the back or singing to them after a couple of minutes of cry generally help babies to calm down. At the same time, parents may want to pick the baby up if crying persists and gets louder. Between 9 and 12 months, most babies are sleeping through the night, or an average of six to eight hours, non-stop.

As babies and toddlers grow older, they may require less continuous sleep. Most babies will benefit from one or two naps per day. As they enter the early childhood years, they may need just one nap (or no naps at all) during the day.

It’s important not to force a baby to eat or play when they are tired or sleepy. Babies will most likely not enjoy these activities and may end up associating these activities with “feeling cranky or tired”, which may cause them to avoid these activities in the future.

Difficulties with sleep have also been linked somewhat to the baby’s temperament. Babies  with predominantly “difficult temperament” may have difficulty with regular/irregular feeding or changing habits.

1 see References
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1.2 What is EI: concerns/special considerations for Aboriginal people

People of Aboriginal Descent

Early Intervention Programs in Aboriginal/First Nations Communities

As with all families with children with disabilities there are as many differences as there are similarities within Aboriginal families. Each family’s experience is unique to them and to their child.

However, there are common themes experienced by all families of children with disabilities. These themes cross cultural, social, economic and educational backgrounds. Families want the best for their children. A diagnosis of disability can represent uncertainty or possible threat to their child’s future. Also, many families struggle in learning more about the disability, what the disability means for their child, for their family and for their capacity as a family to adapt and to manage.

Beyond the challenges common to all families, Aboriginal families also face other stress factors which may impact their capacity to adapt to and manage disability related challenges. These include limited services in Aboriginal communities and limited access to services for urban Aboriginal families. Available services may not be culturally relevant or linked to services already used by the family. Small communities may have little or no experience with rarer conditions and may have few or no resources available to support the child and family when a diagnosis of disability is made.

In terms of early intervention services that follow culturally sensitive practices for families with Aboriginal or First Nations descent, the Aboriginal Infant Development Program and the more recently created Aboriginal Supported Child Development Program are designed to support Aboriginal families with children at risk, or with delay or disability. These programs work to help Aboriginal families  access and use available assessment and intervention services.  As family-centered services, these programs follow the family lead in determining the family strengths and needs and work to provide the family with a range of individualized services that promote healthy child and family development.

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1.2 What is EI: Effects of Culture and Family

Culture and Family

We know children with disabilities living in Canada come from a variety of cultural, ethnic and faith backgrounds.

But we do not know specific numbers on disability and race or cultural origin in Canada.

  • In this course, the term culture includes oral or written traditions (see full Glossary), the language, and the religious beliefs (see full Glossary) and practices (see full Glossary) in each family.
  • Cultural differences include values about independence or interdependence; how adults and children interact ; what the family expects in terms of their child’s development; and, the cultural values (see full Glossary) and beliefs about disability.

It’s important to be sensitive to cultural differences for families and children with disabilities.

Family culture

Some family cultures view disability as a reflection of their family status. They may place a high value on keeping their reputation intact within their community and they may not access services or information. Providing services that are culturally sensitive is one way to reach these families. Culturally sensitive practices include listening to –and finding out and learning about– family values, beliefs, their language and cultural traditions.

Other family cultures may value interdependence, and live within a large extended family network. This means that any decisions about the child’s care must be made with grandparents or other family members as well as the child’s parents.  There are many hands to help take care of the child.

Language:

In some cultures, the words for some disabilities or medical procedures may be very difficult to translate.

Canada is a culturally diverse country and there are more services  and more information available for families in variety of languages and cultures.

It’s important not to stereotype because a person’s  beliefs and response to having a child with a disability may be related to their culture.

The interplay between the systems that impact a family are varied. Urie Bronfenbrenner described child development happening within an ecological model (Fig. 1) that includes influences from the individual child characteristics; the family characteristics; the extended family, social systems and school systems, among others.

Ecological model

Fig. 1: This figure illustrates an ecological model that includes the values and beliefs that influence the child, family, community and larger society
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1.2 What is EI: Overview of Disability and its Impact on Canadian Culture

Overview of Disability and its Impact on Canadian Culture

Canadian children with disabilities are a diverse group coming from a variety of cultural and faith backgrounds. Some children live with their families in large urban centers and some live in very isolated and rural communities; some are from other countries and some are aboriginal; some live in two-parent families and some live in lone-parent families.

Historically,1   many children with disabilities have been invisible. Many of them were raised in large institutions, away from their families and communities.  At the beginning of the 19th century in Europe, a person with a disability was seen as punishment; in other cultural traditions, it was perceived that the parent or family had done something wrong.

Changes in these perspectives occurred after the 1920’s with the Industrial Revolution. During this time, a child with a disability was seen as a burden and caring for this child and keeping them at home would cause hardship on the family.  By the 1980’s professionals had persuaded many parents to institutionalize their child.

The movement to take children and people with disabilities out of institutions began in the 1980’s. The inclusive movement, where children and persons with disabilities are seen as active and contributing members of society, only started in Canada about 30 years ago. Still, some people born during the past three decades in Canada, and in other places, may have no experience with people with disabilities. This is especially true for families coming from countries who hold similar beliefs about disability to those held in Canadian society only 30 years ago.

Our Canadian society is moving towards inclusion.  According to Hanvey2 (2002) an inclusive society is one where “children are involved in activities and social structures in a way that is meaningful to their own unique experiences.” Inclusion means belonging to a community as equal participants.  This is why it should not be the responsibility of the child and family to fit any “program” or “activity.”  Real inclusion occurs when society takes on the challenge to provide a meaningful place for a child. Inclusive societies value diversity and recognize and value the common experiences and aspirations families have for themselves and their children.

Some would say we have come a long way, and others would say we have a long way to go.

1. see References
2. see References

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