Geldard, Geldard & Foo (2013, p. 210) discovered that children who are not able to talk about their wishes and needs in connection with past, present and future situations may be able to do so by drawing. As the young boy has had a rough past I thought that may be the reason behind him being withdrawn therefore I thought drawing would be perfect to express himself although when I suggested the idea he did not want to participate. This child centred approach would have been more effective if the child was at a primary school age.
It was important to analyse relevant child development theories. In this case I looked at Erikson and Piaget, which are later, elaborated in detail. When working with children it is fundamental I know and can recognize …show more content…
While I was reflecting on this it was clear that he was experiencing Erik Erikson’s stage 5 of adolescent development which is identity vs. role confusion (Erikson, 1970). This stage occurs between ages 12 to 18 where the individual will start to explore values and goals of their own which was evident through the 15 year old boy. This lead me to understand what his level of cognitive development was at in regards to Piagets stages of cognitive development which analyses different ways of thinking. At 15 you should be in the Formal Operational, which is when adolescents begin to think in abstracts, develop hypothesis for problems, make deductions and evaluate statements without having to have seen or experienced objects or situations (Piaget, 1964). This was evident to me that the 15-year-old Somali boy was as when I was asking questions about his future even though he did not know what path he wanted to take he could tell me the process of what was needed to get to the certain career paths for example he knew he had to do well in school, receive and ATAR of 99.95 to get into radiology but if he did not get that ATAR he mentioned to me other possible ways of getting into …show more content…
Therefore when working with children it is important to not create a power imbalance (Hamill and Boyd, 2002). One thing that instantly creates a power imbalance is the height difference between a child and an adult. To ensure there was no power imbalance with the child in the session I made a comfortable space on the floor with pens, textas and paper, we both sat down there which ensured we were on the same level.
• How did you demonstrate empathy with the child/young person?
As I was aware that my client was from Somali there was some language barriers therefore I ensured through the session I spoke softly and slowly using basic English words to help him understand. The soft language projected a level of understand and sensitivity that is appreciated by the child (Oppenheim & Goldsmith 2007, p. 211). Oppenheim & Goldsmith, ( 2007,p. 211) mentions that the foundation of a secure relationship is based on adult interactions that are characterized by understanding and empathically responding to the child’s needs.
I also showed empathy through basic skills such as attentive listening and not criticizing the young boy but instead understanding his problems and reiterate to him that it is normal to be feeling the way he
It was important to analyse relevant child development theories. In this case I looked at Erikson and Piaget, which are later, elaborated in detail. When working with children it is fundamental I know and can recognize …show more content…
While I was reflecting on this it was clear that he was experiencing Erik Erikson’s stage 5 of adolescent development which is identity vs. role confusion (Erikson, 1970). This stage occurs between ages 12 to 18 where the individual will start to explore values and goals of their own which was evident through the 15 year old boy. This lead me to understand what his level of cognitive development was at in regards to Piagets stages of cognitive development which analyses different ways of thinking. At 15 you should be in the Formal Operational, which is when adolescents begin to think in abstracts, develop hypothesis for problems, make deductions and evaluate statements without having to have seen or experienced objects or situations (Piaget, 1964). This was evident to me that the 15-year-old Somali boy was as when I was asking questions about his future even though he did not know what path he wanted to take he could tell me the process of what was needed to get to the certain career paths for example he knew he had to do well in school, receive and ATAR of 99.95 to get into radiology but if he did not get that ATAR he mentioned to me other possible ways of getting into …show more content…
Therefore when working with children it is important to not create a power imbalance (Hamill and Boyd, 2002). One thing that instantly creates a power imbalance is the height difference between a child and an adult. To ensure there was no power imbalance with the child in the session I made a comfortable space on the floor with pens, textas and paper, we both sat down there which ensured we were on the same level.
• How did you demonstrate empathy with the child/young person?
As I was aware that my client was from Somali there was some language barriers therefore I ensured through the session I spoke softly and slowly using basic English words to help him understand. The soft language projected a level of understand and sensitivity that is appreciated by the child (Oppenheim & Goldsmith 2007, p. 211). Oppenheim & Goldsmith, ( 2007,p. 211) mentions that the foundation of a secure relationship is based on adult interactions that are characterized by understanding and empathically responding to the child’s needs.
I also showed empathy through basic skills such as attentive listening and not criticizing the young boy but instead understanding his problems and reiterate to him that it is normal to be feeling the way he