Diversity in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Diversity in Society - Essay Example This is evident from the legislative measures and Disabled Children Act 2000. According to Moss & Petrie, "Our construction of childhood and our images of the child represent ethical and political choices, made within larger frameworks of ideas, values and rationalities". (Moss & Petrie, 2002, p. 55) There is a need to ponder as to why such children suffers discrimination throughout their lives, what can be done morally and socially to detect the negative influences, how the outrageous behaviour can be avoided and what measures can be taken in order to accept them as a part and parcel of our society. We shall explore how the image, which we have created within our minds of the disabled child, can be changed and prolific while utilising the best of public policies and provisions for disabled children. According to Keogh's research, "we should look for subtypes of students with particular patterns of difficulty while examining social, cultural, and environmental explanations for these differences. If we are truly going to provide the most effective services for students and their families with special needs, it will only occur when we understand individual differences". (Bernheimer et al, 1999, p. 8) Developmental disabilities can affect individuals on a temporary or lifelong basis depending upon their capabilities or sometimes the positive utilization of those capabilities. Individuals (children) also move across the spectrum of disability or involvement in their lifetime, depending on several factors, which include the nature of the disability, developmental achievements, individual differences, rehabilitation services, and the environment in which they function and grow. Where individuals are in reference to the spectrum of their disability is an approach that social workers need to be adjusted to because individuals might need different services and support across the life span that vary in need and duration. This has implications for practice, programming, advocacy, and social policy. (Gitterman, 2001, p. 205) Like it is not necessary that every individual require the same kind of assistance and help from social workers, the requirement varies. Similarly the developmental disabilities that affect individuals and their families are not limited to particular ways, instead they affect individuals in different ways, ways that depend on the nature of the disability, ability level, coping and stress, individual differences, culture and belief systems, society's response to a specific condition, and attitudes and value system. (Gitterman, 2001, p. 205) Recent Services It is seen over the last few decades that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families have been profoundly affected by social, economic, philosophical, political, and scientific changes. These changes have included scientific discoveries about drug treatment and prevention of certain conditions, medical technologies to keep at-risk children alive, deinstitutionalisation of the disabled and mentally ill, cash benefits to the disabled and their families, physical and employment access to public places, public special education, legal protection of civil rights, and the rise of self-help movements for both the disabled and their families. (Gitterman, 2001, p. 206) The onus is on the shoulders of social welfare system to identify measures