Focus on Assessment on ADHD Victim Essay
Client’s Description
Hernandez who happens to my client is a young boy aged 13 years old. Though his age dictates that he ought to be either completing his middle school or even starting his high school, Hernandez is still in the 7th grade. The family background from which my client comes from happens to be ranging in the lower economic class which is quite expected due to the fact that their ethnicity indicates so depending on this country’s statistics. The fact that Hernandez was born in America, he has grown to adopt multiple cultures which are the culture of life in America and the cultural heritage that he shares in his biological parents. Hernandez is a child to Hispanic parents who have spent a better part of their lives in the United States of America and actually had their son born in the country. As a consequence of the influence that he has borrowed form his parents, Hernandez speaks Spanish and is also well conversant with English due to the environment in which he spends most of his time, school. Being a first born male to his parents, Hernandez bears a lot of roles in the family that includes five people that is his tow parents and two sisters definitely with him. My client is a heterosexual which makes him rather normal in regard to sexuality and is also very blessed not to have any disability apart from the disorder that is currently in check.Focus on Assessment on ADHD Victim Essay
How the Individual’s Need Came To Agency’s Attention
The need for Hernandez to have therapy as a way of solving the problem of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) came to the attention of our agency last month. Hyperactivity is the main problem facing our client. This occurred when the agency had already been given the red light to assess the child in two settings which were at home and in school. Hernandez had been reported as having difficulties in his academic work for the since the age of seven but the parents had terribly ignored this fact. After observing the behavior of the client at school, it was more than obvious that he possessed almost all the inattention symptoms, hyperactivity symptoms and even the impulsivity symptoms (Barkley, 2006, p. 34). When the agency changed the setting to home environment, the situation was not better as Hernandez continued displaying problems at home as a consequence of the symptoms of ADHD. It was after this confirmation that the need by my client to have therapy came to the agency’s attention.Focus on Assessment on ADHD Victim Essay
When the client was being transferred tome, the need that seemed to be defined by Hernandez was that he had no problem but needed to be administered to a tuition teacher so that he could have more attention and may be better his academic work from that point. On the other hand, the agency had already cited that the problem was not at all academic and it was a psychological problem that could best be corrected using psychological means such as therapy. As a social worker, I had a clear understanding of the situation and knew exactly what the need for the client was psychotherapy (Wender, 2010, p. 60). In addition to this fact, it is important to take note of the fact that the agency and I as the principal in this matter am one and the same individual. This need for therapy to Hernandez was perceived byte agency as being a corrective measure that had to be done immediately so as to make better a situation that had been for long been ignored as normal. I presented this issue to both the parents and the client in a very understanding discussion and they both took it very positively.
Contract Arrived At
Once it had already been established that Hernandez was to be the client in our case, we had to reach an agreement with him. The fact that he was a minor, the father was present to act as the client’s representative in the negotiation that we would have regarding the issue of correcting the disorder in Hernandez. Hernandez’s father being a low income earner had very difficulties in reaching the contract that we had laid on the table. The first issue was that he was not financially strong enough to accept the fact that he had to spend money in treating a psychological problem, something he had not done or experienced in his life previously. I therefore had to approach the issue from a different angle. We agreed with Hernandez’s father that during the period that the three months during which the sessions would be lasting the wife and him ought to give their optimal attention to Hernandez. They have been living on a tough life hence barely have any time to spend with their children. Time was the first agreement reached on in the contract. The second issue was the payment mode which definitely was placed in very convenient terms that had been customized into the family’s level of income. Up to this particular time, I am very much pleased to indicate that the client and his parents have been very much supportive in ensuring that the contract is followed to the latter. The context of the agency had very positive effects in regard to the contract that we had with the client. The fact that the agency and the principal in this matter are one and the same individual has been a very huge advantage. There has not been any form of ‘back stabbing’ in the contract as it usually happens in cases where the agent and the principal are different entities (Brown, 2006, p. 71).Focus on Assessment on ADHD Victim Essay
The Process by Which the Client and I Started To Move into This Work
In order to begin the work that had already been strategized by our team, it was very important that all the logistics were made starting right from the client himself to all their other stakeholders involved in the entire process. The very first thing was to have the behavior of the client recollected again in different settings. I was therefore to go to the school and in specific the classroom, at home, and then recollect the behavior at our location. At home, I went for dinner during one evening before I went to spend a whole Saturday together with the family. I asked them to have their operations as though I was not around so that I could optimally extract the right information from the client (Peirce, 2008, p. 28). At school, I did the same though I went on different days to observe the client’s behavior during different lessons and even during co curricular activities. After I had gathered all these facts, I began the very first session with Hernandez where I observed his behavior then recommended a schedule to him that we would follow during the therapy sessions. On the other hand as we progressed with the client at our location, I kept tabs on what was going on in his life at school and at home. This was made effective by the fact that I had made an agreement with his class teacher who would offered me reports after every three days on how the client was proceeding. At home, the father was very supportive in following the contract that we had agreed on as he would call me on daily basis to report to me on the progress or even retro-progress that he had observed in his son.
Salient Facts
Despite being born a Hispanic and in a low income family, Hernandez still happens to have more pressure pilled on him given the fact that he is the first born in a family of five. The physical environment that surrounds the client is one that would not at all be cited as being supportive to the current problems facing him. They dwell in a neighborhood that is crowded and mainly populated with criminals. As a matter of fact, drugs and substance abuse is a feature that is very evident in the environment where Hernandez and his parents reside. Given be the fact that social networks are almost everywhere in the global world today, it would be very much difficult to rule out the fact that Hernandez is not aware of his environment. Despite being poor, the family just like most of the households in the neighborhood has a computer that link them tote social networks on the internet. This indicates very high levels of socialization going on in the environment. Coupled withy the fact that the family leaves in a populated neighborhood where no significant boundaries are present among households, the social network in the area can be said to be highly rated. On the other hand, the school that Hernandez attends is just around the neighborhood and just like the home environment; it is also a crowded school. The fact that the poor families in the region all take their children to be educated in the cheap school gives the prime reason as to why it is populated with many children unlike the other normal schools.
Inferences Drawn From These Data about the Client
From the information that has been presented in the above part, it can be deduced that Hernandez is seriously struggling in the environment that he dwells in. as a matter of fact, it could also be argued that he is a victim of the environment that he has been born and bred. ADHD is a condition that is inherited or a condition that runs in the family. Focus on Assessment on ADHD Victim Essay Bearing in mind that the condition ought to be detected earlier in life than was the case in Hernandez’s life, it is not a wonder that life for my client is not at all making anything better for Hernandez but it is rather making the situation worse for the client (Jensen, 2006, p. 56). Poverty that is surrounding the client’s family can be said to be setting the stage for the trend of ADHD in the family. The most probable situation is that Hernandez inherited the condition from his parental genetics yet could have remained untreated hence could have passed on the condition to the future generations very easily. The environment in which one grows heavily determines the probability for which one can be a victim of the ADHD condition. Hernandez has the strength inbeing a leader. In observing him, it was clear that he still offered command and guidance to his siblings in play and even in house chores. He is mostly taking care of them as the parents are not around in most of the occasions. This is strength in Hernandez that could be nurtured to result in greater achievements in his life.
Additional Information Helpful In Further Understanding the Client
In an effort to further understand Hernandez’s situation and the environment, obtaining information regarding the family’s background in as far as people ever affected by the disorder is concerned. As a matter of fact, the best thing would be to have the mother and the father both be interviewed regarding the issue of ADHD. By involving both the parents in interviews which would best be done independently would seem to be the best option to be used in this case. Having one parent being interviewed at a time, we could be able to trace if at all the condition has been there in the past and how it was addressed in that particular situation. We would also assess the background information of Hernandez during his earlier years in lower levels of learning. Using this information it would be very easy to assess the period during which the condition implanted itself in the client and for how long it has been with the client (Holowenko, 2009, p. 42). On the other hand, although it may seem to be violating privacy rights of the family, involving in a discussion with a neighbor or a friend to the family would be a very nice source of information regarding the manner in which the family lives their daily life and about how they approach the issue of ADHD that is affecting their son. Having the very sincere attitude of the parents in regard to the problem would be very effective in ensuring that the proper strategies are laid that could lead to the realization of the final goals.Focus on Assessment on ADHD Victim Essay
Reflection upon Practice
So far, it can be said categorically form my position that the skills that I have projected towards dealing with the client have been very effective. In assessing the behavior of the client from our location as I use different therapy strategies mainly talk therapy and behavior correctional therapy, I have been able to clearly achieve certain targets with the client. The teachers in school and the parents back at home have also been very instrumental in ensuring that I remain on track to this point as they have been feeding me with very correct and consistent reports regarding the behavioral patters of Hernandez. This positive linkage with the different stakeholders in the therapy has played a massive role in bringing the client and me even more closely. I have been able to anticipate most of his behavior and even timely recognize and reward various changes in the behavior (Silver, 2004, p. 37). I am glad that this tactic has played a crucial role in ensuring that Hernandez learns the importance of the exercise as early as this hence a very promising future lies a head of us. The only regret that I do have is the fact that I totally did not put my client under ant medicinal program with any doctor. As a consequence of this, I have not been monitoring my client’s behavior in terms of the medical progress but I have based the entire project under behavioral correctional therapy. This offers limited room to confirm the behavior that I am claiming to be bettering.
Next Steps
Basing on the results gathered from the analysis indicated in the paper above, it is very apparent that the client is on the positive trend towards becoming rescued from the condition. The best remedy that would be offered as par the events and progress that is currently in place would be to maintain the therapy process in the exact manner that it is. The only recommendation that would be offered as the next step in ensuring that optimal healing level is attained for the client is that medical approaches ought to be introduced in the process. This does not necessarily imply that the client should take medication but it implies that medical check up should be conducted regularly on the client so as to determine the rate of progress being realized (Molfese, 2005, p. 88).Focus on Assessment on ADHD Victim Essay