Helping kids with problems...

My career ambition is to work with children with behavioural difficulties...

Some children have a mental disorder called ADHD syndrome which causes difficulties concentrating, memorizing, speaking, coordinating their movements or being able to stay still. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is suffered by several thousands of children worldwide.

It is very difficult to take care of a child with ADHD because he requires complete attention and a lot of patience. One needs a real capacity to listen to a child with ADHD, who often rejects authority. It is also very difficult to play with a hyperactive child. The number of diagnoses of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has ballooned over the past decades. Before the early 1990s, fewer than 5% of school-age kids were thought to have ADHD syndrome. Earlier this year, data from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 11% of children aged 4 to 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD. Moreover this disease affects more boys than girls: 12.4% of boys aged 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD against 4.7% of girls.

There are treatments which can help improve behaviour but do not solve the problem. Ritalin, for example, can help a child to concentrate and be calmer. But we have to be very cautious with these treatments because they can lead to new problems; Ritalin can cause seizures, heart failure, emotional problems, and suicidal thoughts as well. Many adolescents have become addicted. Nowadays, the side-effects are well known and can be better managed. In some schools, there are special classes or activities which can help children with ADHD live as normally as possible.

This year, I supervised, with other volunteers, a group of 6 to10 year olds during one week. We had two ADHD boys in the group. It was not easy to interest them during the activities because they were not able to keep up their level of concentration for long. They could not sit still at all, made a lot of noise, and were sometimes violent. They needed our constant and undivided attention. However, I enjoyed playing with them: I had to find solutions and strategies to get them interested in the activities. What was difficult to deal with is the way they monopolized our attention though there were other children present. Because of their behaviour they were often rejected by the other children during the games and, sadly, even by some of the volunteers...

A friend’s son, Nolan, now aged 8, was diagnosed as an ADHD-child when he was 5. He moves around a lot, shouts all the time, and seeks attention from others constantly. He takes Ritalin, even though this treatment can have negative effects on him. His mother told me it allows him to be calmer, especially in class. Usually he can only concentrate for about five minutes on a particular activity, but with Ritalin he can concentrate longer. He does a lot of sport, including tennis, climbing, and judo, which also allows him to control his hyperactivity.

I asked his mother what the biggest difficulty with an ADHD child is. She answered that it was others’ prejudices: people don’t understand this kind of behaviour. For example, when she is in the tram with her son, Nolan can’t keep quiet, he speaks very loudly and she often gets criticised about her son’s behaviour. People think she is incapable of raising her son properly... A child like Nolan requires a lot of patience and his mother always has to look after him to avoid him getting hurt. But despite his hyperactivity, he is a lovable boy with good intentions and I like him a lot.

I would like to be a teacher for children who have behavioural or psychological difficulties, including ADHD children, helping them to the best of my abilities to live a decent life.

Article by Mathilde K.

What are the ties between a mother and her unborn baby? Article by Mathilde D.

The ties between mother and fetus are biological, psychological and sensory:

• Biological: the umbilical cord brings all the food and the vital elements for the well-being of the fetus. It is the physical link everyone knows about.
• Psychological: it includes the attitudes and reactions of the mother during pregnancy. Doctors have demonstrated that if a mother is really stressed the newborn baby may get eczema or become an anxious child later. There is also a transgenerational memory, meaning if the mother goes through a very difficult ordeal during her pregnancy, the baby will be psychologically affected by this event. He may then develop phobias or other mental problems.
• Sensory: it is really important that parents talk to their child during the pregnancy in order to provide her/him with affection and love. After the birth, the parents’ voices will be really important for the baby because they are the first sounds s/he will recognize. Haptonomie, the ability of parents to communicate with their child without the use of words, is also very important: they have to use their hands and rub the stomach in order to interact with their child.

Unfortunately, some babies will never get the attention needed from their parents... Some surrogate mothers, for example, deprive their fetus of the necessary sensory attention because they consider the baby as not really being their own...

Mathilde's ambition is to become an obstetrician. Studies are long (11 years or more) and very difficult (with two major exams). But she thinks it will be worth the effort because improving the health of mothers and their babies is so important.

Why are there so few women scientists?

Click HERE to read the Telegraph article!

What will my job be? Sports physiotherapist!

Why am I doing a Sciences Baccalaureate? What do I really want to do as a job later (this is a question that has nagged me for years)? I have finally found the answer: physiotherapist.

Physiotherapists treat patients with physical difficulties resulting from illness, injury, disability or ageing. They treat people of all ages, stroke patients, and people with sports injuries.

Physiotherapists work with patients to identify and improve their movement and function. They help promote their patients' health and wellbeing, and assist the rehabilitation process by developing and restoring body systems, in particular the neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. They devise and review treatment programs, comprising manual therapy, movement, therapeutic exercise and the application of technological equipment (ultrasound for example). Physiotherapists also provide advice on how to avoid injuries.

I have scoliosis. I was prescribed a three-month physiotherapy treatment, but I have become a long-term physiotherapy patient for this ailment. The healing consists in physical manipulation in order to make my backbone straight again. Right now, I have tendinitis in the biceps tendon of my left arm. For this, my physiotherapist uses ultrasound and electro-stimulation machines. This equipment is often used for sportsmen who are on a rigorous training program. Electro-stimulation is used to stimulate blood flow in the weakened tendon. Thanks to this machine, I have managed to continue training (I’m a swimmer), though there is a risk of weakening of my tendon.

This job really interests me because first of all I really like studying how the body works; how are muscles repaired through physiotherapy? How does an ultrasound machine make my tendons healthy? Those questions arouse my curiosity, and make me want to learn more.

Therapists require good communication skills to establish and maintain good relationships with patients; he must listen very carefully to his patients and be able to communicate easily with him. Ability to listen and be listened to also enables the physiotherapist to work effectively within a healthcare team. Resourcefulness, compassion and patience are the other qualities that are essential in this professional healthcare area.

                                             

There are several paths to choose if you're considering a career in physiotherapy and this really depends on what type of physiotherapy career you are envisaging. For example, I would like to specialize in sports injuries. The sports physiotherapist works most often alone, without medical backup (except in professional clubs). He follows the sportsmen during competitions, which means he can be away just a few hours but also for several days, often on weekends. A sports physiotherapist can be employed by a sports club or a federation (for the Olympic Games for example).

A sports physiotherapist is a physiotherapist who has (in 80% of cases) completed a specific physiotherapist training (leading to a “Diplôme d'Etat” certificate). There are various paths to enter schools which prepare you for the diploma: there is the standard entry exam, but here is also the “PAES” (i.e. entry after a year of health studies). The entry exam is open to people with a Bachelor’s degree in Sciences or with an equivalent diploma. There are three exams: one in Biology, another in Physics and the last in Chemistry. The number of candidates for the entrance exam is high; most of the time these candidates have one or even two years of specific training in a private school beforehand.

In public institutions, the salary of a physiotherapist begins at about 1,500€ a month. In private institutions, starting salary ranges from 1500€ to 2500€ a month.

If it also your dream job or if you simply want to know more about becoming a physiotherapist, send me a comment!

Article by Antoine Jourdet