Chronic fatigue syndrome in childhood

It is estimated that more female children are prone to CFS than their male counterparts. The fact that CFS is linked to significant functional disability makes it one of the most challenging conditions for children, and it leaves the patient with weaker emotional, physical and social functions (Crawley et al. Reports indicate that the condition affects between 0. 2 to 0. 4 percent of the UK population (Stenhoff et al. The stereotype is a social representation that objectifies cognitive and emotional structure in a social environment (Karin et al. Because of the perceptions laboured upon the disabled, the behaviour of different groups is represented in various formats. According to Karin et al. (2012), perception serves to explain individuals' own self from the view of others, which is also a reflection of the social actions of the persons.

Prejudice, on the other hand, is simply an attitude directed to another member of a group, which exclusively defines their position in the society (Karin et al. From the case, it is obvious that the teachers are yet to understand, let alone accept that Claire's condition is special, thus require a special approach to help her cope. This is largely based on lack of information on the condition, and setting up an educational system with less consideration to the disabled. Crawley et al. (2012) note that the stereotypes and prejudice against disabilities, as a personal tragedy, is based on and defined according to what people consider to be human. Consequently, they are reproduced in terms of feelings of compassion, as well as fear and perhaps contempt (Crawley et al.

The overall aim of both CBT and GET is to progressively increase the activity levels of patients. There has been a consistent emphasis on the need for an early and accurate diagnosis, which requires healthcare practitioners to aim at establishing not only a supportive but also a collaborative relationship with patients and their caregivers. However, there is overwhelming evidence that CFS continues to be a big challenge for healthcare practitioners. For instance, reports indicate that general practitioners (GPs) not only have a limited understanding but also insufficient professional knowledge about the condition, hence they find it a big challenge when diagnosing and managing it (Fernie & Murphy, 2018). More recent studies have even unearthed significant disparities in terms of beliefs held by medical authorities and patients with regards to the nature of the condition, particularly whether the condition is physical or psychological (Crawley, 2018).

) Education For many years, all children with disabilities were treated as special needs students and put through a complementary education system that is able to accommodate their special educational needs (Fernie & Murphy, 2018). These special difficulties include those children with a communication problem, interaction difficulties, and those lacking cognitive, emotional, social, sensory, and behavioural skills. All the children under these categories have been amalgamated to form special needs children, disregarding the fact that every condition has its unique challenges. Notably, many have continued to question special schools approach, which has been, among other things, accused of segregating and discriminating some categories of special needs students (Kofidou, 2017; Stenhoff et al. , 2013; Karin et al. As students continue to experience difficulty in a school environment, fatigue creeps in due to illness together with poor quality of life in school and lack of connectedness with fellow learners.

This kind of a roller-coaster of life of CFS child is likely to cause even more fatigue on parents and family in general as they try to navigate the challenges they undergo with service providers. Although a number of efforts have been made to ensure children with special educational needs are taken care of adequately, the continuum of provision and inclusion by choice is still debatable, despite appearing to be part and parcel of the special education needs for every child with special needs. Conclusion The model of medical application has arguably guided the society to put strict treatment procedures for the handicapped persons by focusing such treatment to individual consciousness. The medical model, as seen by doctors who observed Claire before diagnosis was conducted, is a typical example how the conditions are classified with the basic treatment target being to normalize persons with disabilities and group them into general disability nexus.