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Introduction

[Development through the life stages] Unit 4 ? Sue Hope-Bell Infancy 0-3 Years old Physical Development Motor control develops from the head moves down through the arms and the trunk and then to the legs and feet. Initial movements are reflexive in nature, such as turning the head to the side when the cheek is stroked, which aids in feeding. As the initial survival reflexes fade, motor skills are related to the growing ability to observe and interact with the environment. A baby turns its head from side to side when lying on the back or belly and brings both hands together at the chest or mouth at 1 month of age. In between 3 ? 6 months the infant progresses to lifting the head and chest up when lying on its belly and may press up with its arms. A 3 month old baby kicks its legs when lying on their back and belly, and bats at and briefly grasps toys. Between the ages of 3 ? 4 months the baby will rock from on its belly to back and then back to belly closer to 6 months old. As the infant grows and gains strength, she can usually begin sitting by the age of 6-7 months and can play using their hands. Babies gain muscle strength and get on all fours (their hands and feet), rock back and forth, creep along dragging their feet and then take off full force crawling. When walking with help an infant would be around 9 months. Babies do not start their walking milestone with perfect gait. There is much waddling and toe walking. After 18 months up to 36 months, the toddler walks with a smoother pattern. During this period she learns to stand briefly on one foot, walk backwards, and walk on tiptoes. Walking should not be forced by the parents, walking skills will happen naturally. ...read more.

Middle

It is triggered by the action of hormones that control sexual development. Both boys and girls may start to grow taller at a fast rate than what they were before, you would realise this in a couple of days, this is called a Growth Spurt. Girls? sexual development during puberty includes the enlargement of breasts, the development of pubic hair, increased fat layers under their skin, and their menstrual cycle will start. Boys will experience the enlargement of their testes and penis, the development of pubic and facial hair and increased muscle strength. Boy?s voices will also start to deepen and break. This is also known as ?dropping? or ?breaking?. These major changes mean that adolescents look and behave very differently from children. Middle adolescence is a time of blossoming development. The insecure, inwardly focused 13 year old becomes a cheerful, charming 16-year-old looking towards the future. During this time their thinking skills take an adult turn, their body matures and social network outside the family become increasingly important. Now is when you can see that they are no longer a child, they are turning in to a young adult. Boys and girls will exhibit markedly different levels of physical maturity as they enter middle adolescence. Girls? rapid growth is generally tapering off, while many boys have yet to see the beginning of their much anticipated growth spurt. By the end of this period most girls will be near their adult height and boys may continue to grow until the age of 18 or 19. The physical developments of girls are that their height continues, but at a slower pace than before and the adult height is reached by the age of 16 or 17. Breast development continues. Pubic hair will start to thicken, darken and grow in an adult triangular pattern. Also, their underarm hair thickens. Their hips will start to widen, fat will deposit in the bum, legs and stomach increase. ...read more.

Conclusion

Widowhood is stressful if the death of the man or wife occurs in their earlier life stage, to make them feel safe and secure they need to have a close support of friends, particularly other widows so they share the same emotions. This can be very helpful. Emotional and Social Development Seeing others becoming ill, or die, they will now have a fear of becoming ill or even dying. They will soon lose their partner and they will feel lonely, even if they have family around them, they will still feel lonely because they have to have their wife or husband around them, they need to have contact with people or they will become bored and this can lead them to illness. They should also be mixing with young people to keep stop them from feeling that they cannot do things when they can, and having a lot of elderly people around them isn?t any good, they should have young spirit around them also. Older people need to develop a secure sense of self that enables them to cope with the physical changes associated with ageing and death. People who fail to make sense of their life might experience emotional despair. They can become isolated due to mobility because they can?t drive because of age or because of a particular reason, which means that they cannot get anywhere. They need to have contacts around them that they enjoy the company of because otherwise they will feel that they have to talk to this person just to keep people happy when they may not like that person. The only social life that they will actually have is to family that visit them or even friends, if their wife or husband passes away then they will have no one so this can get lonely for them. Following retirement, older adults have more free time. However, many older adults may choose to increase their involvement with close friends and family rather than extend their network of social contacts. ...read more.

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