Running head: DEVELOPMENT/ INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IDP 1

Development Individual Differences Student Profile

Josi Verity

Instructor: Dr. Tracey J. Meyerhoeffer

EDUC 205 Development/ Individual Differences

Online, Fall 2017

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Development Individual Differences Student Profile

Imagine life as an autistic teenage girl, living in a new state, a new home, a new school

and having a whole new routine. That is the reality for a young girl whose name is Emily.

Parents will always do what they think is best for their children, in hopes that it will better their

child’s life, Emily’s parents did just that. In this student profile, I will provide the following

information regarding a student who was diagnosed with Autism; general information, physical,

cognitive, and the socio-emotional development. I will also provide a summary of my major

findings.

General Information

Emily is a thirteen13-year-old(state age in years and months, ex. 13 years and fivefour Formatted: Font color: Auto

months old), seventh grade, middle school Caucasian student. Emily has a mother, father and one

sister named Katie who is two years younger than her. Emily’s family is originally from Atlanta,

Georgia, but they moved to Meridian, Idaho in the summer of 2012. Emily lived at home with

her family while they lived in Georgia, but when they made the move to Idaho, Emily’s family

transferred her into a Group Home.

The Group Home that she lives in is a four-bedroom home that is developed specifically

for children and young adults with disabilities. In the home, there is a sensory room which has

puzzles, games, pillows, and weighted blankets. The living room has a bean bag chair, a couch

and a small TV. In the kitchen, there are individual check listschecklists hanging up for daily

chores or activities that need to be accomplished by both Emily and the other children living in

the home. The Group Home has four other children that live in the home, two of which go to the

same school as Emily. There are four workers who work at the group home, two who work the

day shift and two who work the night shift.

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Emily’s morning schedule at the group home is to wake up, eat breakfast, take a bath and

do her daily hygiene that consists of brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, and putting on her

deodorant. Once her morning check listchecklist has been finished, she is allowed to play on the

iPad until her bus comes around 7:45 in the morning to take her to school. She is at school from

8:00 am until 3:00 pm and then returns to the Group Home on the bus by 3:30 pm.

Physical Development

Emily is a thirteen-year-old girl who is at an average height and weight for her age;, she

has brown curly hair and brown eyes, and she has fair skin. Her fingernails are short, due to her

habit of chewing on them. Compared to her peers, Emily’s physical maturation is considered

normal as well as Emily’s vision and hearing. In the past, Emily has been known to have seizures,

but in the recent years of her life, she has not had any documented seizures. She is right handed,

but occasionally will use her left hand when she eats. Emily’s eating habits consist of a small

breakfast at home as well as a breakfast provided by the school. She also eats lunch provided by

the school and will have a snack when she returns home, followed by dinner that she has at the

group home.

Emily participates in a P.E. class at school but does not do any other physical activity

outside of class. In terms of gross motor skills, sShe is physically capable of playing the

activities and games such as kickball, dodgeball and basketball. She can kick, throw, shoot and

dribble a ball, but she struggles with hand-eye coordination and catching a ball. In terms of fine

motor skills, Emily is able to hold a pencil and write and can use scissors to cut, but struggles

with staying on the lines. She can pick up beads using tweezers and put them into a cup and she

can pick up beads with using only her pointer finger and thumb to grab them. (mention the terms

gross motor skills and fine motor skills)

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Cognitive Development

Emily is in seventh grade at a middle school. She is placed in an ERR (extended resource

room) classroom due to her severe behavior issues and her cognitive development level. Emily

has not been able to work much on academics because her severe behaviors interfere with her

ability to learn. She has attention seeking behaviors such as (delete comma), violence towards

other students and staff members, stripping, forced vomiting, screaming, and spitting. She

struggles to follow simple directives and tasks as well as transitioning from one activity to

another. Because of her behavior issues, Emily works in a classroom separate from other

students, except for her P.E. class.

The staff who work with Emily are working on teaching her to follow simple instructions,

complete small tasks, use self-regulation skills, and communicationcommunicate appropriately.

She is highly motivated by positive reinforcements such as food, or activity of choice, puzzles

or games on the computer. Emily’s academic strengths are tracing letters and numbers, writing

her name, counting up to ten, and communicating simple wants and needs. Her weaknesses are

reading, identifying letters, communication beyond simple wants and needs, and tasks that have

multiple directions. Regarding Jean Piaget’s stage of cognitive development, that Emily is

operates in considered in, is the preoperational stage.

Emily does a lot of work that is repetitionalrepetitious;, for instance, she has flashcards

with pictures on them and she reviews the same flashcards daily until she is able to identify them.

When learning language and communication, she will repeat what the staff member says. She

uses a visual schedule and communication board with picture pecks to help her communicate.
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She can communicate small sentences about a previous event or with a previously learned

sentence or she will communicate by using only one word.

Socio-emotional Development

Emily loves to interact with her peers and adults. She does not understand the social

politeness of personal space;, she enjoys physical contact and will invade others’ personal spaces.

For example, Emily will walk up to anyone and touch their his/her shoulder, hug themhim/her, or

try and hold their his/her hand and she will say, “Hi!”

Emily struggles to understand how to respond to the emotions of others. When her peer is

crying, she will laugh because she thinks it is funny. If she notices that someone is misbehaving

and throwing a tantrum, she will mimic their behavior. When the teacher is mad upset at her

behavior, the teacher will not engage with her, but when the teacher is happy with her behavior,

she will praise her and give her attention, helping Emily to understand the difference of those

emotions.

According to Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, Emily is stage is in

between autonomy versus shame and doubt and initiative versus guilt (Berk-Meyers, p. 16,

2016). Emily would like to decide things for herself, but she needs an adult’s guidance on

deciding the appropriate choice. She does, however, have has a sense of responsibility for the

tasks she completes and the work that she is able to produce. She Currently, she is working on

self-regulation so that she can be allowed more independence.

Summary of Major Findings

Emily is a teenage girl who has been diagnosed with autism. Physically, she is at a

normal level for height and weight based on her age. She is overall healthy, with a history of

seizures. She is at a the preoperational stage in her cognitive development. She in that she can
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communicate basic needs and wants. Emily struggles to understand how to respond to others’

emotions. She is working on self-regulation to gain independence. In order for Emily to be more

successful academically, her behaviors have to be minimized. Teaching Emily an appropriate

way to communicate, giving her simple tasks that can give her a better sense of accomplishment

and praising her for positive behaviors will be helpful in eliminating her behaviors.
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References

Berk, Laura E., Meyer, Adena B. (2016). Infants, cChildren, and aAdolescents – Eighth Edition.

United States: Pearson Education. (indent 2nd line of citation) Formatted: Indent: First line: 0"
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