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Running Head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Individual Differences Student Profile Denise Hanson Instructor: Tracey Meyerhoeffer EDUC 205 Developmental/Individual Differences, Spring 2014

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Individual Differences Student Profile Every child is different! They learn differently, they act differently, and they look different; they are all unique in their own special ways. Some of these children also have a disability, which can come in several forms including the following: physical disability, developmental disability, or a psychological disability. For this individual differences student profile, I had the privilege of learning more about Eliza by observing and interviewing her. Eliza has a disability that affects her sensory processing known as a Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Throughout this profile, I will give a little insight on Elizas physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development and how each of these areas impacts her life and abilities in the classroom. General Information Eliza is a Caucasian girl at the age of ten years old. She just turned ten and is very excited about this. She lives in a small town in a beautiful house with her mother and father, two older brothers, and one younger brother. Her oldest brother is fourteen years old, her second brother is twelve years old, and her little brother is eight years old. Elizas daily schedule consists of the following: 7:00 a.m. she wakes up and gets ready for school. School is from 8:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. After school, she goes home and does homework and household chores. Dinner is around 6:00 p.m. and then she has time to play before she goes to bed at 8:30 p.m. She also goes to therapy once a week where they focus on her sensory disability. Physical Development Eliza has dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. She also has freckles across her nose and on her cheeks. Eliza has two birthmarks, one on her knee and one on her elbow and she is right handed. Eliza is as physically mature as her same age peers. She is a little heavier in weight than her

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peers, but other than that, she is in very good physical health. She also has great vision and does not require glasses. Additionally, she has impeccable hearing. Furthermore, Eliza has allergies to peanuts, bees, amoxicillin, and when chlorine gets in her eyes, they swell badly. As I stated earlier, Eliza is a little overweight, so she has started to run with her mom and dad every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and she also has physical education in school every Thursday. With her sensory disorder, activities that require confining clothes limit her. Take dance for example, Eliza loves dance but she has an issue wearing tights because they make her legs itch. She also has a hard time playing anything with rubber balls because the sound of the ball and her hand rubbing together drives her crazy. However, she can play sports like this and has developed both her large and small muscles. Eliza struggles with the proper nutrition. She is an overeater. She likes to eat and she likes to eat often. There are times when she will eat dinner with her family and then walk to her grandmothers house and eat dinner there as well. Her mom says she has a hard time keeping food away from her. Cognitive Development Eliza is in the fourth grade where she is put in a regular classroom. She is really intelligent in her cognitive development, but she has a hard time paying attention. Because of this, her grades fluctuate from being really good to really poor. She is very good at art and math, but she struggles with reading. She loves to read but if the book or what she is reading has too much information or too many lines on the page, she has a hard time concentrating on the words. Her attention span is also limited. She knows how to pay attention but if someone makes a noise, she gets distracted. As a result, she spends a lot of time missing recess to get her work done in a more quiet setting. Eliza has an issue using pencils. She stated, I have to use a mechanical pencil because a normal pencil screeches and I have to hold my head against my shoulder so I

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dont hear it. She also cannot hold her pencil the way every child is taught because, as she says, it rubs against my finger and makes it itchy. Eliza loves to participate in all the class activities and has the motivation to succeed, but she lacks somewhat in attention span and initiative to do what it takes to get there. According to Piagets stages of cognitive development, Eliza is in the concrete operational stage. Take mathematics for instance. Eliza is really good at math. She understands the concepts and can use concrete reasoning to solve problems. Similarly, she has the ability to think through the math problems using operational thinking. Additionally, she can take a math problem and work it backwards in order to solve it, if that is what is needed. Furthermore, she understands what the different mathematical symbols mean and creates schemas as she is learning. She then adds more information to these schemas through assimilation to understand more complex mathematical problems. Eliza uses this same process in each area of learning. As stated before, she is really intelligent and learns within her zone of proximal development, but she has a hard time completing her work because of her sensory disability. Socio-emotional Development Elizas interaction with her peers can be difficult at times. She has a hard time making a friend, but once she develops a friendship, they become best friends. As a result, she has a couple of friends she plays with all the time. Therefore, prefers to play in a small setting with individual people rather than in a group. Basically, she prefers one on one attention. However, she loves attention from adults and participates and interacts with them fine. She has a great relationship with her parents and they interact well with each other. Additionally, she also has many aunts who live close by and she loves to go over to their houses and help them out. Consequently, at times, she has better relationships with adults than she does with her peers.

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Eliza has a great self concept and self esteem. I was able to interview her and ask her some questions about herself and through the entire interview, she really knew who she was and was proud of what she could do. She stated, I am a good singer, I look cute with my hair short and love to do my own hair. I am good at art and making stuff and remembering stuff. I also really love babies and they love me because I can make them stop crying. I asked her if there was anything about herself that she didnt like or wanted to change and she said, No, I think I am pretty cool. She really does understand what an amazing person she is and her selfconfidence is developing at an average rate. Even when I asked her about her sensory issues, she seemed proud of herself and didnt care that she was different from everyone else. Eliza is in the industry vs. inferiority stage of Kohlbergs stage of development. Through the relationships with her friends, adults, and her parents, she is learning a sense of pride in herself. She is learning to have self confidence and pride in her abilities to do things, such as singing, doing art, and doing her own hair. Overall, she excels when she is given praise. If someone tells her that she did well on a project, she is proud of it and wants to show it to everyone. However, if she does not receive praise, she doubts herself. Summary of Major Findings Overall, Eliza is a very amazing person. Generally speaking, Eliza is at a typical level of development. She acts like most peers her age, and she learns like most kids her age. However, Eliza doesnt know how to control her eating and isnt as physically active as most kids and as such is lacking in the physical level of development. Cognitively, she is somewhat on track with other kids her age. She is intelligent and she does understand what she is being taught. However, Eliza gets distracted easily with noises in the classroom. This slows down her ability to pay attention and listen to what she is being taught. Socio-emotionally, she is on track with her

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relationships with adults, her self-concept and self-esteem. Above all, she is on track in Kohlbergs stage of development even though she struggles interacting with her peers. Eliza is strong in many aspects in her life. One of these strengths is that she knows what a great person she is. Furthermore, she understands that she is different but also understands that her differences are ok. She has a great self-esteem. She is good at math and art and absolutely loves music. Additionally, Eliza also has some needs, especially when it comes to doing well in school. One of her needs is to use a mechanical pencil rather than a normal one. Another need is to have a quiet place where she can do her work and not get distracted by other students. Eliza, like all children, needs support: support from her parents, community, and teachers. In order for her to succeed in life, specific strategies should be used to support her learning and development. One strategy is for her to see a therapist to help her come to terms with her sensory issue. Another strategy is to get her on an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to get her the help and support that she needs. For instance, this would allow her special permission to use a mechanical pencil, or the ability to go to a quiet area to complete her school work so that she wont have to miss so many recesses. Throughout this process, I was able to get to know more about Eliza and her physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development and how each of these areas impacts her life. As I stated earlier, every child is different, including Eliza. It is these differences that make up a person and gives his/her own identity. Elizas difference is that she has a problem with sensory processing, but it is not what defines her. Eliza is smart, intelligent, and is aware of it. In sum, she is a very special girl who enjoys life and enjoys learning.

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References Berns Roberta M. (2013) Child, family, school, community: socialization and support. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning: Linda Schreiber-Ganster