Person Centered Plan

Introduction:
A person centered plan was created for James, an eleven year old boy with
autism spectrum disorder. James just finished fifth grade. He is homeschooled
through the Hamburg School District. James has a special education teacher who
comes to his home four days a week. She works with James in a 1-1 setting. James
father is on his IEP as his general education teacher and his mother also helps with
his schooling. Twice a week James goes to Union Pleasant Elementary in Hamburg,
NY. He receives occupational therapy, speech/language therapy, 1-1 counseling,
and group counseling.
James lives at home with his mother, father, and siblings. He is the eldest of
five children. James has a nine year old brother, seven year old sister, five year old
brother, and seven month old sister. All school aged children are homeschooled as
well. James grandmother plays a big role in his life and is often at the house.
James is involved in some community based activities. His strongest and
favorite activity is skiing in the winter. He is on a ski team with his sister and they
practice four to five days a week. In the summer, James participates in childrens
programming at a local faith-based community center. He has the opportunity to do
many activities including basketball, sewing, soccer, and arts/crafts. James and his
family go to church year round.
Rationale:
A person center plan (PCP) was chosen for James for several reasons. He is
reaching an age where transition planning is going to happen and a PCP now will
give him and his family a head start. With so many children in the house, it can be

difficult for James parents to clearly think about and address his individual needs in
a structured way. Creating a PCP allows James parents and support staff to
communicate specifically about the strengths, needs, and direction of this child so a
specific action plan can be created. The PCP model chosen to support James was
Making Action Plans (MAPS). This model was chosen because it is designed for
school aged children with disabilities. It brings important people in the childs life
together to discuss what that student can do. It lays the foundation for teamwork
which is necessary for the support of the individuals dreams. These aspects make
it a fitting plan for James and his family.
Pre-planning:
Guests were invited to James PCP meeting on June 29, 2015 at his home. I
contacted his mother (Courtney), father (Tim), grandmother (Diane), and special
education teacher (Sam) by phone. All were excited to participate in the meeting.
Agenda:
I planned for the meeting to last two hours. I wrote MAPS questions down to
provide a guideline for conversation. The questions were:
What is the students history?
What is your dream for the child?
What is your nightmare?
Who is the student?
What are the students gifts?
What are the students needs?

What would an ideal day at school be like for the child?

Each question was written on a sheet of paper on which I would write the responses
of the people at the meeting.
Meeting:
James PCP meeting was a successful means for creating an action plan for
this student. The conversation was supportive and positive. To begin the meeting I
explained to the guests what a PCP is, what MAPS is, and why I had chosen to
create one for James. I was sure to provide a rational as to why each person was
invited to the meeting as well. Before starting the questions, I also described the
end goal of the meeting which was to create an action plan for the student to be
carried out by his support team to address the current strengths and needs of the
student. We are reaching for a dream.
When asked What is the history of the child? the responses were fairly
straightforward. James was diagnosed as having autism spectrum disorder at age
seven. His mother is certain that vaccines caused the disability. James was in an
inclusive classroom until grade four at which point he was put in a self-contained
classroom. When James reached fifth grade, his parents made the decision to
homeschool the student. James just finished his second year of fifth grade at home
and will continue sixth grade in a homeschool setting. Other than weak muscle
tone, James is a healthy child with no history of illness.
This was the first question I asked and it was immediately apparent than
James mother, Courtney, was the leader of his support team. She answered the
questions quickly and matter-of-factly while the other guests added their thoughts
after she had spoken.

The questions What is your dream for the child? pleased the guests at
James meeting and everyone had something to add. Courtneys dream for her son
was independence. Tim, James father, wants James to go to college or vocational
school. His grandmother wants him to be happy and his special education teacher
wants him to remain focused at school and become a fluent reader. I was happy to
see how excited the guests were to answer this question. It shows their love,
support, and thoughtfulness of James.
What is your nightmare? elicited a different response and emotion for the
guests. The general theme for this question was dependence. James could very
well be living with some form of support for the rest of his life, but his family and
teacher want to see him with housing, with a job, with skills, and with friends. To
think of James as being unfit to be an independent, productive member of society is
a nightmare. I thought this question, although a bit painful, was good because it
required his support team to address what they did not want for James. Because
they know this, they will be able to look at a structured action plan and take the
steps necessary to move away from the nightmare.
I then asked the guests to answer the question Who is the student? by
giving me words or short phrases. A big brother, funny, kind, caring for his baby
sister, singer, actor, mimicker, a hard worker (when conditions are right), and
animal lover were all said. This helped me to see that James was a valued member
of his family and his ties to his siblings are strong. From my observations of the
student, I know that schoolwork can be a struggle and that its difficult for James to
stay on task and motivated in school. I thus appreciated his fathers response of
hard worker. This showed me that he sees potential in James and that he focuses
on the positive rather than the negative.

The question of the students gifts and needs were met with a general
consensus. James is a good skier, he has an excellent memory for media, he is
grade level for math, he has a good sense of direction and once hes been
somewhere he can remember how to get back. James is good at baking and can
multiply recipes so that there is enough for his large family. His love for his family
was brought up again as a strength. As far as weaknesses, James has difficulty
reading for long periods of time (more than 5 minutes) and struggles with retention
and comprehension. He also dislikes reading. Socially, James doesnt have many
friends outside of his brothers and sisters. He struggles to maintain conversation
and is easily distracted and upset. He does not react to the unexpected well. His
weaknesses are typical of his disability and therefore there are many available,
research based practices to address them. When applied to James with his
personality, strengths, and behaviors in mind, strides can be made to support the
needs of this child.
The last question, What would an ideal day at school be like for the child?
had mixed responses because James is not in a typical school setting. The guests
answered the question in two ways. Ideally, his mom said, James would be fully
included at a public or private school with the support of a classroom aide. He
would be able to transition from subject to subject, at grade level, without any
major upsets in a day. This is unobtainable vision at the present. So, in his
homeschool classroom, an ideal day would be one in which James maintained focus
for 90% of his school hours. He would show some level of intrinsic motivation
toward his schoolwork, avoid meltdowns, demonstrate comprehension in his reading
material, and finish all work before 2:00 in the afternoon.

Using the information I received through our conversation, I was able to

create an action plan to support the gifts and needs of the student. A major
component of the plan is its visual appeal and display of positive components. It
was decided that the goals to be worked on for the summer of 2015 would be
relationship building, reading stamina, and age appropriate responses towards
upsets in James day. See the plan below.

The PLAN: