Case Study Mickey Mouse

APSY 693.71
University of Calgary P. Veleno

M. Mouse

Confidential ASSESSMENT PLAN

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NAME: DATE OF BIRTH: CHRONOLOGICAL AGE: PARENTS: GRADE/SCHOOL: Reason for Assessment

MICKEY MOUSE July 1, 2001 7 years, 9 months John and Jane Mouse 2/Disneyland Elementary

Mickey was referred for an assessment due to concerns with his academic progress, his socio-emotional development, as well as inattention and hyperactivity. Background Information Based on available information within his school file, Mickey has struggled with issues pertaining to academics, particularly in the areas of reading fluency, math computation skills, printing legibility, written expression, motor planning and fine motor development. Furthermore, Mickey has demonstrated difficulties with respect to listening skills and attention span. From a behavioural perspective, Mickey has a history of behavioural problems associated with boundaries issues, including invading the personal space of peers, and social skill deficits, however according to school records, these appear to have improved somewhat over the course of the last year. Finally, Mickey has been noted to have accessed occupational therapy services in November 2007. The Occupational Therapy report indicated that Mickey had difficulties with respect to sequencing and writing the alphabet, letter formation, consistency of letter sizing and printing on the line, and difficulty copying from the board. Mickey was also found to have high sensory needs. In order to properly address Mickeys psycho-educational needs, an assessment of his strengths and weaknesses will be required, which will inform future programming. Assessment, therefore, will focus on the following areas: attention, academic, socio-emotional, and medical.

M. Mouse Attention

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Both direct and indirect procedures will be used to assess Mickeys attention. First, it is important to review all available documentation, including medical and school records, respectively, to determine whether there is a documented history of problems in this area. Furthermore, interviews with Mickey, directly, and with mediators who know him well are crucial to help ascertain his strengths and weaknesses in this regard. This would include interviewing both his parents, and his classroom teacher, respectively. Data gathered via interviews would further help guide the assessment process by providing contextual information that would otherwise by unavailable in formal assessment tools. Observation of Mickey would be necessary within both the classroom and home settings, if possible. There is value in observing the child within all settings because behaviours can be affected by the environment, and by the demands associated within each setting. Also, it would be advantageous to complete two independent observations within the classroom: one observation should take place during a period when Mickeys father is home, while another observation should take place during a period when his father is away since information gathered thus far indicates that Mickeys behavioural presentation may be potentially negatively influenced by his fathers absence, i.e., when on business trips. Particular attention will be given to Mickeys activity levels, ability to follow directions, distractibility, ability to initiate and stay on task, and levels of concentration, etc. This information will be collected and also compared with his test behaviour during future norm-referenced testing. Lastly, Mickeys parents and teacher, respectively, will be provided with The Conners Rating Scales Revised (CRS-R) to complete. This norm-referenced scale is used to measure peoples perceptions as it relates to the identification of possible problems in attention and/or hyperactivity. Scores derived from Mickeys parents and teacher will be compared, and may cue the need for further investigation, in this regard. An added advantage to using this scale is that it may be used to yield useful information regarding student anxiety levels, which may manifest in psychosomatic symptoms, including headaches and stomach aches. These are symptoms that Mickey has reportedly experienced over the course of the school year.

M. Mouse Academic

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Comprehensive academic assessment will require the use of several assessment tools to determine learning aptitude, adaptive behaviour, and areas of academic strength and weakness. Aside from a review of academic records, classroom quizzes and tests, mediator interviews, i.e., parents and teacher, and information gathered via direct observation, it would be necessary to use formal intelligence tests to assess learning aptitude. A good overall tool to consider in this regard would be the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). The WISC-IV is useful for children aged 6-0 to 16-11, and provides a full scale IQ score, in conjunction with four composite scores in the following areas: Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory, and Processing Speed. The WISC-IV has very good psychometric properties and standardization, and provides helpful information pertaining to the child`s intellectual functioning. Tests of cognitive ability help provide an estimate of overall intellectual functioning. These tests serve to predict achievement in important school subjects such as reading, math, language studies, and academic knowledge. By comparing derived scores from these tests to Mickey`s WISC-IV scores, it can be determined whether Mickey is performing close to his actual academic abilities and may help establish whether there are other factors that are affecting his school performance. Two possible norm-referenced tests that would be appropriate for use with Mickey in this regard include: the Weschler Individual Achievement Test-Second Edition (WIATII), or the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III). Both tests are appropriate for children ranging in age from preschool to late adulthood, and both can be administered within one hour, approximately. While both tests adequately measure a broad range of general cognitive functioning tasks and academic aptitudes, an advantage of the WIAT-II includes the fact that it is co-normed with other Weschler tests, and therefore may be easier to interpret than the WJ-III. The WIAT-II contains nine subtests intended to assess reading skills, math skills, written language, and oral language. As such, it clearly is an appropriate tool for use with Mickey, given his documented struggles in all of the aforementioned domains, except oral language, respectively. In order to assess Mickeys reading skills, the Brigance Diagnostic Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills Revised (CIBS-R) would be administered. The CIBS-R is a criterionreferenced test that is appropriate for school aged children ranging in age from preschool to grade 9, which assesses reading skills such as word recognition, grade placement, oral reading, reading

M. Mouse

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comprehension, word analysis, and functional word recognition. Further to this, it may be worthwhile to consider using informal strategies of reading assessment, including error analysis of oral reading responses on formal tests, in conjunction with gathering information via interviews with his parents and current teacher. Given his difficulties with math computation, it would be prudent to administer the Operations subtests found within the Keymath Revised/Normative Update (Keymath R/NU). The Keymath R/NU is a norm-referenced and domain referenced test which takes less than an hour to complete, and is appropriate for children in ranging in age from 5-0 to 22-11. The Operations subtests, specifically, evaluate competencies in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and mental computation. These are areas of concern regarding Mickey. Scores derived from these subtests would help identify performance levels across the domain in question and would allow for confirmation of strengths and/or weaknesses in this area. Mickeys written language achievement would be assessed using the Test of Written Language 3. This test is designed to help identify students who need support with their writing and/or who are functioning significantly more poorly than their age-equivalent peers with respect to writing tasks. It can be used to identify particular areas of strength and weakness in several of the written language skills involved in composition. Furthermore, given Mickeys apparent difficulties with motor planning, fine motor development, and printing legibility, another useful test to administer may include the Zaner-Bloser Evaluation Scales. These scales require the collection of a standard writing sample, in which handwriting is rated based on five factors: shape, slant, spacing, size, and smoothness. These scales provide an estimate of the quality of the students overall handwriting. Furthermore, reviewing Mickeys existing writing samples and/or observing him during an activity that requires writing, followed by the completion of error analysis procedures, to determine legibility and speed of completion of the writing task would provide further useful information. Socio-Emotional Development To assess Mickeys socio-emotional development, several methods will be used. His behaviour will be observed, as indicated earlier, across both the home and school settings, respectively. Further to this, while in school, observations will be made during structured time within the classroom, and unstructured time, such as time spent during

M. Mouse

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lunch period or during recess. This provides valuable information regarding how Mickey interacts with peers across different settings, and allows for the assessment of social skills, problem-solving strategies, etc. Furthermore, administration of the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) may yield valuable information regarding strengths and weaknesses in social skill development. This scale can be given to parents, teachers and the student. Results yield information pertaining to social skills, problem behaviours, and/or academic competence, depending upon who is required to complete the scale. Data gathered via the aforementioned methods will be complemented by gathering information from parent, teacher and student interviews, a review of educational records, including previous report cards, and other records within his school file. Medical Given Mickey`s history of migraine headaches and stomach aches, it may be worthwhile to consider a referral to a medical doctor to rule out any possible health-related concerns that may be contributing to his problems at school, followed by suggested treatment interventions, such as medication, if appropriate. It is possible that his migraines and stomach aches are a direct result of socio-emotional issues, such as anxiety related to school performance. Further to this, since his last vision appointment was completed over two years ago, strong consideration should be given to arranging an appointment with an ophthalmologist in order to re-assess his vision and evaluate the appropriateness of his current prescription eyewear. Further to this, Mickey`s tendency to wearing his eyeglasses in the classroom should be monitored and tracked during all periods of direct observation in order to determine whether his academic performance may be affected by his ability to see information presented in visual formats.

The strategies outlined in this report represent the intended methods to assess Mickey Mouse. If there are any questions regarding the content of this report, please contact the undersigned.

M. Mouse Sincerely,

Confidential

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_______________________________ Pasquale Veleno, B.Sc. Master`s Student, Division of Applied Psychology University of Calgary