Running head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Individual Differences Student Profile

Annie Eads
College of Southern Idaho
Dr. Egbert
EDUC 205
Fall 2014

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Abstract
This paper is about the life of Jessie Swanson. Jessie is a 6th grade student with Down syndrome.
She has many obstacles and challenges in her life. With the help of her school and family she is
able to overcome these challenges. This paper explores Jessies life on a daily basis, whether she
is at school or at home.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Individual Differences Student Profile

Jessie Swanson is beautiful girl inside and out. She has had to overcome obstacles in her
life, but she does so with help from her community, family, and peers. Her physical and
cognitive developments are not that of a normal child, but that does not slow her down.
General Information
Jessie is 12 years old. She is a white female. Jessies family is a nuclear family. She lives
with her parents and two brothers. One brother is older and in high school. The other brother is
younger and recently adopted from India. Jessie attends a full day of school just like any other
student. Classes start at 7:30 A.M. and are over at 3:00 P.M. Once she has returned from school,
Jessie takes care of horses and other house hold chores that she is responsible for.
Physical Development
Jessie has blonde hair, blue eyes, and white skin. Physically she appears the same as her
fellow students. She wears glasses. Her hearing is normal. Jessie has a condition called asthma
which affects her lungs and breathing. Overall Jessie is in good health. She is right hand
dominant and uses her right hand for all activities. She is very fit physically. Jessie has a lot of
strength. She enjoys riding horses and participating in P.E. and recess. Volleyball is one of her
favorite activities. Jessie has good range of motion which helps her to participate in such
activities like volleyball. Nutritionally Jessie has a very well rounded diet and has no eating
restrictions.
Cognitive Development

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Jessie is currently in the 6th grade. She attends a private Christian school. She attends a
class in a regular classroom, but also takes classes that are special to her needs. These special
classes are attended three times a week and are geared towards helping Jessie with life skills and
any areas that she may be struggling in academically. Jessie really enjoys writing. Writing letters
to friends is something that she likes to do frequently. Memorization is a very strong skill for
Jessie. She enjoys learning about cars and likes to memorize facts about them. Jessie sometimes
struggles with concentration, focusing on the task at hand, when she is in the classroom setting,
but reminding her of what the objective, the task that needs to be accomplished, is helps bring
her back. Piaget believed that behavior and biological acts are acts of adaptation to the demands
of the physical environment (Sardo-Brown). As far as Piagets stages of cognitive development
Jessie has been on track enough to advance with her peers.
Socio-emotional Development
Jessie is very outgoing and loves making new friends. Her teachers and principal are both
aware of how social Jessie is. People around Jessie say that she has a way of finding other
students that are very nice and not always in her grade. She really likes taking part in cooperative
learning, teams with different levels of learning ability working together, because of the group
atmosphere. Jessie enjoys writing letters to students as a way of reaching out to them for
friendship. She likes to talk with adults and other students. If given the chance Jessie will talk
forever. She is somewhat of a social butterfly according to her teachers. Jessie is a very
positive girl. However it is unclear to me how she feels about her own image. Jessie likes to
problem solve out loud. According to Vygotsky children sometimes do this as a way to guide
themselves through a task. Even though Jessie progresses with her peers and moves through
socio-emotional stages somewhat normally she may never in fact be normal, meaning that

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Jessie may never have a job or may never move out of her parents home. Jessies ability of
decision making, the process of making decisions, is a big factor in her life progression.
Summary of Major Findings
Jessie attends a private school and I think that this is beneficial to her. The school is
smaller so its kind of like a big family for Jessie, but at the same time there is so much diversity,
range of difference in the student body, that Jessie isnt looked at differently. Jessies
schoolmates are very accepting and dont conform Jessie to a stereotype, a widely held, but fixed
idea of a particular type of person. Her actual family is very supportive and always at school
functions. I think the most important thing is that no one really treats Jessie like she is different.
She is very happy and enthusiastic individual all the time. She is very interested in horses and
cars. She definitely likes to talk about and share her interests with friends. Jessie also enjoys
journal writing, the documentation of ones daily routines or thoughts, both at home and in class.
Conclusions
Cognitively Jessie is doing well. She is learning, even though it might not be at the same
pace as her peers. Sometimes Jessie demonstrates fits of misbehavior, acting out or disregard for
instructions, but this is usually only after she has experienced what she feels is a loud reprimand,
a loud verbal display of punishment. She is easy to understand although she may struggle at
times when she is trying to make her point. Sometimes she doesnt have the words to express
how she feels and it frustrates her. Jessie takes special classes so that she can learn both life skills
and get extra help on school work. She is at the same physical maturation as her peers. She has
some vision problems, but they are corrected with glasses. Jessie is a very strong girl. She is
gifted, exceptionally talented in a specific area, in a sense that she has an incredible ability for

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

memorization, for example, the memorization of car makes and models. She loves physical
activities especially horseback riding and playing volleyball. Jessie is incredibly social. Students
have complained to teachers that Jessie will not leave them alone. Sometimes she has a hard time
understanding when someone does not want to play with her and it tends to give her anxiety, a
feeling of worry or nervousness.
Jessie is receiving everything she needs at this point for her education. She is currently doing
very well. Having friends that are respectful of Jessie and her feelings is very helpful. Jessies
family is very supportive of her and anything that she may want to do.
I feel that normalcy is something that will be very beneficial to Jessie. In that, I mean, treating
Jessie just as if she was just like everyone else. No one likes to be treated differently and Jessie is
no exception. In her special needs classes, lessons should be geared towards areas that she is
struggling in. Developing a routine, a set schedule, for Jessie to follow will be very beneficial,
because there wont be any surprises. She will know exactly what is going to happen throughout
her day. Understanding that there are certain norms, the usual, for Jessie, this is important for her
teachers to know. The implementation of practice effects, the idea of rehearsing a concept over
and over until retention is clear, because Jessie is more inclined to memorization this strategy
should help with her learning.
Jessie may be different, but that doesnt mean she needs to be treated differently. If I have
learned anything from my time observing and just getting to know her, it is the value of patience.
To be a good teacher for any type of student it is important to remember to be patient. Everyone
learns at a different pace.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

References
Parsons, R.D., Hinson, S.L. & Sardo- Brown, D. (2008) Educational Psychology: College of
Southern Idaho. Belmont, CA: Thompson Learning, Inc.