Running head: CASE STUDY: VEE 1

Case Study: Vee

Sierra Gentry

Tarleton State University

CASE STUDY: VEE 2

Abstract

Through observing a classroom serving students with developmental disabilities, preservice

educators can learn about the structures and processes involved in working with students with

developmental disabilities. This case study analyzes a Preschool Program for Children with

Disabilities (PPCD) class and a six-year-old student in the class with cerebral palsy. Information

regarding the students past progress, current functioning, and future planning was collected

through various means of assessment and data including an adaptive behavioral scale, ecological

inventory, and interviews with educators. The data is analyzed to complete a person-centered

planning diagram, and a lesson plan was written and taught to the class. The case study

concludes with a summary of the field experience observations connecting back to how to teach

students with developmental disabilities.

Keywords: special education, field experience, PPCD, developmental disabilities

CASE STUDY: VEE 3

Case Study: Vee

For the past three months, I have spent over ten hours observing a Preschool Program for

Children with Disabilities (PPCD) classroom. The classroom consisted of four to six students

depending on the time of day. The teacher had two paraprofessionals working in the classroom

with other educators and therapists visiting occasionally. In the time spent in my field

experience, I was able to observe, interact, and work with a student on one of her Individualized

Education Program (IEP) goals each week. My target student, whom I will refer to as Vee, is a

six-year-old girl who functions at an infant level. Since entering schooling, her educators have

primarily focused her IEP goals on functional skills over academic skills. In this study, I learned

about the background of Vees condition, her behaviors, preferences, and functioning level.

Through careful observation and interviews, I established my goals for her, along with her needs,

and ideal school day characteristics. Using the information gathered, I taught a lesson to the class

based on Vees IEP goal that could benefit everyone.

Part I: Assessment Processes, Procedures & Ecological Inventory

Past History

Vees teacher shared some information about Vee so that I could learn more about her.

Vee is classified under the category of other health impairments (OHI). She has cerebral palsy

(CP), sensory impairments, seizures, and uses a wheelchair. Her medical information, dietary

restrictions, and allergies were not shared, but I assume that due to her classification under many

conditions, she takes medication at least for her seizures. Her teacher did make me aware of her

ongoing challenging behavior, though. She cannot focus on tasks, and she lacks effort in

completing tasks due to her lack of focus. She often throws objects in defiance or when wanting

to get attention from adults. I have also noticed that she puts her fingers in the spokes of her
CASE STUDY: VEE 4

wheelchair and chews her fingers frequently. I believe that this behavior is occurring when she is

bored or knows that she has been acting out in class. Vee has a heavy speech impairment which

causes her to be nonverbal. She does communicate with facial expressions, body language, and

sounds. In school, she has been working on using a four switch communication device, the

Choose3 application on the iPad, and a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to

communicate (Westling, Fox, & Carter, 2014, p. 107). Like any other child, Vee has her likes and

dislikes. Her teacher found out this year that Vee hates loud sounds and people in costumes

among many other things children typically enjoy, but Vee has one interest that stands out among

them all: Vee loves people. She is fascinated when watching and interacting with people, so

although she is nonverbal, Vee is an extremely social child.

Since Vees time in school, many objectives have been given to her, but few have been

completed in entirety. Recently, Vee has managed to hold herself into a crawl position and

maintain the skill upon completion. Vee also manages her ability to keep food in her mouth

rather than spitting it out. Vees attention has always been a problem, so the teacher and

paraprofessionals have been working on pulling her away from distractions to help her focus on

tasks. With removal from distractions, Vee fairs well with attention. As mentioned earlier, Vee is

learning how to use augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC) to

communicate needs and reinforcers (Westling et al., 2014, p. 242). She has also been working on

walking with assistance from adults. While it does not seem like Vee has made much progress,

she has made more significant progress this year so far as expressed by her teacher.
CASE STUDY: VEE 5

Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale

Adaptive behavior scales are used to determine individuals functioning in day-to-day

activities (Westling et al., 2014, p. 107). I used a version of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior

Scale to rate Vees functionality in four different domains and several different activities. Due to

the limited time of my observation, areas left blank were not evaluated or not applicable to Vees

daily living.

When analyzing her results, I discovered that she functions low in all of the activities, but

her highest scores come from the socialization domain. Her receptive communication was fair,

but her expressive and written communication was nearly impossible to score because she is

nonverbal and does not have the fine motor skills to write on her own yet. All of her daily living

skills were ranked low as expected which is why it continues to be the focus of her learning in

school. Her motor skills were less than satisfactory, as well, due to her lack of effort. Below is

the completed Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale Assessment data:

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Student Preferences & Reinforcers

When discussing reinforcers to motivate her learning, Vees teacher claims that there few

that work beside people. She does like to look at mirrors, bubbles, feather boas, and people, of

course. She seems to enjoy listening to music during music therapy, so I consider music to be

another reinforcer for her. She likes being tickled on her lower back, tickled with feather boas,

and the feeling of wet bubbles. Anything relating to smell or taste is not a reinforcer for Vee.

Listed below are her top reinforcers identified by her teacher:

Rank Reinforcer
1 People (watching, listening to)
2 Feather boas (watching, feeling)
3 Tickles (on lower back, with feather boas)
4 Bubbles (watching, and feeling)
5 Mirrors (watching)
6 Music (listening to)

Chronological Age Academic Skills

Due to her levels of functioning, Vees teacher and paraprofessionals mostly focus on

teaching her daily living skills. However, academic skills are just as important in school. For

example, the Texas Education Agencys (TEA) Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines (2015) claims

that by the end of prekindergarten, children should have developed some measurement skills

under the mathematics domain (p. 96). The guideline states, Child recognizes how much can be

placed within an object (TEA, 2015, p. 96). An activity that incorporates this skill may include

the students being provided with different sized containers and objects where they may be asked

to predict how many of each object fits into the container before testing their guesses. If I were to

change this activity for Vee, I would allow her to use a switch with physical objects to choose if

several or few of the objects could fit into each container. She tends to understand symbols better

when there are three-dimensional objects for her to look at rather than a picture. During the
CASE STUDY: VEE 19

activity, I would allow her to put the objects in while someone else counts. This would allow Vee

to work with others, practice crucial fine motor skills, and use her communication devices

effectively.

Ecological Inventory

According to Westling et al. (2014), ecological inventories are used to determine how

students with disabilities perform in certain environments (p. 110). The process consists of an

evaluator determining settings, specific activities that occur in these settings, and how students

typically perform in the skills included in the setting activities (Westling et al., 2014, p. 110).

After this, the evaluator would observe a student and record how they perform in each activity in

the specified settings (Westling et al., 2014, p. 110). During my observation, I prepared and

completed an ecological inventory on Vee in the PPCD classroom and the school playground.

Below is a copy of the ecological inventory performed:

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Ecological Inventory: Academic Domain

Environments Sub Activities Skills

Environments

School PPCD Classroom Music Therapy Sitting still for the duration
Singing with the class
Responding to therapist
Snack Asking for a snack
Feeding herself a snack
Cleaning up after eating
snack
Whole Class Instruction Sitting still for the duration
Listening to those talking
Responding when
appropriate
Playground Playing on the playground Swinging on swings
Climbing on the play
equipment
Sliding down slides
Interacting with sit down
play equipment (ex. drums)
Interacting with peers Saying hello
Playing with peers
Responding in a
conversation
CASE STUDY: VEE 21

In music therapy, Vee is able to sit still for the duration, but because she is non-verbal,

she does not sing or respond to the music therapist. She is able to clap and play instruments when

guided by an adult. During afternoon snack time, Vee is given her snack rather than being

required to ask for it. She has been working on using utensils to eat and drinking from a straw, so

she is almost able to eat independently, even though she does not clean up her area after snack

time. During whole class instruction, Vee typically sits still and looks around while partially

listening to the person teaching. She, still, does not respond verbally.

Playing on the playground can be a difficult feat for Vee without assistance. She has the

potential to swing on the swings with backs and leg holes and may be able to climb on

equipment or slide down slides with help. She has the ability to interact with stationary

playground toys, like mazes and drums, but she doesnt care for this equipment. Her peer

interaction on the playground is much more involved than the play aspect. Vee will occasionally

greet others with a wave, smile, or laugh. Other students will want her to play with them, but she

prefers to stand and watch.

In addition to the ecological inventory, Vees teacher answered some questions regarding

her leisure activities, communication, behavioral issues, physical/sensory limitations, and social

skills. The only leisure interest discussed was Vees love of watching people, which was

prevalent in the ecological inventory. The teacher also reiterated Vees communication devices

that she has been working with. Other than that, her language is not extremely functional because

it is difficult to tell when she wants something or feels a certain way. This lack of proper

communication may be tied to her inappropriate behaviors of throwing things and putting her

hands in the spokes of her wheels or in her mouth, but there is no way to tell for sure. Her

physical abilities limit her abilities to use her legs, but she can use her hand and arms although
CASE STUDY: VEE 22

she often refuses to do so. The teacher has been having her use braces to help form Vees wrists

to proper positions. Although Vee has many limitations, it does not stop her from interacting with

other and vice versa. She is social with her body language, sounds, actions, etc. and she has

friends in and out of the PPCD classroom.

The ecological inventory assessment and interview process showed how Vee functions in

different environments. Typically, her actions are limited by her communication and physical

impairments, but her interest in each area is based on her fascination with people. She has been

working on certain goals to assist her in different areas like those discussed in the ecological

inventory, so maybe someday, Vee will be more willing and able to participate in the activities in

each environment.

Part II: Person-Centered Planning Process: McGill Action Planning System (MAPS)

Person Centered Planning Process

Person-centered planning is used as an individualized planning method that focuses more

on the positive aspects of the focus person and improving their quality of life (Westling et al.,

2014, p. 97). The McGill Action Planning System (MAPS) is an example of a person-centered

planning process that involves interviewing those familiar with the individual to answer

questions about their history, their abilities and needs currently, and what they envision for the

student in the future (Westling et al., 2014, p. 100). Although the process is typically extremely

thorough and time-consuming, I was able to perform a simplified version of MAPS with Vee

(Westling et al., 2014, p. 100). Below is a document providing the information collected from a

simplified MAPS interview regarding Vee and her priority needs and characteristics of an ideal

school day according to my observation and Vees teacher and paraprofessionals:

CASE STUDY: VEE 23

McGill Action Planning System Document

Who is she? History:

Vee is a happy six year Cerebral palsy, other
old girl. She has cerebral health impairments,
palsy and other health sensory impairments,
impairments which seizures, wheelchair use,
causes her to use a nonverbal, social, issues
wheelchair. Although she with communication and
is nonverbal, she is sassy, focus, challenging
social, and always behavior to get attention
curious.

Dream: develop better Ideal School Day:

communication skills, become Ideally, Vees
more independent when toileting school days should
and eating, moving on to work consist of her
on academic goals, able to toileting on her own
Strengths/Gifts/ focus with many distractions or with little
Abilities: assistance and
Staying happy feeding herself
and positive, during meals and
great smile, snack. If she
contagious continues to work
laughter, on it with the
improving in her teachers and
goals paraprofessionals,
this can be
achieved. She
Needs: would also
Few/no communicate with
distractions others, but the best
when performing option needs to be
tasks, peer decided upon first.
interaction, Vees challenging
practice with behavior would be
communication Nightmare: remaining nonexistent in her
devices, dependent, nor moving past ideal school day.
physical therapy, functioning skills, continuing her This can be
and continuing challenging behavior achieved by
progress continuing to teach
her how to get
attention and play
appropriately.
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Target Students Priority Needs

Myself Educators
Peer interaction Preferred communication method
Few/no distractions Progress on IEP goals
Academic goals Physical therapy/walking

Moving Toward the Ideal School Day

Myself Educators
Independent toileting Communicating well with others
Playing on the playground with peers Feeding herself
No behavioral issues No behavioral issues

Part III: Lesson Plan & Task Analysis (TA)

A Lesson on Scooping & Fine Motor Skills

Throughout my field experience, I was working with Vee on her spoon scooping skills.

When I told her teacher that I was thinking of doing a scooping lesson, she proposed that I do the

lesson for the class. I centered the lesson on Texas Prekindergarten Guideline IX.B.1. which

states that the child shows control of tasks that require small-muscle strength and control

(TEA, 2015, p. 119). I developed a game that includes scooping using fine motor skills and a

task analysis. A task analysis can be explained as breaking an action into several smaller actions

(Westling et al., 2014, p. 125). I created the task analysis around the action of scooping

repeatedly as the students would do during the game. Below is the lesson plan with task analysis

used for the game I developed called Scooper Stars!:

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Lesson Plan & Task Analysis

Scooper Stars!
Lesson Objective: Students will be able to scoop using various utensils.

Texas Pre-K Guidelines Addressed: IX.B.1. Child shows control of tasks that require small-
muscle strength and control.

ELPS addressed: 74.4. English language proficiency standards. C. 2) cross-curricular second

language acquisition/listening. The student is expected to: (e) use visual, contextual, and
linguistic support to enhance and confirm understanding of increasingly complex and elaborated
spoken language; (i) demonstrate listening comprehension of increasingly complex spoken
English by following directions, retelling or summarizing spoken messages, responding to
questions and requests, collaborating with peers, and taking notes commensurate with content
and grade-level needs.
Focus: This lesson will help students ability to scoop using various utensils. They can apply this
skill to their eating habits in order to become more independent when eating.

Instructional Delivery: Explanation of the game will take place as a whole class. Guided practice
will take place with 2-3 students per bin. Independent practice will occur individually during
snack time following the activity.

Task analysis:

Student grasps scooping utensil

Student puts scooping utensil in bin
Student scoops up items in bin with their scooping utensil
Student moves their scooping utensil to the bowl
Student pours out the items in their scooping utensil into the bowl
Student repeats these tasks until a star is found in their bin

Materials needed:
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Guided practice
o Sensory bins with material that can be scooped (rice, popcorn, oatmeal, etc.)
o Small cups, scoops, spoons, and other items that can scoop
o Small stars
o Bowls

Independent practice
o Bowls
o Food that can be scooped
o Spoons

Guided practice: Scooper Stars! Game

1. Small groups of students (1-3) gather around one sensory bin.

2. Each student has a scooping utensil that they must use to find the star in their bin.
3. Students carefully scoop up the items in their sensory bin until each student finds a star
inside.
4. Repeat as necessary with other scooping utensils.
5. Upon completion, students receive their scooper star status by keeping their star(s) they
found.

Prompts hierarchy: 1. No prompt

2. Gestural prompt
3. Verbal cue
4. Modeling
5. Partial physical assistance
6. Full physical assistance (hand-over-hand)

Independent practice: Students will apply their practice of scooping with various
scooping utensils to eating food with a spoon during snack time.

Closure: Tell the students that they are all scooper stars, and that they can be reminded
of this when they see their special stars they found.
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Lesson Implementation

For the lesson, I made three different sensory bins for the students to scoop from. I

included large scoops, small cups, and spoons in each bin. I explained the game to the students

before dividing them up into groups of two and three to play. Most of the students started out by

working with the scoops because they were the easiest to use. Once I noticed that the students

mastered the scoop, I advised them to try with the cups and the spoons. For the most part, Vee

was unmotivated to participate, so I had to guide her hands for the whole activity. The rest of the

class thoroughly enjoyed the game, and all of the students were able to improve their scooping

skills including Vee. If I were to do it differently, I would have used bigger but shallower bins to

ease the scooping action. Below are some pictures of myself teaching the lesson and helping the

students play:
CASE STUDY: VEE 28

Students scooping.

Modeling proper scooping.

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Student finds a star. Hand-over-hand scooping with Vee.

Part IV: Field Experience Summary Paper

To conclude my experience observing in a PPCD classroom, the closing of this case

study consists of a summative report of educational ideas that were observed in the classroom

and how they relate back to special education and teaching learners with developmental

disabilities. Below is the report:

CASE STUDY: VEE 30

PPCD Field Experience Summary Report

Sierra Gentry

Tarleton State University

CASE STUDY: VEE 31

PPCD Field Experience Summary Report

Over the past few months, I have been observing a Preschool Program for Children with

Disabilities (PPCD) classroom. The classroom typically has four to six students at a time, and

there is one teacher and two paraprofessionals overseeing the class. The students have various

disabilities, but my target student that I was observing, Vee, has cerebral palsy (CP) among other

health impairments. The teachers and paraprofessionals in the classroom treated me just like a

teacher, and they were very helpful in giving me meaningful experiences with the students in the

classroom. During the time of my field experience, I learned very much about inclusion and

teaching communication, feeding, and community and domestic skills.

Inclusion

All students, regardless of disability, have the right to be educated alongside their peers to

the greatest extent possible (Westling, Fox, & Carter, 2014, p. 205). This idea of inclusion has

many benefits when implemented correctly. Several studies have proven that students in

inclusive programs are able to succeed more academically (Westling et al., 2014, p. 208).

Similarly, students with disabilities have the ability to acquire more social skills under inclusion

and, therefore, have more opportunities for friendships and social interaction (Westling et al.,

2014, p. 209). Including students with disabilities into general education classrooms can also

benefit other peers by teaching them about diversity, acceptance, and how to help others

(Westling et al., 2014, p. 209). From what I observed in the classroom, the students who came

into the class for shorter amounts of time were typically more knowledgeable on academic

material and had more friends outside of the PPCD classroom. However, during recess, all

students would go out to the playground together, so the students who typically stayed in the

PPCD class were able to socialize with their peers. During this time, I observed all of the
CASE STUDY: VEE 32

students conversing and playing with each other. It was really sweet to see some students

approach Vee regularly to say hello and give her a hug. Although some students need to be in the

PPCD classroom to focus more on functional skills, inclusion in some areas of school can be

beneficial to everyone.

Communication

Learning about communication methods has been by far the most interesting element of

this experience for me. Students are all different in how they communicate specific needs and

desires that can range from conventional to atypical (Westling et al., 2014, p. 238). For example,

Sarah, an older kindergartener, will scream and cry when she wanted something while Lee, a

four-year-old, will raise his hand and ask for things directly. The methods of communication

used in the classroom were different for each student, as well. A majority of the students would

verbalize and use sign language to signal what they wanted for a snack during snack time. Vee is

nonverbal, so she has to learn how to communicate by other means. Her teacher has been

working on her ability to use switches with tangible objects and an electronic application to

express preferences. Another student in the class, Ian, who has Down syndrome, has trouble

communicating, so he relies on using sign language and pointing at pictures for direct selection

of snack preferences (Westling et al., 2014, p. 246). All of these students are able to utilize

multiple means of communication which can be helpful in different scenarios and settings

(Westling et al., 2014, p. 249). By observing the different communicational methods and

systems, I have learned to take each student into account when determining which systems will

work for them in different instances.

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Mealtime Skills

Visiting during snack time has shown me about teaching eating and drinking to students

with disabilities. Eating meals and snacks is a regular part of daily life, so learning mealtime

skills has been important for teaching students with disabilities (Westling et al., 2014, p. 331).

One of the first feeding skills learned is finger feeding (Westling et al., 2014, p. 331). There are

many opportunities to work on finger feeding in class time, so the students have been continually

developing the skill. The students are also learning to drink from a cup more independently, even

if it means using a straw. The goal I was working on with Vee during each visit was feeding

herself with a spoon. Using a spoon is one of the first steps towards independent eating, so this

goal is crucial towards Vee becoming more self-sufficient (Westling et al., 2014, p. 332). By

evaluating all students and their ability to feed themselves, teachers can focus on what each

student needs to work on to become more independent.

Community & Domestic Activities

Along with eating, learning certain community and domestic activities can help

individuals to become more autonomous. One kind of skill that falls under this category is

household chores like cooking and cleaning (Westling et al., 2014, p. 416). Although learning

how to do household chores may not be required or useful for some students, they can assist in

helping students function better in a home setting (Westling et al., 2014, p. 416). In my field

experience classroom, Ian and Lee are typically asked to help sweep and vacuum after snack

time. Both of these students have increased potential of living independently someday, so chores

are deemed an appropriate goal for them. Being knowledgeable about fire safety can fall under

the category of community and domestic activities as well because a fire can occur anywhere,

and students with disabilities need to be informed of how to handle it (Westling et al., 2014, p.
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420). One week in my field experience classroom, the students were learning about firefighters

and fire safety. In the lesson, the students were taught how to stop, drop, and roll. Although tasks

like cleaning and knowing what to do during a fire may seem second nature to adults, it is

important to teach to all children, and my field experience class has been practicing these

important tasks on a regular basis.

Conclusion

This experience has taught me a lot about teaching students with developmental

disabilities. From teaching communication skills to skills in the home, teaching students with

disabilities can be boiled down to one idea: individualized instruction. Each student is different,

so their goals and effective teaching methods will also be different. While Vee was working more

towards functional objectives, students like Lee were working on more academic goals, like

learning the alphabet. With all of the diversity in the PPCD classroom, no visit was like another.

Each day brought about new victories and challenges, but I loved this experience regardless. By

participating in the classroom for this field experience, I was able to connect many ideas from

the course into the teaching a special education class.

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References

Westling, D. L., Fox, L., & Carter, E. W. (2014). Teaching students with severe disabilities (5th

ed.). Pearson
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References

Sparrow, S. S., Balla, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (n.d.). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale:

Classroom Edition. Retrieved December 4, 2016, from

http://donpugh.com/Tests/vineland abs.pdf

Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines. (2015). Retrieved December 03, 2016, from

http://tea.texas.gov/pkg.aspx

Westling, D. L., Fox, L., & Carter, E. W. (2014). Teaching students with severe disabilities (5th

ed.). Pearson.

Authors Note: In order to protect the identities of the students, all identifying material was

altered. Pseudonyms were used for each child, and their faces have been obscured.