THE CASE OF JOHANN JOSEF

Johann Josef was born in 1992. His mother and siblings fondly call him JJ. His
father left their home when he was 6 months old and he does not have any
memories of the man. JJ and his immediate family lived in his maternal
grandfathers house in a middle-class subdivision at Catalunan Grande. It was his
grandfather who taught him to walk after his first birthday, as he was quite delayed
due to being constantly carried by his nanny who cared for him since he was 4
months old whenever his mother was not around. JJ was particularly attached to his
grandfather. On the night after his grandfather was laid to rest at Davao Memorial
Park on September 28, 1995, JJ slept on the latters bed and continued to do so for
a long time.

A day after JJ was born; a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Davao City. While other
babies in the nursery cried, JJ remained fast asleep. Even when he was picked up
by his mother as she ran down stairs to safety JJ did not even wince. As a baby JJ
did not like to be picked up, though, and preferred to be in the hammock while his
nanny rocked it until he fell asleep. He was indifferent to most things happening
around him but was quite sensitive to loud sounds. Whenever one particular
maternal aunt sang in a high pitched off-key tone JJ would cry. JJ seemed not to
fear anything. One time when a big glass on a window broke he tried to catch it and
almost cut off his right ring finger. He did not even wince and just looked at the
bleeding. At the hospital he just looked at the dressings and injections that were
done to him. And even during periodic immunizations, he never cried. As JJ grew up
there were incidents when he would spin around whenever he was agitated about
his siblings and did not even get nauseated. He slapped his older brother whenever
the latter would attempt to hug him. Most of the time JJ preferred to play alone with
his trainer bicycle. He played with it endlessly and loved taking off the wheels and
putting them on again.

JJ had a particular penchant for eating Burger Mcdo Value meal. He wanted to have
it for breakfast, lunch, and supper. His mother indulged him on this as he was not
taking milk, being lactose intolerant. He preferred a kapok pillow with seeds that he
could play with his fingers until he slept. He had the habit of touching and smelling
things.

JJ had normal hearing; yet he did not speak until after his third birthday and
exhibited speech difficulties. He could not pronounce r, replacing it with l; he
pronounced b and g as d (dlue for blue and dleen for green); and tubig was
pronounced as tibig even when he could pronounce tu and big as independent
syllables. When JJ took the written entrance examinations at a local school JJ did
not finish his work. JJ learned to read when he was already seven years old and all
through the primary and secondary school years JJ struggled with school work. He
obtained grades that were just enough to pass each level. He was out of the
classroom most of the time and refused to face his teachers and classmates,
particularly, the females. He had no friends and clutched on to his lunchbox then sat
outside of the classroom. Eventually, his classmates learned to accept JJ as he
was. He began to have friends only when he was in grade two.
JJs mother did not give up on his condition but did not know who to consult at that
time. Neurodevelopmental pediatricians arrived in Davao City only in 2000. She
enrolled JJ in supplemental mathematics classes, basketball training, art, and
classical guitar lessons. At home they always played word games like Scrabble,
Word factory, and Up Words. Along with his siblings JJ started honing computer
skills early. All of them mastered typing and other applications at a young age. JJs
intense concentration on perfecting repetitive solitary work made him excel in any
activity he chose to engage in. His motor skills became exceptional too; he was
always the star player in basketball, bowling, and badminton and was the champion
in Chinese table tennis. He never lost in any game of Chess. He gave his first
classical guitar recital at age 6 and because of his exceptional skill; he was featured
by GMA TV despite his refusal to perform in a crowd. He only agreed to perform
when he saw that there were only four people in the taping/recording studio.

It came as a pleasant surprise to his mother when JJ finished as top student in

college with a degree in computer science, a 4-year weekend course in a technical
school. His mother enrolled him in a small school where he would have less
chances of being overwhelmed by external stimuli. JJ was very popular because of
his good looks, physical fitness and skills in math, English, and computers. But he
only had four friends until he graduated at age 18. Ladies tried to engage him in talk
and relationships but he never indulged them. During weekdays JJ was at TESDA-
KORPHIL where he earned his NCs in CHS and Industrial Automation and
Mechatronics. JJs mother gave him all opportunities to develop his potentials.
When he decided to apply in a local law school he finished no. 2 in the list over 900
applicants. There, he finished each semester at the top of each class. He read his
books fast and memorizes details without much effort. Even with speech difficulties,
JJ has become argumentative and very rigid about his beliefs. He now has a few
friends who he claims are just like him.

He is fixated about his classical guitar and spends endless hours playing it. If he is
not doing so, he just reads books. He prefers to stay home, shuns social occasions,
and refuses to have his photograph taken most of the time. He is in his fourth year
in law school but does not have a school ID card until now. His mobile phone is
always in silent mode and he seldom replies to text messages.

Although JJ has limited human contact, he nonetheless loves animals, especially

cats. Even as an adult he cries whenever a cat dies or is missing. He says some of
his cats are special like him.

Submitted by:

LIZA TERESA D. TOLEDO

M.S. Psychology

Date: December 1, 2016

 A. INTRODUCTION

Johann Josef, was fondly called JJ and was born in 1992. Growing up, his
grandfather was his male figure. He was indifferent to most things happening around
him but was quite sensitive to loud sounds. As JJ grew up there were incidents when
he would spin around whenever he was agitated about his siblings and did not even
get nauseated. Most of the time JJ preferred to play alone with his trainer bicycle.
He played with it endlessly and loved taking off the wheels and putting them on
again. He even had the habit of touching and smelling things. JJ had normal hearing;
yet he did not speak until after his third birthday and exhibited speech difficulties. He
could not pronounce r, replacing it with l; he pronounced b and g as d (dlue
for blue and dleen for green); and tubig was pronounced as tibig even when he
could pronounce tu and big as independent syllables. When JJ took the written
entrance examinations at a local school JJ did not finish his work. JJ learned to read
when he was already seven years old and all through the primary and secondary
school years JJ struggled with school work. He had no friends and clutched on to his
lunchbox then sat outside of the classroom. Eventually, his classmates learned to
accept JJ as he was. He began to have friends only when he was in grade two.

JJs mother consulted a Neurodevelopmental pediatrician in 2000. She enrolled

JJ in supplemental mathematics classes, basketball training, art, and classical guitar
lessons. JJs intense concentration on perfecting repetitive solitary work made him
excel in any activity he chose to engage in. His motor skills became exceptional too;
he was always the star player in basketball, bowling, and badminton and was the
champion in Chinese table tennis. He never lost in any game of Chess. JJ finished
as top student in college with a degree in computer science, a 4-year weekend
course in a technical school. His mother enrolled him in a small school where he
would have less chances of being overwhelmed by external stimuli. JJ was very
popular because of his good looks, physical fitness and skills in math, English, and
computers. But he only had four friends until he graduated at age 18. During
weekdays JJ was at TESDA-KORPHIL where he earned his NCs in CHS and
Industrial Automation and Mechatronics. He is fixated about his classical guitar and
spends endless hours playing it. If he is not doing so, he just reads books. He
prefers to stay home, shuns social occasions, and refuses to have his photograph
taken most of the time. He is in his fourth year in law school but does not have a
school ID card until now. His mobile phone is always in silent mode and he seldom
replies to text messages. Although JJ has limited human contact, he nonetheless
loves animals, especially cats. Even as an adult he cries whenever a cat dies or is
missing. He says some of his cats are special like him.
 B. REASON FOR REFERRAL

C. JUSTIFICATION OF DIAGNOSIS

DSM Criteria Given Facts

1. Delay - he was constantly carried by a nanny

- walking - prefers to stay in the hammock

- speech and language - he did not speak until after his third
birthday and exhibited speech difficulties
2. Sensitive to sounds - If someone would sing in high
pitches, hed cry

3.

4.