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PEPSI

Anahi Dallman

College of Southern Nevada

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Early Development History

Boy born in November of 2011 at a healthy eight pounds nine ounces no complications.

Did not originally pass newborn hearing screening but did pass two months after. Child number

five of six to Hispanic woman (25) and Caucasian Male (28) married parents. Family history of

maternal schizophrenia, bipolar, borderline personality, diabetes, and ADHD. Paternal Family

history of specific learning disabilities, ADHD, and essential tremor. All child developmental his

first year developed normally. For example, during the first month all the baby did was sleep,

cry, eat and poop. During the second month he was crying more but his legs were straightening

out, and his kicks were stronger etc. At age two mom noticed he was no longer babbling and was

silent. His eye contact was at a miss too. From year two abnormalities in his development were

more apparent that mom asked their pediatrician for help.

He was referred to a Nevada early intervention and evaluation was made autism

diagnosis was given in 2012 at age two. Nevada early interventions provided services such as

cognitive behavioral therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Child

regressed his skills at age four which called for more intense interventions provided referrals thru

pediatrician (neurologist, physical therapist, speech pathologist and behavioral specialist.)

Nevada early interventions after two year of services referred him to Child Find a month before

his third birthday. Child Find found him eligible under the category of autism to be placed in

under an IEP in a regular classroom with support. He had the ideal classroom which was a

positive place where he can come to work toward specific goals set for him in the class

objectives. His Pre-K teacher’s design and layout of the given classroom and its learning center

catered for his needs along with her other students[ CITATION Rus20 \l 1033 ].
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Emotional

At age five typical children begin articulating their feelings in a meaningful way. For

instance, a five-year-old child might say, "I don't like it when I have to go to bed early." He

cannot speak to communicate his feelings. So, he is more likely to express his anger getting

physical or throwing a tantrum, while a typical child would express their anger using words. The

lack of communication has been not just exceptionally hard on him but also on his classmates

and teacher. Which they have learned ways of accommodating his needs other ways to

communicate with him by assistive technology. For example, they use a program called Picture

Exchange Communication System (PECS) which is pictorial representations of actual objects

and actions[ CITATION USD19 \l 1033 ]. He has specific one for his emotions which are one of

the easiest and most direct forms of assistive technology to initiate and facilitate communication

for non-verbal children. He uses these specific ones for his emotions when needed to

communicate his emotional state.

His teacher taught him when he gets too upset taking deep breaths are good ways to calm

down his body. If that does not work, she talks to him one on one while drawing a picture.

Emotions don’t come easy to him yet he's starting to develop a sense of humor, and he loves

being silly and making people laugh. He has also gotten better at controlling his impulses. He

patiently waits his turn, and he often asks first before taking something that is not his using his

PECS. Communication is not a problem for him. He is very functional and loves using the PECS

which facilitates the way to communicate with any changes in his emotions[ CITATION

Pak19 \l 1033 ]. This helps his teacher’s warnings before a meltdown which takes thirty minutes

to recover. He has been able to cut down on the meltdowns from eleven plus a day to twice a day

because he is able to control his emotion and avoid unpleasant situation.

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Physical

His height is below average at two feet considering boys usually add two to three inches

in height each year and three to seven pounds a year. He has not grown in over two years, which

is a strong concern for a developing child his age. His weight is thirty-five pounds. which is

average of a five-year-old boy. Kindergartners are still developing and refining their gross motor

skills by using their arms and legs to move and play. As well as his fine motor skills working on

arts and crafts and puzzles which he has been able to do since he was four. By this age typical

children can usually hop on one foot and are learning to skip which he has been able to do since

he was three. His balance handling is very appropriate for his age he has mastered it. This helped

him to be able to dress himself along with handling buttons and zippers. He can not do it

completely without assistance from his mom, but he tries every day. He also just learned how to

tie his shoes (although many kids develop this skill later since Velcro has taken over children’s

footwear).

He can jump with one foot and he just started being able to run with more coordination.

Most five-year-old cannot jump a four feet wall like he can. His teacher mentioned that on

several occasions he has been able to jump over the playground wall and run off in seconds. His

strength is compared next to adult strength which is extremely rare for a child his age. His

pretend play is more complex now, filled with lots of fantasy and drama but he cannot sit still for

more than five minutes at a time. He is extremely very active and on the go from one activity to

the next. His favorite activity is tag and can run for an extremely long time. Like for example

more than four minutes at time for extremely long distance. Has better coordination getting the

arms, legs, and body to work together. His favorite recess activity is riding the tricycle while
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attempting to do it with one foot. He is very happy to ride his tricycle around and around for

most of recess which his teacher mentioned that he does every day during morning recess.

Philosophical

Children learn best in a nurturing, child-initiated play-based environment that fosters self-

confidence, trust, creativity, autonomy and acceptance of individual differences. He seems to

learn about the world by his surroundings. While he is also making mistakes, and figure things

out from sensory experiences. “The very fact of childhood is one of the ways we resolve that

tension between Plato and Aristotle’s theories,” says Gopnik[ CITATION Rus20 \l 1033 ]. As

most children at the age of five guestimate their age he does not know how old he does not

attempt to guess. He does not know the difference between school and home. He can tie his

shoes but cannot brush his teeth nor attempt to count higher than four.

Only within the last month has he begun to remember his last name. Still, ever since he

was first diagnosed with his neurodevelopmental condition at the age of three Autism on its own

is not classified as a mental illness. It is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects behavioral,

social, and cognitive life skills. Autism is a lifelong and incurable disability, for which it has not

yet been possible to identify a cause[ CITATION Aut19 \l 1033 ]. Many experts believe that the

patterns of behavior from which autism is diagnosed may not result from a single cause but can

be caused by a variety of physical factors that affect brain development as well as complex

genetic factors with no obvious candidate gene (DMS5)[ CITATION Aut19 \l 1033 ]. From the

days observing him or sitting on his classroom floor, how the thoughts of an autistic mind are

constructed from a complementary language. Locked within his brain is a desperate soul who

cannot communicate verbally but is brimming with delicate, tangled narratives.

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Social

Each child is different, but, chattiness and friend-pleasing are hallmarks of a child's

healthy social being. This area is quite difficult for him and is the lowest scoring. He prefers to

be alone as noise bothers him. Some children are quick to initiate interactions[ CITATION

Bar11 \l 1033 ], but others are slow to warm, thriving instead on quiet environments and one-on-

one interactions which both are okay. He has started to consider other people's points of views in

everyday situations, and if his friend is hurt, he will show sympathy toward them and will try

apologizing if necessary if he is at fault by kissing them. Its hard for him to make friends but he

has a group of three students that are constantly his recess company. The proper social skills that

need to be taught can be divided into four stages[ CITATION Sno18 \l 1033 ]. Such as

determining the social skills that need development, figuring out ways to teach the skills, and

reinforcing lessons with the right resources. Most kids at this age can speak and communicate

need but because there is a speech barrier, he is unable to.

He cannot play competitive games which is one of the social skill children around five

are able to do. He tries everyday a little more because he wants to be apart, but it gets to be too

much as soon as he joins. Having him take turns during activities has helped him and the rest of

his classmates take turns picking activities from there, to avoid fights and to help teach

compromise. Teaching him personal space has been one of the toughest according to his teacher.

He has been taught that everyone must have some personal space to feel comfortable, and they

practice every day acceptable ways to interact with someone during playtime.
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Intellectual

His ability to think and reason is lightly below average rather than his ability to

communicate impact his intellectual. He cannot count to ten objects at one time but can copy

complex shapes[ CITATION Rus20 \l 1033 ]. He is not able to sit at a desk, follow teacher

instructions and do simple assignments independently, needing redirecting constantly. The

academic intellectual data is limited as he has just started formal schooling. Due to the lack of

personal expression due to speech he is very limited. He is exhibit much more self-control than a

toddler but continues to fall short of his ability to have self-control. He cannot count to ten

objects at one time, can copy complex shapes. He just began to gain a better grasp on the passing

of time struggles going from one activity to next. His attention deficit makes it difficult paying

attention. Learning new concepts, make strides in gaining self-confidence, and develop the

necessary skills to understand the world around him[ CITATION USD19 \l 1033 ]. He quickly

becomes every overwhelmed and shuts down before even doing the activity which can be rutted

with his frustration of lack of communication. According to his teachers she can not be confident

on his capability educationally because of his attention spasms make is difficult[ CITATION

Rus20 \l 1033 ]. He can only sit still two minutes at a time.

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10 Average

0
Emotional Physical Philosophical Social Intellectual

Series 1

PEPSI Chart
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Recommendations for parents or teachers

An IEP review for accommodation for noise cancelling headphones so that he can

socialize with the rest of the students would help him. Diagnostic impasses regarding the true

nature of autism, care programs are gradually abandoning the idea of normalizing ‘wrong’

behavior by teaching conformity through repetition, training, and rewards. New strategies focus

on building on the children's strengths and allowing them to be who they are, understanding how

they themselves understand the world in order to learn their specific abilities and skills and so

maximize their talents and make use of whatever motivates them. Great importance is given to

allowing children to feel happiness, self-esteem and satisfaction, while teaching effective
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educational techniques to help them to come to terms with the expectations of society. As the

boundaries between psychological, educational, and social strategies are getting blurred, it is

becoming clear that only a person-centered approach, along with the willingness and ability to

accept and work together with these children, will work and be of help to them. Far from autistic

pride and disability activism, it is to be hoped that this discussion might be continued based on

our common humanity and mutual social interaction. Not only can and should the disabled

contribute to society, but society and human nature itself can only be defined and evaluated by

the way we are able to encounter and accept others. Play dates are an excellent way to develop

vital social skills[ CITATION Bar11 \l 1033 ]. As children play together, they learn to connect

with their friends, share, adapt to new surroundings and exercise independence. Playdates are a

crucial part of growing up, but kids with social issues can have a hard time making plans. Having

a playdate is a great way to introduce your child to the concept of using rules when a friend

comes over and to teach him how to be polite to guests. Write a plan beforehand go over all the

different things the student can do together, and then have your student offer the other three

activities to pick from. Run through different scenarios by asking your child how other people

might feel when certain things happen and substitute different situations each time. Can help him

with social skills and develop more emotional skills as well. Practicing at home is a must so that

both teacher and mom can work as a team and reinforced positive behavior to try to redirect

tantrums and meltdowns. Reinforcing academic lessons at home is the ultimate way to help him

continue to grow at home and school.

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References

Aktoprak, A., Pervin, Y., & Güneyli, A. (2018, Dec). Attitudes of primary school teachers

toward multicultural education. 52(1), 181-194. Retrieved 03 19, 2020, from

https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.csn.edu/docview/2157777128?rfr_id=info

%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo

Autism Speaks. (2019). (Autism Speack Inc ) Retrieved 04 10, 2020, from

https://www.autismspeaks.org/about-us
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Bartholomew, J. B., & Jowers, E. M. (2011, June). Physically active academic lessons in

elementary children. Preventive Medicine, 52, S51-S54. Retrieved 04 10, 2020, from

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2011.01.017

Dreikurs, R. (2019, 08 31). New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02 16, 2020, from

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rudolf_Dreikurs

Education, U. D. (2019). National center for educational statistic. Retrieved 03 11, 2019, from

NCES: https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=16

Pak-Harvey , A. (2019, January 11). Clark County schools seek diversity in pursuit of teachers.

Las Vegas Review-Journal20196, p. 2. Retrieved 3 19, 2020, from

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/news-columns/on-education/clark-county-schools-

seek-diversity-in-pursuit-of-teachers-1571809/?

fbclid=IwAR1CZ6OavMO59l6D9OkWxMRj2icEzREWT3mMmKVuGbibRMg3nbdu33

OyCOo

Russell , S. (2020, 02 11). Kindergarten Teacher. (A. Dallman, Interviewer) Las Vegas.

Retrieved 02 11, 2020

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2018). Psycology Applied to Teaching. Retrieved 04 16, 2020
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