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Aspen Viola

PEPSI Screening

EDU 220- 1002

College of Southern Nevada

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Biography:

The student has a form of autism, and he is placed into a primary autism classroom. His

classmates and him are in different grades and are of different ages. Primary autism is the

placement in elementary schools that are for autistic students that are kindergarteners through

second graders, and the autistic students from grades third through fifth are placed in

intermediate autism. The student is six years old, and his seventh birthday is coming up in May.

He is a first grader, which means next year in second grade he will still be in the same classroom.

The student currently has thirteen classmates with two teachers and two classroom teacher aides.

Besides him, four other classmates of his go to general education classrooms for inclusion time

every school day. The student only goes for 30 minutes twice a day with another classmate of

his who happens to have inappropriate behaviors. The student has a difficulty pronouncing

words, which is speech related, and he often gets frustrated when others do not understand what

he is trying to say.

Physical Development:

In the PEPSI screening, the first letter ‘P’ represents physical, such as physical

development. The student is average in height and weight for his age. His teachers assume he is

about four feet tall and weighs about forty-nine pounds, which would keep him between the

average height and weight of a six-year-old turning seven. According to many sources, a typical

six-year-old transitioning into a seven-year-old will be growing 2.5 inches and seven pounds

within the year. He is Caucasian, his nationality is unknown, and he has light blonde hair.

The student is at the normal age to lose his baby teeth, in which he is missing two at the

moment (Alli, 2021). He lacks fine motor skills, such as dancing, jumping, skipping, and

exercising, which he should be able to perform at his age level (Kid Central Tennessee). He can
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open items because he has some muscle coordination, but he asks for help if it is too tough for

him. The student rides a tricycle which is a standard Pre-K and Kindergarten school bike, but he

does not ride bikes at home (Kid Central Tennessee). Six-year-olds are normally messy, but due

to his disability he is fixated on being clean and sitting at organized areas (Ellsworth, 1998-

1999) . The student can tie his own shoes and zip up his own jacket as a typical first grader

should be able to do (Morin, n.d.).

Emotional Development:

In the PEPSI screening, the second letter represents emotional, such as emotional

development. The student has an intellectual disability known as autism spectrum disorder.

Along with being considered high functioning, he has a speech related problem which often

causes him to have meltdowns due to people not understanding what he is saying. Before his

current school year, the student was not able to speak at all in Pre-K, but he started to speak

during his Kindergarten year. The student’s parents pushed his progress over the years by

seeking outside occupational therapy for him, including teaching him how to properly hold

utensils for eating.

The student has obsessive cleanliness disorder as mentioned above, and he struggles with

dealing with those who are messy and unorganized. When he gets overwhelmed, he starts to cry.

This seems normal to most typical six-year-olds, where everything is fine until something does

not go his way, he turns to tears (Ellsworth, 1998- 1999). However, there are no signs of

tantrums or angry behaviors. Also, if daily routines are changed, it also makes him cry because

he is used to the same routine at school daily ("School Aged Developmental Milestones", 2011).

This is also due to his disability because children with autism have difficulty with being flexible

when routines change.

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The student has awareness of others, but he has no sociable interest in them. This is the

opposite of what a typical six-year-old would be concern about (Healthwise Staff, 2021). He

does point things out if his classmate forgets something or if his classmates are doing things they

should not be doing. He can tell right from wrong, good, and bad behavior.

The student swings his foot during class, for two reasons: one reason is because he needs

to have some movement, or rocking, which is an autistic spectrum symptom, and the second

reason is that his seat is too tall for his height, so his feet do not touch the ground. In his

inclusion class, even though his feet do touch the ground, he still has a need to swing his foot.

Philosophical Development:

In the PEPSI screening, the third letter represents philosophical, such as philosophical

development. A lot of the philosophical elements of the student come from his home. His

socioeconomic status is considered middle class. The student’s parents are both public school

teachers and they are very supportive of their son and his teachers. His mother is a kindergarten

teacher, and she does not teach at the same school her son goes to. His father teaches history at a

local high school. They are married and are equally involved in their children’s education and

home life. His older sister is in the third grade, and she goes to the same school that their mother

teaches at, and she does not have a disability.

The student’s religious practices and his culture are unknown to his teachers; however,

his extended family is very much involved with his upbringing. His grandmother takes him to

school and picks him up daily. Children of his age are usually displaying independence from

their family (Kumar, 2021). The student is displaying independence going to the inclusion class,

but he still needs an adult to walk him there. He knows where the inclusion classroom is located,

however he feels more comfortable for an adult to be there to supervise him and his classmate.
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The student noticed that his classmates came to school that morning with no mask on.

When he asked his teachers why they weren’t wearing their mask, his teachers replied it is now

optional for everyone. The student removed his mask and then noticed his teachers with their

mask still on. He immediately asked why they didn’t remove their mask. The student did not

understand that optional meant that people could still wear their mask if they wanted to.

According to Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy for Children, children at age six

start to question things as they are developing critical thinking skills (Pritchard, 2018). In the

student’s case he noticed that things were different today, but he could not understand

“optional”, meaning he has not questioned mask wearing before but he is now being exposed to

that everyone’s choice will be different.

According to the PEPSI screening for a six-year-old for philosophical development, at

this age the student should be displaying signs of cheating, or petty theft, competitiveness, or

other forms of acting out, however this student does not show any of these bad behaviors

(Ellsworth, 1998- 1999). His teachers also state that they have never seen any wrongful or bad

behaviors from him besides the crying and tattling.

Social Development:

In the PEPSI screening, the fourth letter represents social, such as social development.

The student cannot handle conflict with his peers. Such as if his classmate is inappropriately

making sounds, waving, or tapping his hands, during class. The student cannot ignore him, and

he immediately tattles on him (Ellsworth, 1998- 1999). His teachers purposefully are pushing

him to get along with his classmate by seating them together to initiate him to deal with this

conflict. According to Web-Md, children in this age level are learning to get along and share, in

which why his teachers are pushing him to try solving this conflict by himself (Alli, 2021).
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The student is observant of his peers, such as if his classmate drops a crayon in the

hallway. His communication skills to inform that student is not appropriate for his age. The

student sounds like he is yelling or starting an argument to inform the classmate, however when

that classmate ignores him, the student gets upset and starts to cry.

The student plays by himself inside the classroom and at recess, the opposite of what he

should be demonstrating at his age level. According to Web-Md, the student should be

interested in receiving acceptance among his peers, but he is not (Alli, 2021). This is perhaps

because he is on a more mature level of play than his classmates, which they are low functioning

in appropriate play. However, the student does not try to socialize with peers outside of his

classroom, such as other first graders. During PE, for example, he did participate with practicing

how to guide a puck with a hockey stick among other first graders. He even participated in an

evacuation drill with those same peers appropriately. The student can appropriately get along

with peers during specials assigned activities, but he chooses not to play with them at recess or

inside a classroom environment.

The student also does not try to bond with his male classmates. Usually, a typical six or

seven-year-old would show signs of bonding or friendships with the same sex ("School-Age

Children (7-9 Years Old)", 2009). In the student’s class there are twelve male students besides

him and one female student, she is also high functioning, but she is older than him by two years.

Since they are of different gender and are different ages, they do not socialize in any way.

The student is very sociable towards adults. He tells them jokes and he appropriately

laughs at jokes. The student has no problems with teachers or staff. He is currently learning to

raise his hand for assistance instead of shouting out. Due to all his progress from learning to
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speak and to patiently wait for help, his teachers are hoping that one day he can attend inclusion

for longer hours each day.

Intellectual Development:

The student is very observant. For example, during reading time, his teacher was reading

a picture book to the class. She was pointing and asking each child what was wrong inside the

scene. Since the student’s classmates are low functioning, she must point out the images to help

them say what is happening. She did not point out an image for the student, he immediately

pointed out something that she had missed because his ability to be observant is very high

functioning. His teachers encourage him to share that skill but to also raise his hand instead of

shouting it out.

The student is still adjusting to raising his hand; however, he does initiate asking for help

when it is needed. He can independently open things for himself, and there are very little items

that he cannot do himself. He attempts opening things by himself first, before asking for help.

The student participates in every class activity, including his inclusion class, and specials.

However, he doesn’t verbally participate, such as repeating the same chants that the other

students are repeating, such as the days of the week song.

His teachers say that he does not complain if something is too hard, but they can see he

has a lack of interest. According to the PEPSI screening for a six-year-old for intellectual

development, if a child feels that they are not successful, their emotions can cause a shunt

closure in the brain (Ellsworth, 1998- 1999). The student ends up finishing a task, however it

takes longer for him when he shuts down or gets distracted.

The student can read basic sentences. According to the 2003 seventh edition of Robert E.

Slavin’s “Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice”, it is normal for a child at six years old
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not be able to read. At age seven, children are practicing reading ("Educational Psychology:

Theory and Practice, 7th Edition", 2003). However, since then first graders are now exposed to

reading non-chapter levelled books (healthychildren.org, 2009).

The student answers questions when asked and he can recall an example from a day ago

that was used for the lesson, however it is hard to keep him on track. An example came from his

inclusion class, his inclusion teacher asked him which animal he remembered from the non-

fiction book they read yesterday. He answered that he remembered the fruit bats, which were not

included in the story, but was mentioned as an example by the teacher yesterday. He could

remember an example, but not of any of the animals from the actual book that was read out loud

by the teacher. The inclusion teacher took it a step further by asking him if he recalled how a

python would eat their food. The student points to his own teeth to demonstrate they eat using

their mouth. The teacher tried again with prompting him, asking him do they eat animals in

small pieces or eat them whole. Even though he answered properly this time, he could not

remember what they discussed because she wanted him to write it all down as a sentence. There

might be a form of a processing disorder happening, where he does discuss what he needs to do

but cannot apply it afterwards. This is a little concerning for a student that is being placed in

inclusion every day.

According to Mott’s Children Hospital for cognitive development in children by age

seven, children should have a solid sense of time, such as seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks,

months, seasons, and years (Staff, Healthwise, 2020). The student understands the days of the

week, but he can easily make a mistake of the month. His classroom is set up by routines in

which help students know when they need to go to specials or lunch. Without these everyday

routines that alert the class every day, the student may not understand time, such as the time for
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him to go to inclusion. Mott’s Children Hospital also states that seven-year-olds should be able

to solve simple math problems by using objects (Staff, Healthwise, 2020). The student can form

groups using ten sticks and cubes to symbolize ones to make numbers such as 45, 64, etc. He

can solve math problems with these types of objects.

Graph Comparing The Student to Typical 6- 7 Year Olds

Student (6 turning 7) Typical 6 Year Old Typical 7 Year Old

10 10 10
10 10

5 5 5
5 5

3.5 3.5 3.5

2.1 2.1

Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual

I based the typical six-year-old at a five in each developmental area, and I doubled the

amount for a typical seven-year-old adding the additional skills that seven-year-olds will receive.

Since the student falls between the two age groups, it is why I decided to compare him to both

ages. His physical development is quite low for a typical six through seven-year-old. His

emotional development is improving, however his crying over frustration needs to be improved.

Six through seven-year-olds still cry over frustration, it is just not as often as he does. His

philosophical development such as being observant and starting to develop early critical thinking

skills are improving. His social development needs to be improved as equally as his physical

development, because a typical six-year-old and seven-year-old would be playing with a friend
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or friends during any free time and recess. His intellectual development is improving or else he

would not be able to go to inclusion twice a day for thirty minutes, each in a general first grade

classroom. However, he still needs to be able to do the same amount of work as his non-disabled

peers.

Recommendations:

I recommend for physical development that the student exercise during recess, such as

running around because he is not very flexible with bending. The student should exercise at

home as well to improve his motor skills. This will help him tire out his constant foot swinging

as well.

I recommend for emotional development that the student continues seeing his

occupational therapist outside school, along with a speech therapist at school. Having both

professionals to work together to create goals for the student to achieve longer inclusion hours. I

also recommend teachers to practice calming techniques such as practicing breathing and

counting to ten.

I recommend for philosophical development that teachers help the student to establish

self-identity such as inspiring him to share specific interests at school. Not exactly establishing a

home environment, but an environment where he can apply his interests as part of his learning.

Such as being interested in toy cars, he can be rewarded time to play with toy cars during his

breaks after finishing his work.

I recommend for social development that the student practices reasoning with his

classmates and talking to them face to face in a calm demeanor. The school’s professionals can

see how he is around his peers and recommend better strategies at school for him to interact with
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his peers. I also recommend the student to try befriending at least one of his classmates and for

his parents to push the friendship as play dates on weekends.

I recommend for intellectual development that the student during inclusion that he sits in

the front of the classroom or is assigned another student to sit with him, so that he can

concentrate better during lessons. His current seat during inclusion is in the back of the

classroom seated next to his annoying classmate. His teachers know him best and feel that he

must deal with his own conflict. I personally feel that to help him in his inclusion for longer

hours, he needs to concentrate better, which he is unable to because he is seated next to the

class’s nosiest student.

References

"School Aged Developmental Milestones". (2011). Retrieved from "Children's Therapy and

Family Resource Centre": http://www.kamloopschildrenstherapy.org/social-emotional-

school-aged-milestones

"School-Age Children (7-9 Years Old)". (2009, May 1). Retrieved from Hunter College School

Of Social Work:

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/Parent%20Visits/schoolage.pdf

(2003). In R. E. Slavin, "Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 7th Edition" (p. 79).

Pearson Education.

Alli, R. A. (2021, March 7). Grow by WebMd. Retrieved from

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/child-at-6-milestones

Ellsworth, J. (1998- 1999). "Online Lesson: PEPSI As A Screening Tool". Retrieved from "Sixth

Year-PEPSI Screening":

https://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year6.html
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Healthwise Staff. (2021, February 10). "Milestones for 6-Year-Olds". Retrieved from My

Health.Alberta.ca:

https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=ue5723

healthychildren.org. (2009, November 2). "Helping Your Child Learn to Read". Retrieved from

healthychildren.org: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-

stages/preschool/Pages/Helping-Your-Child-Learn-to-

Read.aspx#:~:text=Most%20children%20learn%20to%20read,stay%20ahead%20once%

20school%20starts.

Kid Central Tennessee. (n.d.). Kid Central Tennessee. Retrieved from

https://www.kidcentraltn.com/development/6-7-years/physical-development-ages-6-

7.html

Kumar, K. (2021, June 23). "What are the Developmental Milestones For A 7-Year-Old?".

Retrieved from Medicine Net:

https://www.medicinenet.com/developmental_milestones_for_a_7-year-old/article.htm

Morin, A. (n.d.). "Developmental Milestones for First Graders". Retrieved from Understood:

https://www.understood.org/articles/en/developmental-milestones-for-typical-first-

graders

Pritchard, M. (2018, December 14). "Philosophy For Children". Retrieved from Stanford

University Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/children/

Staff, Healthwise. (2020, May 27). "Milestones for 7-Year-Olds". Retrieved from C.S. Mott's

Children Hospital - University of Michigan Health: https://www.mottchildren.org/health-

library/ue5719