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PEPSI SCREENING

Marissa S. Aranas

Dept. Of Education-College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220-Dr. Vincent Richardson

July 15, 2022

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Biography

The student I observed is a 5year old boy. He was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has a

mother, father, and four other siblings. The two brothers are ages 17 and 15years old and his

sisters are ages 8 and 12 years old. He is the youngest sibling in his family. Currently, the boy

loves to play Minecraft, Fortnite and Roblox. He can play all day long with just about anyone.

He does engage in physical activities such as soccer and will be joining karate next month. The

young boy also enjoys drawing, coloring, and dancing to his favorite music. He was in a self-

contained preschool classroom with an IEP for a developmental and a speech delay. Currently,

his IEP has expired and will be evaluated again this upcoming school year. The parents told me

that at his last IEP meeting, they were told that he was doing well and that he will be able to join

a regular Kindergarten classroom this fall. He is a happy, loving, active, funny child who is

growing up in an environment that is structured and full of play. Both of his parents are fully

involved in his well-being and are always looking for ways to help his growth in all areas. The

boy is always eager to learn new things and will listen to instructions and obey the rules set in

the home. He is a very affectionate child who enjoys being around people all the time. His

parents explained to me that they have ruled out autism once he had started preschool.

Physical Development

During infancy, this child was not gaining much weight in the first month. Their

pediatrician showed much concern and had recommended the child supplement with special

formula instead of breastfeeding. The mother said she disagreed with the pediatrician. He

eventually started to catch up with his weight, but still below average on the growth scale.

“Given this understanding of children and their growth, the service provider, rather than labeling
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the child as abnormal, might set the goal for progress in the slower area and guide the child and

those surrounding the child, such as the parents, to recognize, enjoy, and more fully use personal

strengths “(Ellsworth, J. (1996). The child is a healthy 5-year-old boy. He is a little below

average in height, but his weight is above average and still has his healthy “baby chubbiness.”

He drinks a lot of vitamin d milk and is a typical, fussy 5-year-old child when it comes to eating

food. Both of his parents are short so that could be the reason he is on the shorter side. He has

gained about 5lbs and grew about 2 inches within the past year, since his fourth birthday. He will

be 6 years old this September. He is an extraordinarily strong and active child. He will run

around, fearlessly, and chase his siblings and soccer friends. “Preschool children are extremely

active. They have good control of their bodies and enjoy activity for its own sake.” (Snowman &

McCown, 2015, pg.77). The boy plays rough with his older, boy siblings and knows how to be

gentle with his sisters. He plays soccer on a team with other peers. His gross motor skills are still

developing. He can be a little clumsy because he moves so quickly. When I ask him to balance

on one foot, he does so for a good 8-10 seconds. He loves to dance and will play a Fortnite dance

video on YouTube. This video displays several dance choreographies, and he watches and

attempts to copy the dance moves. He rides a bike with training wheels and can ride a scooter.

He can also throw and catch a ball with his hands. The boy plays soccer and knows how to

dribble the ball, through set cones and then kicks it in a soccer goal very easily. We took him to

play at the park and he is a fearless boy. He runs fast, climbs up and down the steps and goes

down on a slide. He loves the swing but prefers the baby swing instead of the older kids swing.

His fine motor skills are above average. He can now hold the pencil using his thumb, index and

middle finger correctly. He can print his name and color well. He knows how to use scissors,

glue, and tape. He enjoys drawing pictures and will attempt to draw things he sees on television.
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When I asked him to draw me a picture of his favorite show on TV, he drew me a picture of

“Sonic the Hedgehog.” He brushes his teeth, washes his face, goes to the bathroom, and dresses

himself all on his own without instruction. His parents told me they have caught him several

times trying to take a bath by himself. He does have difficulty buttoning and zipping up his

pants, but that could be because most of his clothes are elastic. He cannot tie his shoes yet and it

is because all his shoes are slip-on and no one has shown him how to do it on a regular basis.

Although he has this difficulty right now, he keeps trying to do it himself and that just shows his

determination and independence. “Preschoolers’ large muscles are more developed than those

that control fingers and hands. Therefore, preschoolers may be quite clumsy at, or physically

incapable of such skills as tying shoes and buttoning coats.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015,

pg.77)

Emotional Development

The parents explained to me that when he was a toddler, about 2 years old, he would have

emotional meltdowns. He would throw himself across the floor or try to bang his head on the

wall when he was upset or angry. He did it in a “non-constructive” way, meaning he controlled it

and banged it very lightly where it would not cause any physical harm that they could visibly

see. And the parents told me that he would not bang it hard because he knew it would hurt; and it

looked like he was trying to do it to get their attention because he would stare at them while

doing it. They explained it as if he did it to get their attention. The parents took the child for early

childhood intervention, Child Find, in which they saw a child psychologist and were set up with

a team to help work with their son. Because of the child’s early diagnosis of speech delay, they

said a lot of the meltdowns were because he was not able to communicate his frustration. The
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speech therapist and occupational therapist both used some sign language and pictures for him to

point at so he could recognize his feelings. The child’s emotional development started to

improve. He eventually grew out of the tantrums a few months later. He started preschool at 3

years old and the parents saw that he had a typical “separation anxiety’ from his mom each

morning for about a week. He would lie on the playground floor and cry. The special education

teacher advised not to touch him or console him and to just walk away. “It is probably desirable

to let children at this age level express their feelings openly, at least within broad limits, so they

can recognize and face their emotions.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.80). The mother

observed him from a distance and noticed that he eventually got up from the floor and walked

around the playground trying to play with other kids. The mother told me that he eventually was

happy at school and got excited to see his friends. The teacher said he had good behavior in class

and was a prime example for the rest of class. Now that he is 5 years old, he still seems very

content. He is an affectionate child who enjoys hugs and kisses. He tells his parents, “I love

you.” I noticed when he is printing his name on a piece of paper and makes a mistake, he says,

“oh no,” crumbles the paper and throws it on the floor but gets a new one and tries to do a better

job. I right away told him he did an excellent job, but he had to keep practicing to get better. He

has a good attitude but needs positive reinforcement when he feels he does not do well.

“Students are sensitive to criticism and ridicule and may have difficulty adjusting to failure.

Young children need frequent praise and recognition.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.86).

The mother told me that he used to get really mad, crumble his paper and put his head down, and

say “I can't do it.” The mother had to reassure him it was okay to make mistakes and to keep

trying. Although his speech is extremely hard to understand, he seems noticeably confident in

speaking and he takes the initiative to do it. He tries to be very independent and when you ask
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him, “can I help you?” He says, “I got it..” His mother said he has a job every morning and that

is to make sure their dogs have food and water. The boy is happy and seems very eager to fulfill

his responsibility. He fills up their doggy dishes with food and water and puts back the bag in the

pantry. One day after we worked on his letters and his drawing activity, I asked him if he would

help clean up his papers. I told him we would hang up his awesome drawing on the refrigerator

so his parents could see his work. He did so without any hesitation or complaints. “Most primary

grade children are eager to please the teacher. They like to help, enjoy responsibility, and want to

do well in their schoolwork.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.86)

Philosophical Development

“Jean Piaget’s well-known theory of cognitive development suggests that prior to age 11

or 12, most children are not capable of philosophical thinking. This is because, it holds, prior to

this time, children are not capable of “thinking about thinking,” the sort of meta-level thinking

that philosophical thinking requires.” (Philosophy for Children (2022, May 22). The boy

understands simple concepts like time of day, such as today, tomorrow, or yesterday when asked

about it. He does have a tough time responding to questions when asked for a reason. I asked the

boy a simple question to see how he would answer and elaborate. I asked him, “What makes you

happy?” He responded, “Mommy.” I asked him, “Why does mommy make you happy?” He said,

“Yes” with a big smile. I asked him another question, “Do you like to play Minecraft?” He said,

“Yes.” I then asked him “Why do you like Minecraft?” He said “yes.” It seemed, though, he

understood the question, but when I wanted more details as to why, he could not answer nor

explain why. Again, he has a speech delay so expressing something in a full sentence is already

difficult. The boy had two older siblings in the room at the time and I asked the 8-year-old and
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the 17-year-old, to compare how they would answer the question. The 8-year-old said her family

makes her happy. When I asked her “why” she responded. “Because they are good to me” I

asked her “why do you think they good to you?” and she sat there thinking of her response, but it

was taking too long so I asked the teenage boy, and he was able to elaborate and give me full

details. According to the text, “Children are introduced to a culture’s major psychological tools

through social interactions with their parents and later through more formal interactions with

classroom teachers.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.51). There was death in their family that

happened during my screening. I was speaking to the mother while the boy was in the room. The

boy went up to his mother and said, “Uncle Bill, died mommy?” The mother said “yes, he did,”

The boy said, “oh, he not here no more, mommy/.” The mom said, “Yes, he is in heaven now.”

The boy was still interested and asked again, “Uncle Bill with God now?” The mother said,

“Yes, he went to heaven and is with God now, do you miss him?” The boy said, “Oh, miss him,

let's go see him.” I think the reason for the questions was because he had overheard our

conversation. The questions that he was asking are of reason and his limited vocabulary are not

letting him fully engage in what he wants to ask. When I see the boy engaging with these types

of questions, you can tell he wants answers and is very attentive to listen. He is trying to put it all

together and grasp what we tell him. He will ask the same questions a couple times over again.

“Many of the students seemed to be struggling to move from questions that are difficult, if not

impossible, to answer because of our practical limitations to questions that in principle are

unanswerable." (Philosophy for Children. 2022, May 22)

Social Development
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The child seems to be very sociable. He does not have a close friend his age. He is

growing up more with older kids. The parents told me that he does not have play dates. His

friends are in school or on his soccer team. He enjoys interacting with others and engages with

them on the phone or while playing video games. The mother had been worried about his love

for screen time, but she feels that because he engages so much with others while playing, and he

is good at following instructions when to get off, she is not as worried anymore. When I

observed the child, he was excited, speaking, laughing, and dancing continuously. He is a highly

active kid and when he is around people, he really tries his best to speak a lot. It is hard to

understand what he is trying to say but he is outgoing. He is not shy at all. He will get mad with

his siblings when they say, “No” to him, but he has a high respect that when they discipline him

for saying “no,” he listens and says, “Sorry, are you mad at me now?” He is very friendly and

takes the initiative to engage in conversation or saying “hello, or “goodbye.” to people he knows

and even strangers. As I have mentioned before, he is very independent and is always trying to

do things himself before asking. He enjoys playing soccer with his friends and he follows the

coach’s rules of the game. He does not follow other kids' unruly behavior, instead he

demonstrates good behavior. If he notices someone doing something wrong, he will try to tell on

that person. He tries to speak, and when we do not understand what he says he does not get

irritated, he keeps trying. According to the text, in the stages of Psychosocial development,

Initiative Versus Guilt (four to five years, “the ability to participate in many physical activities

and to use language sets the stage for initiative, which adds to the autonomy the quality of

undertaking, planning, and attacking a task for the sake of being active and on the move.” I think

by the child being very sociable, this has helped him to take that initiative, to promote and utilize

his language. (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.29) The child tries his hardest to use sentences.
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He has a challenging time describing complex ideas or events, but that seems typical at his age.

He understands jokes and tries to be funny himself. After drawing a picture, he will show me

what he drew, and he will try to explain what it is, but it is not always clear. At this age,

vocabulary growth is rapid and because of his speech delay, I feel as if this child’s brain is

thinking so much faster than how he can speak and carry out those words. So, when he sounds

like he is mumbling full sentences, he knows what he is saying but it just does not come out for

us to fully understand. He can sit and have a conversation, but it is not meaningful because he

cannot use full, complete sentences. Although, he looks at you as if he wants to say something. It

is very heartbreaking to see this child struggle, but he does not show disappointment or

embarrassment in himself at all. Applying Piaget’s theory, ‘it is good to focus on what children

can do at each stage and avoid what they cannot meaningfully understand...” (Snowman &

McCown, 2015, pg.48). The boy loves to sing his favorite songs, but mostly voices out the beat

of the song because it is difficult for him to say the words fast enough with the music. He shows

good signs of healthy interaction with other children, even though they find it difficult to

understand him. When we went to the park, I noticed that he is very approachable. Many

children wanted to play with him. He also is extroverted. He goes up to anyone and smiles and

asks them if they want to play. This constant interaction has allowed more opportunities for him

to learn and practice his language skills. Although his communication skills are limited, the more

interactive activity he does with people, he will be better at relating and reacting to the others

around him. He has a positive attitude which I think has led him to have a strong relationship

with his siblings and the other children on his soccer team. The parents explained when he was in

preschool, he was able to make friends easily even though he could not speak well. He is rarely

frustrated with himself. That shows signs of a healthy comfort level with his individuality. He
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has good self-confidence and self-esteem. “When it comes to social experiences, Piaget clearly

believed that peer interactions do more to spur cognitive development than do interactions with

adults.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.45)

Intellectual Development

According to a website I came across, Fraiser Health, “Cognitive or intellectual

development means the growth of a child’s ability to think and reason. It is about how they

organize their minds, ideas, and thoughts to make sense of the world they live in.” (Intellectual

Development in Children. Fraiser Health) the boy's intellectual development early on was not on

track, and it was due to his language development. The parents told me that when he was 2 ½, he

was not speaking and did not seem to respond well when they called is name. When he would

play with his toys, he would align them up in a straight line. He enjoyed doing puzzles and did

them over and over again. The parents had a concern for Autism. The child started to attend

private speech and occupational therapy. He also went to preschool, he started to show good

signs of improvement and started to meet his goals quickly. “In describing the nature of practical

intelligence, Steinberg argues that part of what makes an individual intelligent is the ability to

achieve personal goals. One way to accomplish personal goals is to understand and adapt to the

values that govern behavior in a particular setting.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.123). The

mother worked with him continuously at home each day. Today, the child is in his pre-

operational period, and his parents have told me within the past year he is speaking so much

more. He still has difficulty forming complete sentences. He begins to use reason and tries to

argue by asking many questions such as “why,” “how come.” He is looking for answers, but he

cannot give full answers when asked a question. I think this is because of his speech delay and
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does not have a very expansive expressive vocabulary. He can count to 20 and can sit for a good

period of time doing work and following instructions. He copies what he is asked to do. The boy

tries to speak a lot about his video games. He shares a lot of information on his video games and

really tries his hardest to explain exactly what he is doing. He also asks a lot of questions to

make sure we pay attention to what he is doing. When it was time to do homework, I sat down

with him and he recognized all his letters, the sounds, colors, numbers, and shapes. He is printing

his complete name. He knows his birth date and all the days of the week. He can recall things

that had happened and remember things that were taught to him early that day. Although his

language development is not where it should be, this child shows promising intellectual ability

because he can understand things and can-do things on his own. I noticed his parents have an

award board for him. The boy gets a sticker each time he finishes an activity during homework

time. Once he fills up his board with stickers, the parents will reward him with a toy or a trip to

Chuckie Cheese. The parents often praise him for his good work and always encourage him by

using positive reinforcement, especially when he uses language and needs that extra boost of

confidence to speak. “Authoritative parents tend to raise competent children. Authoritative

parents have confidence in their abilities as parents and therefore provide a model of competence

for their children to imitate.” (Snowman & McCown, 2015, pg.83). I noticed this type of

behavior with the parents modeling it with their older children. The home is very structured,

rules are set, yet the environment is very warm and loving. I feel that this young boy is smart. He

is eager to learn new things. He asks questions. He understands the environment around him. He

is fully aware of other people’s feelings and emotions. When he is upset or happy, he can

recognize it and tries to express how he feels with his limited speech capability.
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Below is a PEPSI chart that shows you where this boy falls with other children his age.

There is a line that indicates a “normal range.” As you can see, the boy's intellectual and

philosophical development are not that far off from normal range, and it is because of his

language delay.

Recommendations

When the child starts Kindergarten in the fall, he will be 6 years old. The student will

need assistance in class, especially if he does not understand something and cannot say what he

does not understand. Someone needs to take the time with him to make sure he is not falling

behind. I would recommend that the school takes into consideration that if he does not get help

with his language development, he may struggle, fall behind, and may eventually develop low

self-esteem. He is a good child with a good attitude, and I would hate to see that go away
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because of his lack of language skills. I suggest he continues with speech therapy in school and

recommend the parents take him to private therapy again. I would also recommend a reading

specialist and a child psychologist to check in with this student. At home, parents can support

their child’s cognitive growth in many ways. They should continue with the everyday after-

school activities such as soccer and karate. Organized sports can be an effective way to help

support a child’s development. It can also be a way to help them learn more about following

directions and to practice quick thinking. Parents can also help reinforce academic lessons from

school. They really need to be involved more than ever once he starts Kindergarten for the sake that there

could be a possibility that the child will be denied IEP services. The family should continue speaking to

the child and answer his questions as they come and continue to ask him questions so it can help him

think.
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References

Snowman, Jack and McCown, Rick (2015). Psychology Applied to Teaching (14th Ed.).

Belmont, CA

Intellectual Development in Children. Fraiser Health https://www.fraserhealth.ca/health-topics-a-

to-z/children-and-youth/intellectual-development-in-children#.YsXSjnbMKM8

Ellsworth, J. (1996). “Pepsi”: A screening and programming tool for understanding the whole

child. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 29(2), 33–44.

Philosophy for Children (2022, May 22) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/children/#ChiCapPhiThi