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Behavioral & Developmental Profile

Rebecca Deatherage

COUN 5243: Human Growth & Development

Dr. Jon Reid

February 13, 2020

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Introduction

For the purpose of this project, a student profile was created of an exceptional student

with autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of the profile is to address the various areas of

development and create an appropriate counseling approach to meet this student’s exceptionality.

I. Student Profile

Jacob Lee is an 11-year old boy in the 4th grade. He attends a public elementary school in

a metropolitan area. He is 20% Cherokee Indian but identifies as Caucasian. His family is

considered typical middle-class and he is raised in a Christian family and attends religious

services regularly.

II. Exceptionality

Jacob was diagnosed at the age of two with Autism Spectrum Disorder. According to

Posar & Visconti (2019) “Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a mostly lifelong condition

characterized by social-communication impairments as well as by repetitive interests and

activities” (p. 1). Jacob is considered high functioning but presents with the social-

communication impairments.

III. Student’s development

Jacob is in the concrete operational cognitive development stage. Piaget describes this

stage as a time when children assimilate new information and accommodate existing information

(Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). Jacob should soon transition to the formal operational stage,

however children with ASD often lag in the transition from concrete operational to formal

operation.

Jacob’s physical development is appropriate for his age. Jacob is above average in height

and weight for his age, however, this aligns with a family history of height and weight.
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Jacob’s social and emotional development are below average. Jacob has difficulty with

most social interaction. He is verbal but will not talk to anyone unless they initiate the

conversation. His recent school change has been a challenge. At his previous school, he was

well accepted as he had attended the school since pre-school. At his new school, he is struggling

to make new friends and he feels rejected. When Jacob feels like he is out of control, he cries,

hits himself, and calls himself stupid.

Jacob participates in basketball, baseball, and soccer team through intramural programs

and city leagues. He practices with the team; however, he does not receive a lot of playing time

during competitions. Jacob does not enjoy sports but participates at the request of his parents.

Jacob enjoys math and is very focused on learning new math skills many of which are above

grade level.

Although Jacob was delayed in verbal communication, his language development is

progressing. Many children with ASD show atypical language presentations, stereotyped

language, and have stronger expressive relative to receptive language ability (Brignell et al.,

2018). Jacob has a high vocabulary but struggles with the ability to understand words not used

in the context he learned them. He does not understand sarcasm and common gestures.

However, once the sarcasm or gesture is explained, he can respond appropriately.

IV. Moral development

Jacob experiences difficulty in decision-making when presented with new choices.

According to Luke (2010) this is a typical response for children with ASD, perhaps due to the

abnormalities in cognitive, emotional, and neurobiological processes that are involved in the

decision-making process.
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Jacob likes to know the rules and will follow the rules strictly. If there is not a rule in

place, he wants one to be established so that he knows what is expected. He has complete

respect for others and their personal property. In addition, he expects his personal property and

personal space to be respected. He exhibits self-control in most situations unless his personal

property or personal space is affected.

V. Student in context of influences

Developmental risk factors in the domain of nature include obesity. According to a study

conducted by seven universities, children with autism, are at a greater risk of being overweight

or obese than other children the same age (Levy et al., 2019). At this time, Jacob is above

average in weight which causes him to feel self-conscious.

Developmental risk factors in the domain of nurture include parental divorce. Jacob’s

father has remarried and his mother has remarried and divorced again. Jacob’s primary

residence is with his mother. He does have standard custody arrangement with his father,

however, because of his need for own routine, he typically does not spend the night at his

father’s house. Jacob does have support from extended family and his church.

VI. Student’s areas of development and contextual influences

When observing Jacob in terms of behavioral traits, he falls within the slow-to-warm-up

category. He is very quiet, however struggles with containing his emotions in stressful

circumstances. Jacob perceives his own emotions differently than typical children his own age.

He may be excited about an event but when asked if he is excited, he will respond in a monotone

“yes”. According to Begeer (2005) this is often the case in children with ASD and children with

ASD are often less aware of their own emotions and the emotions of others.
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His academic ability is above average. Jacob is very focused on his studies and strives to

be the top student. It isn’t enough for him to make an “A”; he wants to make the highest “A”.

Erickson’s psychosocial stages of development show this stage as industry vs. inferiority and is

appropriate for his age (Broderick & Blewitt, 2020). In addition, he has an outstanding memory

and is passionate about the things he enjoys.

VII. Theories/approaches appropriate to the student’s profile

Counselors will use a combination of Cognitive Behavior, Person-Centered Expressive Arts,

and Speech/Language therapy. Cognitive Behavior, specifically Social Effectiveness Training,

will be used to reduce social anxiety, improve interpersonal skills, and increase enjoyable social

activities. “Didactic instruction, modeling, behavior rehearsal, corrective feedback, and positive

reinforcement are utilized in the group process to achieve these outcomes” (Corey, 2018, p. 360).

In addition, counselors will use Person-Centered Expressive Arts therapy as developed by

Natalie Rogers in which the child will use various forms of art forms – drawing, painting, music,

and dance – to experience personal growth, self-discovery, and understanding of emotions.

According to Broderick & Blewitt (2020) “individuals have a tremendous capacity for self-

healing through creativity (p. 273). This is also true for children with ASD. Vaisvaser (2019)

states that creative and imitative activities may prompt development of emotional expressions

and social understanding that appear to be disrupted in ASD.

Finally, counselors will use Speech/Language therapy to help with communication and

interacting with others. This could include non-verbal skills such as: making eye contact, taking

turns in conversation, and using and understanding gestures. According to a study conducted by

Wright, Pring, Ebbels (2018) speech and language intervention can be effective for children and
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young people in order to maximize their ability to access social situations and the academic

curriculum (p. 490).

Summary

In many cases, the symptoms of autism become less pronounced as a child gets older.

Some with autism go on to live typical lives, however they may need ongoing services and

support. Parents, teachers, and counselors should be flexible and able to adjust services to

provide support and treatment as needed.

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References

Begeer, S. (2005). Social and emotional skills and understanding of children with autism

spectrum disorders. Amsterdam: PI Research.

Brignell, A., Williams, K., Jachno, K., Prior, M., Reilly, S., & Morgan, A. T. (2018). Patterns

and Predictors of Language Development from 4 to 7 Years in Verbal Children With and

Without Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders,

48(10), 3282–3295. https://doi-org.ezproxy.se.edu/10.1007/s10803-018-3565-2

Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping

professionals. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. 

Corey, G. (2018). Theory & practice of group counseling (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage

Learning.

Dakopolos, A. J., & Jahromi, L. B. (2019). Differences in sensory responses among children

with autism spectrum disorder and typical development: Links to joint attention and

social competence. Infant & Child Development, 28(1), N.PAG. https://doi-

org.ezproxy.se.edu/10.1002/icd.2117

Levy, S. E., Pinto-Martin, J. A., Bradley, C. B., Chittams, J., Johnson, S. L., Pandey, J., … Kral,

T. V. (2019). Relationship of Weight Outcomes, Co-Occurring Conditions, and Severity

of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Study to Explore Early Development. The Journal of

Pediatrics, 205, 202–209. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2018.09.003

Luke, L. (2010). Decision-making in autism spectrum conditions. [Doctoral dissertation, Murray

Edwards College]. Retrieved from

https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/244860/Decision-making%20in

%20ASCs_corrected%20thesis_DSpace.pdf?sequence=1
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Posar, A., & Visconti, P. (2019). Long-term outcome of autism spectrum disorder. Turkish

Archives of Pediatrics, 54(4), 207–212.

https://doi-org.ezproxy.se.edu/10.14744/TurkPediatriArs.2019.16768

Vaisvaser S (2019) Moving Along and Beyond the Spectrum: Creative Group Therapy for

Children With Autism. Front. Psychol. 10:417. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00417

Wright, L., Pring, T., & Ebbels, S. (2018). Effectiveness of vocabulary intervention for older

children with (developmental) language disorder. International Journal of Language &

Communication Disorders, 53(3), 480–494. https://doi-org.ezproxy.se.edu/10.1111/1460-

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