Case Study- Nessy

Aubrey Park, Sandra Hernández, & Nich Thomander

Introducing Nessy

Nessy is turning 7-years-old at the end of May. She has been living in a foster
home with 6 other siblings (one of which is her biological sibling) since she was 4-
years-old. Nessy has a learning disability and ADHD. Last semester, the strategy
students focused more on her self-help skills; so this semester we focused on
academic skills. This is Nessy’s second year of kindergarten, and she has to move up
to first grade next year, which is concerning for her mother. We tested her using
the Oral Written Language Scales, Second Edition (OWLS-II) and the Kaufman Test
of Educational Achievement, Third Edition (KTEA-3). Something we discovered
early on is that Nessy loves technology, games, and videos.
 Goal #1: Nessy will correctly solve single-digit
subtraction equations independently 4/5 times by 4/6/21.
Goal #1: Nessy will correctly solve single-digit subtraction equations independently 4/5 times by 4/6/21.

Activities Implemented:
● Play-Doh equation symbols
● Arm symbols
● Dinosaur manipulatives
● Computer/phone games
Interventions Used:
● Began with broken models, models, gestures, verbal cues, and visual cues
combined (most intrusive)
● Finished with indirect and direct verbal cues (less intrusive)
Nessy’s Responses

Responses at the beginning:

● Her least favorite goal to work on
● Often asked when we could switch to another activity
Responses at the end:
● Especially when motivated we saw a much higher level of competency by the
end.
● When prompted Nessy is able to read subtraction problems with near perfect
accuracy.
Nessy’s Progress in Math

Although Nessy was only 2 percentages away

from achieving this goal, this is still an important
task to work on with her mathematical skills. She
still needs intrusive prompts when it comes to
solving the subtraction equation; even when
manipulatives are provided. She has improved
greatly on her ability to use mathematical terms
to read the equations; but would benefit from
continuous practice solving the single-digit
subtraction equations.
Goal #2: Nessy will correctly decode and blend
CVC words independently ⅘ times by 4/6/21.
Goal #2: Nessy will correctly decode and blend CVC words independently ⅘ times by 4/6/21.

Activities Implemented:
● Panda board game (letters and then CVC words)
● Computer game
● Echo reading books
● Reading short passages

Interventions Used:
● Began with verbal cues, gestures, visual cues, and models (broken) (more intrusive)
● Finished with indirect verbal cues, visual cues, and simultaneous action (less intrusive)
Nessy’s Responses

Responses at the beginning:

● Initially Nessy would refuse to read the majority of the time during our
interventions.
● When matching words to pictures she often would guess based on the first
letter of the word. For example,

Responses at the end:

● Nessy now sounds out CVC words at a high level of competency.
● She shows effective letter blending, and almost never needs promptings.
Nessy’s Progress in Reading

Nessy has been steady with her ability to blend

CVC words. She has improved since the
beginning of the semester and can now
differentiate every vowel sound. She doesn’t need
intrusive prompts to blend a word; however,
sometimes she will still make the incorrect letter
sounds when blending the full word together.
This is still a goal she can continue practicing;
however, she’s ready to begin learning new sight
words or learning words with the “silent e”.
Goal #3: Nessy will correctly write her first and
last name independently ⅘ times by 4/6/21.
Goal #3: Nessy will correctly write her first and last name independently ⅘ times by 4/6/21.

Activities Implemented:
● Laminated tracing sheet
● Name writing competitions
● Paint and Q-tip

Interventions Used:
● Began with verbal cues, modeling, and gestures (more intrusive)
● Finished with verbal indirect cues (less intrusive)
Nessy’s Responses

Responses at the beginning:

● Initially Nessy was never writing her first or last name without intrusive promptings.

Responses at the end:

● In our final interventions we saw Nessy became much more capable of writing her
first name “Nessy.”
● Nessy continues to have difficulty with writing her last name.
● Often she struggles recite her last name; when asked she frequently says her whole
first name “Renesmee.”
Nessy’s Progress in Writing

Nessy made quick progress in writing her

first name independently; however, she is
still working on her last name. She has
been gradually improving on writing her
last name; but it has been a much slower
process compared to her first name. She
can consistently write her first name
correctly; however, she needs more practice
remembering all the letters in her last name.
 Insights & Takeaways
● Like many children Nessy is highly motivated by relationships.
● Certain presentation styles offered breakthrough type results:
○ Using manipulatives lead to our first successful experiences with
subtraction.
○ An online medium was one of our most effective tools for practicing CVC
words.
● A little encouragement helped Nessy accomplish tasks she was struggling
with.