Iep's_for_Young_Children

“Conner Schwartz” AED-222 Sonya Van Etten 5/21/2010 Conner is a 7 year old boy who lives with his mom and younger brother Anthony in Clemmons, NC. He currently attends Southwest elementary school and is in Ms. Hamlin’s classroom. Ms. Hamlin is a special education teacher and works directly with Conner and 3 other students who have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. When Conner was 4 years old when he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, also known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not otherwise Specified. As of now the majority of Conner’s day is spent in Ms. Hamlin’s room, however in the morning he attends Ms. Griffin’s first grade classroom for about 2 ½ hours. Ms. Griffin’s classroom has two aides, and all three of them work great with Conner. Along with the general classroom Conner also sees a speech pathologist, an occupational therapist and attends a reading group with other special need students. At school Conner shows behaviors of a “little professor”; He likes to lecture you versus having a two way conversation (PDD-NOS symptoms, 2009). He tends to tell you information and often goes into deep detail, but doesn’t like when you interrupt him to try to discuss something with him. Teachers have also noticed that Conner talks to teachers, aides and other adults more often than children his own age. Conner struggles when it comes to socializing with other students, he doesn’t seem to understand what to say or even how to respond to them (PDD-NOS symptoms, 2009). Unfortunately, this behavior has made it difficult for Conner to make friends with some of the other students. Many of the teachers have grown very fond of Conner and have high hopes and expectations for him, currently they enjoy listening to his “speeches” about dinosaurs! (Dinosaurs are Conner’s current interest, and boy does he know a lot about them.) All together Conner does exceptionally well with his work, he puts a lot of effort into his work and shows a lot of ambition. At home Conner acts similar to how he acts at school, with a little more “socializing’. At home Conner is familiar with everyone and does not get stressed by others; unfortunately we are still working on this at school. At school Conner feels overwhelmed by people. Conner gets along with his mom and brother Anthony until they tell him he is wrong (National Autism Resources, 2009). When he is told “NO” or told he is doing something wrong he throws tantrums. He likes to always be right and never told otherwise. Conner shows many different emotions at home and often “mom” doesn’t know what to expect. Just like at school Conner likes his schedule and routine to stay the same and never change (PDD-NOS symptoms, 2009). Maintaining a schedule is easier at school than at home, since mom works a flexible job and rotating schedule. Conner doesn’t usually know what to expect. “Mom” tries to tell Conner every week what her schedule is in advance, as well as telling him in the morning. When Conner’s mother is not home his grandmother comes over to take care of Conner and Anthony. Other than home the only places Conner typically goes to are doctor appointments. Conner has more doctor appointments than the typical 7 year old, due to his heart conditions. Mom tells us that taking Conner to the doctor’s office is always a challenge. Since Conner is not familiar with other patience in the waiting room, they try to arrive just in time for appointments. This is in hopes that they don’t have to stay too long in the waiting room. Since Conner see’s the doctor on a regular basis he is familiar with his doctor (Dr. Roberts), if Conner knows ahead of time that they will be making a visit he does well. Since the nurses are all adults that Conner has grown to love, he loves to talk to them. Due to Conner’s anxiety his mom tries to get shopping and other errands done while he is at school. On occasion though, she takes Conner to the post office or grocery store after “preparing” him for what he will see and find. When it comes to the grocery store Conner gets pre-occupied with the “list” mom gives him. Conner’s mom makes a list for Conner to help her, he loves looking for the items. Conner has many strengths; his cognitive development is right on track. Conner can do problem solving activities and does very well with simple math problems. We have noticed that Conner is very precise with everything he does (PDD, 2010). He likes having a correct answer without the chance of partially correct. For example 1+1 is always going to be 2. With socialization there are times when you can say things that may be inappropriate at other times. Conner has trouble deciding whether something is appropriate or not. Another strength Conner exhibits is with his gross motor skills, Conner has never had any difficulties walking, crawling or even learning how to skip. Conner loves to watch sports and we plan on finding a physical sport for him to play. Lastly, Conner has a fantastic memory so watch what you promise him! Just like everyone else Conner has weakness’. We are working on his socialization skills, but we have noticed that the problem is contained to socializing; he has never had a problem with his actual communication skills. He sees a speech therapist but this is to help him pronounce his words a bit better and more so to help with communicating with others. When it comes to communicating with others Conner is very shy and “forgets” what to say, or says inappropriate things. We have also noticed that Conner does not seem to have a “filter” for what he says to anyone (PDD-NOS symptoms, 2009). Conner show’s some developmental delays. Conner’s social and emotional development is our biggest concern. Conner has not showed much self control. We notice that he does not show us how he “takes turns” playing with something. According to his mom he took a little longer as a child to smile, and he often has extremes (social signs of Autism, 2009). Conner has laughed hysterically out loud in situations where he should have remained quite. He has also had outburst of tears and we cannot find a reason behind it. Conner exhibits trust issues, he seems very insecure. We believe the reason behind this is because at the age of two his younger brother was born and his father walked out on them. He will often ask his teachers why other students’ “daddies” pick them up and he doesn’t have a “daddy” to pick him up. Recently Conner has been doing well with behavior, although he still struggles. He often does what he chooses to do, rather than what he is supposed to do. Conner does not always pay attention or stay focused on activities. There are times when Conner will not focus on his work but will sit and focus on unusual objects for a lengthy period of time. We have witnessed Conner go to the refrigerator and open it then close it repeatedly. Conner’s diagnosis is PDD-NOS, Pervasive Developmental Disability-Not otherwise specified. PDD-NOS is an autism spectrum diagnosis (Autism Program at Yale, 2010). It is very similar to autism but individuals show fewer symptoms than students with autism. PDD-NOS is considered a diagnosis though and students will receive special education services. PDD-NOS is usually a milder case of autism and individual typically get diagnosed with autism later on in life (Autism Program at Yale, 2010). When working with Conner teachers find it easier to use some assistive technology devices such as a weighted vest and pen to help him write. The reason behind this is to help with his tremors, so he won’t shake as much while writing. This works very well for Conner and he now he can hold the pencil properly and write in a way that others can read. Teachers also use a variety of games throughout the day to help Conner learn to take turns and communicate effectively with other students (National Autism Resources, 2009). When it comes to behavior, teachers find different ways of keeping Conner on track. The only time Conner does not have a teacher or aide working with him directly is the limited time he is in the general classroom. To help Conner with this transition and to keep him from interrupting the rest of the class, Conner’s desk is in the front row to the far end. He is not near as many other students, creating less anxiety and distraction for him, and if he does begin to act out an aide can quickly get to him without walking through the rest of the students (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2008) This also gives him a straight shot of the white board and the teacher, creating less distraction (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2008). Conner is a student, who clearly has a special need. He has been diagnosed and is eligible for assistance under the IDEA act. There are many activities he excels at and can do stuff just as well as any other 7 year old boy, unfortunately there are a few things he will always struggle with. It is the job of teachers, aides and therapists to provide Conner with everything possible to help him succeed and live life to the fullest. References: * The National autism Resources, 2009; http://nationalautismresources.com/social-symptoms-of-autism.html * PDD-NOS Symptoms, Abhishek Agarwal, 2010; http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/pddnos-symptoms-simple-ways-to-identify-signs-and-help-your-child-739455.html * Autism Speaks, 2010; http://www.autismspeaks.org/navigating/pdd_nos.php * Autism program at Yale, Yale School of Medicine, 2010; http://www.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism/pddnos.html * Rosenberg, M. S., Westling, D. L., & McLeskey, J. (2008). Special education for today’s teachers: An introduction. UpperSaddleRiver, NJ: Pearson/Merill/Prentice Hall.