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Individual Differences Profile Essay

Furniss, Alli
Instructor: Dr. Egbert
Education 205: Developmental Differences 10:00
















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Individual Differences Profile Essay
I had the great opportunity to meet with Van and his teacher about his disability, which
is a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities. Van has
many physical, cognitive, and social developmental differences that unalike from his peers. He
was born with Autism, which is a spectrum disorder that affects an individuals ability to
communicate, form relationships what others, and relate appropriately to the environment. Van
was born this way simply because of a genetic link, Van has a great uncle with the same
disorders that he inherited. Van also has a cognitive impairment, and shows signs of dyslexia at
times. Dyslexia is also known as sever reading disability, this is a learning disorder characterized
by problems in reading and writing. Van and his family are Caucasian Americans.
General Information
The chirpy, energetic, high-spirited Van is a white, twenty year old male. Van lives with
his dad, step-mother, and also his half-brother Lyndon. He has two older sisters that live in Utah
who he loves to go visit often. Van attends a full day of special classes starting at eight in the
morning to three-thirty in the afternoon. (Including to and from). FAPE which is free appropriate
public education that helped Van get into the special education program, and has classes
appropriate for Van and his needs. After school, Van is picked up by The Learning Center
service workers and is taken to The Learning Center from four to six in the evening. Van used to
have occupational therapy, which is a form of therapy for those recuperating from mental
illness that encourages rehabilitation through the performance of activities required in daily life,
but now Van doesnt, and goes home after his Learning Center hours are over at approximately
six in the evening.
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Physical Development
The physical description of Van is as follows: he has brown hair, blue eyes, and white
skin. Van has spots of severe ace and acne scars. All of Vans classes are with the high schools
special education teacher except for his P.E. class. That class is a normal P.E. class which Van
has an aid with him helping and directing him at times when he needs it. To Vans peers he is
below average. Vans general physical health all around may not look as good as a average
twenty year old man. Van is very small and very skinny. He was born with slight vision loss,
which is why he wears glasses also, Van has asthma during the blooming season. Overall he is
skinny but healthy. Van writes with his right hand, but in some sports/activities he will use his
left hand pretty often. This student is very active, he loves to ride his bike while at home, and
also goes on a walk every day, when the weather permits, with his father. Van is in P.E. all three
semesters and excels in this area. Van happily told me his favorite food was chocolate cake, but
not broccoli, which made the whole class laugh. He is not allergic to anything but a few specific
medicines, and eats fairly healthy when at school and at home.
Vans large muscle development differs significantly from his peers, from the teachers
assessment, he can do whatever a four year old and two month old can do from his tests, but has
proven to do more at times. He can lift very light weights while in P.E., but loves to throw
Frisbees which not accurate, but whos are! Vans favorite sport is kickball. Vans small muscle
development also differs from his peers, he can write his name though very large. He can cut
straight lines but needs help with any curves or the aid just does it. His teacher told me he can do
ten percent of what the other children in regular classes can do with their fine motor skills. At his
Learning Center he practices them by using sticky pads and placing them on squares, also Van
does a lot of shredding the papers at the Center.
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Cognitive Development
Van is a super senior at his high school, being twenty, and will attend one more year.
Again, his classes are all with a special education class and certified teacher, except P.E. He has
been in this program since he was little and is a visionary learner which allows him to gain a
greater understanding of what the teacher is talking about, which leads to a higher success rate.
These special programs are used to give him the extra help that he needs on a daily basis, an aid
is with him eighty percent of the day. Van is capable of using the restroom by himself. Some
academic strengths include: his willingness to learn, he always has good effort, and brings all
smiles to his classroom every day. Some weaknesses include: reading, which is at a first grade
level, writing, and is distracted very easily. Van loves to be involved in new activities in all his
classes. (Zone of proximal development by Vygotsky).
This students academic behaviors are acceptable for his special education class. He has
very limited attention span and gets distracted very easily, also, Van is always willing to
participate in class activates with motivation or not. When he is motivated with food or a fun
activity, he gets too excited and may not do the best job he could of by rushing because he is too
excited. Other times depending of what it is makes him very motivated.
In Piagets stage of cognitive development, Van is in the preoperational stage. He has the
brain of a four year old and 2 month old as of right now as is expected to never change. He is at a
first grade reading level and can read about 100 site words such as of, the, and, etc. Again, he can
write his name but only in very large letters, and can write each letter if told to. At times, he has
shown signs of dyslexia but is not officially diagnosed with it.

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Socio-emotional Development
Van is very happy and social with his peers and will even sometimes talk out of turn to
get noticed by his classmates or teachers, but when talking he has a hard time making eye contact
with you whether he knows you or not. The student aid in Vans classroom told me that the
students at that high school love to interact with Van and he was always smiling and willing to
give everyone high-fives. Van is famous to his fellow students, disabled and non-disabled! Van
doesnt talk to adults too well, and has a very hard time talking to someone he doesnt know.
Van is a very positive person, and never shows signs of negative attitude. He often is found
calling his peers a different name to get a reaction out of them and to make them laugh.
I believe Van is at the Industry vs. Inferiority stage, (Erikson) because without positive
reinforcement, Van wont do his work or anything as willing, he needs constant positive
reinforcement, and needs to feel needed to his teaches and peers. On the flip side Van loves to
give lots of compliments and loves to see other people happy.
Summary, Conclusions and Implications
The summary of the major findings of this data collection is that the student, Van, is a
healthy four year old trapped in a twenty year old mans body. He has Autism and a severe
learning disability, also is very active and lives a healthy lifestyle. But with all this going on, he
is always positive and willing to help. From what I have hard Van has a great support system
from his family at home who helps him with everyday goals and makes sure his is to school and
other appointments on time. Van is NOT at risk, he has a great home, has great health, also has
many academic opportunities, he is not in any abusive situations, and is offered many life
experiences. He also has a strict schedule and does often stray from it and he is perfectly fine
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with that. He again is a very happy person who loves to makes people laugh and loves his special
education teachers and fellow students. Even with Vans learning disability, which is a
condition giving rise to difficulties in acquiring knowledge and skills to the level expected of
those of the same again. But this doesnt stop him from participating and trying his best in class.
It shows that negative reinforcement does not work well with him; it just makes him more
uncomfortable. He is a soft guy and needs to be treated with respect.
Van is not at a typical level of development in any of the three domains. Cognitively,
he has the mind of a four year and two month old. He can do whatever a four year old can and
thinks and acts like a little child. He has aids with him eighty percent of the time to help him
with his schoolwork and other school activities that he cannot do on his own. Physically, he is
much smaller then his normal peers and can again do what a four year old can do. Socially, Van
has a hard time speaking and getting words and sentences out that he wants to. He has a speech
problem, which doesnt help. People often cant understand Van when he speaks.
Educationally and emotionally Van definitely has more weaknesses then strengths, with
his mind functioning so low and his motor-skills limited there isnt a lot Van can do. He CAN
always provide the class with a smile and a joke here or there. He cooperates very well with what
the teacher and his parents need him to do. Van knows he is different and thats why he is placed
where he is, but continued to have that great attitude.
Lessons should meet Vans needs cognitively, socially, and physically, he needs
instructional objectives. Which are clear, unambiguous statements of the teachers instructional
intentions for students. Van gets distracted very easily, therefore lessons should be structured so
there are no distractions in the classroom. For example, pet rats, visitors, and even signs on the
wall. Also Van needs lessons to his specific mental capacity. The lessons need to be no higher
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then a first grade level, and needs to keep moving after he has finished a task. His focus is
somewhere it shouldnt be if there isnt a strict daily schedule for Van. His aid is there to help
most of the time, maybe giving Van some projects he could do independently would make him
feel more accomplished and want to be at school. Some social needs, which need to be met
include: making him feel apart of the group, student aids, to help him learn how to communicate
with regular high school students, also maybe more group assignments in his classroom where
he can interact positively with others. Physically, Van needs a healthier diet which could lead to
weight gain, which Van is in need of. Teaching him proper nutrition is a start, and maybe he will
eat better and more if he knew what certain foods gave him muscles.
Van already has a great and knowledgeable teacher, but doing those couple things could
help Van succeed even more physically, cognitively, and socially. A lot of us dont have the
same obstacles as Van, or the same disabilities, but providing that smile Van does every day for
his classmates and teacher, is already a step ahead everyone else. This profile essay has helped
my understand for what teachers need to do to provide there students with the best education
possible, making plans for each student, because no student is the same.






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Van has obsticules that proably most of us dont have and he has to over come obstucles and work
though his cognitive, social, and physical disabilities.