Running head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES STUDENT PROFILE

Individual Difference Student Profile

Alex Dale
Instructor: Kae Jensen
EDUC 205: Development / Individual Differences
Spring 2014









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Individual Difference Student Profile Essay
I had the opportunity to observe a second grade boy whom I will refer to as Brandon. He
is from Iowa Elementary in Nampa and has a moderate hearing disability. Brandon is a seven
and a half year old who has a little trouble speaking and paying attention. Through these
paragraphs I will go over Brandons general information, physical development, cognitive
development, and socio-emotional development.
Brandons mother is a friend of the family so I got to know about his family
interactions. Brandon lives with his mother, who is expecting in June, his brother Jacob, and his
future step dad. His brother is one grade older than him, but that doesnt stop them from being
close brothers. Their mom gets them ready for school, every other week, since they split time
with their dad. Brandon goes to school and gets picked up by a parent after school. Depending on
the time of year Brandon plays sports. So after school he goes home to do homework, he goes to
practice, and then he eats dinner. During the spring his brother plays baseball so Brandon is at
the field a lot. During the summer, Brandon attends the Recreation Centers summer program
and spends time with his friends. From a distance you would think Brandon is a normal child
but if you dig a little deeper then you can see why he needs a little extra help.
Physical Development
Brandon is a shorter boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. He wears glasses and is
outgoing like the rest of the students in his class. He is right handed and can do everything his
classmates can; he is just a little slower at it. As far as I have seen, Brandon wears his glasses all
the time and has athletic glasses for playing sports. Some accommodations are made for
Brandon, like always sitting in the front of the classroom to see and hear better. During my
observations he was out a whole week for a common cold. When he gets sick it hits him harder
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than it does the rest due to a weak immune system. Physically he looks like any other child his
age. He always has a gentle smile on his face and lights up whenever I come to visit him. He is
so polite and so happy to be having a little sister. You can see his excitment whenever he talks
about her.
Cognitive Development
Brandon is on a 504 plan which is like an individualized education program (IEP). He
has goals and has a microphone to help him hear his teacher. His least restrictive environment
(LRE) is in a common classroom with his classmates. Some of Brandons strengths are: he is not
shy, he is very kind, he likes to help, and he waits for all instructions to be said before he does
anything. Some of his weaknesses are: reading, hearing, getting distracted, and sometimes
following the wrong types of students who mess around. Overall, Brandon is a great student but
sometimes he gets distracted from a task, and it takes him longer to finish it. Brandon is great at
wanting to participate and say what is on his mind. Brandons mother has wonderful social
support and takes Brandon to speech therapy once a week. Classroom activities take Brandon a
little longer to accomplish, but his family and teachers use positive behavioral support which
helps him feel like he is doing great and learning what he needs to. Every time Brandons teacher
gave him a compliment he put a smile on his face, and he felt proud to get it right. Brandon
would work on his short-term memory and his reading fluency a lot while I was there. The
class would read a story together and then the teacher would ask them questions about what they
had read. When Brandon was called on to answer a question he couldnt remember the answer
right away. Some students would get tired of waiting and answer it for him. Brandon would not
always get the chance he needed. I noticed when Brandon had repeated readings, he would
retain the information more. Some modifications were available for Brandon as school went on.
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His teacher had a student teacher so she could work with Brandon one-on-one. There would be
different readings and words to work on than the rest of the class.
From observing Brandon I can tell he is in J. Piagets preoperational stage of cognitive
development. He cannot yet see things in the eyes of others. He also has a hard time thinking of
how much something is, more or less, in a different container.
Socio-emotional Development
From my observation hours I have found every one of Brandons classmates likes him
and is nice to him. They include Brandon in everything. Sometimes they dont have enough
patience; but, then again, they are second graders. Brandons brother also comes into the
classroom to peer-tutor him for about an hour each day. Brandon looks up to his brother and
understands him. Sometimes he gets into trouble for not listening, but his attention span and
hearing are not there. With Brandon you have to use a simple language and get your point across
for him to understand. When I first started my observing his microphone set wasnt working so
he was lost most of the time. By the middle of my hours it was finally fixed and he was using it
every day. I noticed he was focused and was doing everything he was supposed to be doing. He
could hear every direction and he was engaged. His self-esteem rose high because he could hear
every word. By having the microphone set it forced him to hear the teacher and kept certain
distractions away. I also noticed he had to make eye contact to be able to understand without the
microphone set. I did notice he only wore it for a few hours each day. This is good because he
wont become dependent on it. It will help him try to focus when he doesnt have it on. This way
Brandon can have options and learn to use it only when he needs to. When you have a teacher
like Brandons it also helps. She is always calm and knows how to communicate with each of the
students. You can clearly see and point out her universal design for learning and that is what
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makes her a great multitasker and makes the students respect her. She knows what their
strengths, weaknesses, and abilities are; which is hard with 26 different students.
Summary
Brandon will need help through school until he can do everything on his own. I dont
know if his hearing will get better. When he uses his microphone set he seems to do better. He
also wears glasses but since he is still a kid he breaks them and they take a week to fix. He has
come a long way and everyone helps him out so there can be a possibility of him improving even
more.
Conclusion
Brandon is an awesome little boy who is full of life. He doesnt let his disability hold him
back any. He tries hard to accomplish things and has a good support system at home and at
school. According to R. Gardner children are embedded in cultures that influence them. He has
seen a lot of positive attitudes and I can see how it reflects on him. He has to try a little harder
than the rest of his classmates but he is on his way to a bright future.
I think as Brandon gets older he will keep improving and catch up to his classmates. I
dont think he will get too far behind and not be able to catch up. If he keeps working hard and
has teachers who take time to help him he will be awesome at learning new things.






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References
Cherry, K. (2014), Piaget's Stages: An overview of Piaget's stages of cognitive development.
Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/l/bl-piaget-
stages.htm
Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J., & Pullen, P., (2012) Exceptional learners: An intro to special
education (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education