TJ Howard

EDUC 205
Individual Differences
LueLinda Egbert
November 5, 2014
I met with Jaden Benson and his family. Jaden was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD in second
grade, two years ago. Jaden and his family are Caucasion Americans.
Student Profile
Section 1: General Information
A. General characteristics:
1. The student (Jaden Benson) is 9 years of age, male, and Caucasion with blond hair and
blue eyes.
B. Family configuration:
1. Jaden lives with his mother, stepfather, 1 sister, and 3 brothers.
C. Childs daily schedule:
1. Jaden attends a full day of classes starting at 8:20 a.m. 3:30 p.m. (including to and
from).
2. Jaden's extracurricular activities are the Harrison after school program which lasts from
3:30 p.m. To 6 p.m. Monday-Thursday. This is a program designed to provide enrichment
and tutoring.
Section 2: Physical Development
A. Physical description:
1. Jadens hair is blond.
2. Jadens eyes are blue.
3. Jadens skin is white.
4. Jaden has a slender build and freckles with a conservative hair cut.
B. Physical maturation:
1. Jaden seems to be a little smaller physically than his peers.
C. General physical health:
1. Jaden is in good overall physical health
D. Handedness:
1. Jaden is right handed.
E. Physical fitness:
1. Exercise:
a. Jaden enjoys playing basketball with friends, playing on the playground bars, and
other outdoor activities.
2. Nutrition:

a. Jaden's mother feeds their family homemade meals, leaving out the salt and butter
to reduce the chance of high blood pressure and cholesterol in the family.
b. Jaden's favorite foods are bananas and carrots, and he says he eats brocolli a lot. I
observed that he had a fairly well-balanced diet. In the afterschool program he
usually gets a fruit and a carb.
F. Large muscle development:
1. Jaden has full range of motion, can lift objects, walk, and run exhibiting large muscle
development consistent with his peers.
G. Small muscle development:
1. Jaden can write in cursive, dribble a basketball, and throw a ball, exhibiting small muscle
development consistent with his peers.
Section 3: Cognitive Development
A. Academics/school history including grade in school and placement:
1. Jaden is in fourth grade and is placed in a combination of two classroom types.
a. Jaden is in a resource classroom until lunch which offers extra help, tutoring, and
smaller class sizes to enable students to get their homework done.
b. The rest of the day Jaden spents in a regular classroom.
c. Jaden is in the Concrete Operational Stage of cognitive development.
B. Academic behaviors:
a. Due to his ADHD, Jaden has a very difficult time focusing on one subject and get
distracted extremely easily. He reports that every little sound in the room gets his
attention.
b. He has a difficult time learning new things.
C. Stage(s) of cognitive development (Piaget):
1. Concrete Operational stage. Jaden is able to realize that a crunched up string and the
same string stretched to its full length is the same length.
Section 4: Socio-emotional Development
A. Interactions with peers:
1. Jaden is quiet and softspoken unless he is exhibiting defiance behaviors.
a. Jaden reports having a hard time making friends.
2. Jaden gets frustrated very easily.
B. Interactions with adults:
1. Jaden has been very respectful of every adult that he has been observed with but there
have been reports of Oppositional-Defiant outbursts.
2. Jaden is overjoyed that I took the time to focus my paper on him.
C. Self-concept and self-esteem:
1. Jaden exhibits timidity and low self esteem.
2. Jaden states that kids don't like him and he has a hard time making friends.
3. Jaden views himself as cognitively slower than the other children.

D. Stage of socio-emotional development:

1. I believe Jaden is at the stage of Industry vs. Inferiority (Erikson) because he feels like he
is not acquiring the social and intellectual skills that school demands at the same rate as
his peers and feels inferior because of it.
a. Jaden desperately seeks attention and approval
b. Jaden especially appreciates adult approval.
A. Summary of major findings
Jaden has a supportive, large family that wishes to see him succeed. Because he can be a difficult
child his mother occasionally gets frustrated with him, and he states he is picked on by his older
stepbrothers. As a member of a large family, Jaden sometimes feels insignificant and his ADHD
problems and poorly developed social skills compound the problem making him feel like he is
not as advanced as other children. As a result Jaden exhibits low self esteem and seeks attention
and approval from others. Jaden's resource class helps him a great deal with his homework load,
which can feel overwhelming to him.
Jaden wants more than anything to just be like everyone else. He is thankful for the extra
attention he gets in the afterschool program.
B. Conclusions
1. Is the child at a typical level of development in each domain? Provide evidence of why or
why not.
a. Cognitive domain: No
i. Jaden has severe ADHD for which he takes Vivance.
ii. Jaden has a very difficult time learning new material because he cannot focus. He is
over a year behind in most subjects.
iii. Jaden gets special help in the resource room.
iv. Jaden states he feels stupid.
b. Physical domain: Yes
i. Jaden's smaller size is most likely genetic, his parents are of a smaller build.
ii. Jaden shows muscle coordination and development equal to that of his peers.
iii. Jaden exhibits skilled motor movements in dribbling a basketball and running.
c. Socio-emotional domain: No
i. Jaden has outbursts when he gets frustrated and angry.
ii. His mother states that he is a difficult child and some days is an angel, but other
days is very hard to deal with.
iii. Jaden states that he has a very hard time making friends.
What are the childs strengths and needs? What are the implications of these
strengths and needs for the childs development?
1. Medically:
a. Jaden takes Vivance for his ADHD and Abilify for his ODD according to his
mother.
b. Jaden states that he is sick a lot.
2. Educationally:
a. Jaden needs a quiet room with few distractions and one-on-one attention by a
teacher that will go at his pace to learn.

3. Emotionally:
a. Jaden's frequent illness is tied to the anxiety and psychological fear that school
initiates in him.
b. Jaden needs to be listened to and to be shown appreciation. His mom states that
once he starts talking he will not move on or physically move until what he says
has been heard and acknowledged.
c. Jaden needs friends and a support group of peers.
3. What specific strategies should be used to support the childs learning and development?
a. Jaden needs a group of friends and to feel like he is wanted/ a part of the group. Jaden
should be put into small groups in his resource class to work on group projects. The task
should force them to interact like building a mini ferris wheel or playing scrabble.
b. Jaden needs help from a one-on-one tutor that can encourage him, positively reinforce
him, and help him develop the foundational skills he is lacking. Once he feels that he has
developed those skills, he will be able feel industrious rather than inferior.
c. Jaden needs to be tested for light and contrast sensitivity, he has some troubles with
reading and he may need an Irlen filter considering 20% of people do.
d. Jaden needs a quiet space where there are few distractions to learn. If a personal tutor is
unavailable, online learning with headphones like Kahn Academy for math and science
and various reading websites could be a viable option.