Ashley Allen

Diff 504
Person Centered Planning

Introduction
Christopher (this name and all names are pseudonyms) is currently four
years old. He will be celebrating his fifth birthday in October. Christopher
has not been formally identified with an exceptionality. However, he has
experienced emotional and academic difficulties this past year. Christopher
is a kind young boy, who wants to learn. He has had difficulties with his letter
and number recognition, and struggles with his emotions as well. Christopher
is still working to develop the appropriate emotional and coping skills. When
new tasks are introduced, Christopher quickly becomes frustrated and
flustered. Rather than attempting the new task or seeking help from the
teacher, he becomes very emotional and begins to shut down.
Christopher is currently in a pre-school program at a local child care center.
There are sixteen children in the pre-school class, along with Christophers
teacher and teachers assistant. The pre-school children share a large room
with the nursery-school children (age 3) as well. The two groups often
interact and participate in circle time and free time activities together.
Christopher is not currently receiving special education services, however
the pre-school teacher, Mrs. Mary does provide Christopher with supports to
aid his academic and emotional development. Mrs. Mary has recently began
to introduce new material to Christopher prior to introducing it to the whole

class. Mrs. Mary also checks in on Christopher multiple times throughout an

activity, in case Christopher is in need of assistance. Often times Mrs. Mary
will stay near Christopher and offer him words of encouragement and
reassurance as he works to complete a task.
Christopher is one of two children. He lives with his mother, father, and his
seven year old sister, Abby. His parents and sister are his largest circle of
support. Christopher enjoys playing soccer, building Legos with his dad, and
riding his bike and four-wheeler. He is not currently a member of any
community activities, however Christopher would like to play on a soccer
team.

Rationale
In September Christopher will be transitioning from pre-school to
kindergarten. In the past few years, the standards for kindergarten have
become more rigorous. Kindergarten is a significant year in a childs life.
They grow a great deal academically during this time. Both Christophers
mother and teacher have expressed concern that Christopher is not
emotionally ready for the demands of Kindergarten. The purpose for
completing this person centered plan is to gain further insight on Christopher
from many significant people in his life, and for all of the said people to work
together to create ways to assist Christopher in a successful transition to
Kindergarten.
I chose to follow the MAPS format for the person centered plan. This
format asks many questions that allow all meeting attendees to think of
Christopher in a variety of ways. The questions allows us to not only examine
Christophers strengths and needs, but also allows us to discuss
Christophers personality and interests. It provides insight on Christophers
life experiences up to this point in time as well. I feel this format will give
everyone the opportunity to understand Christopher as a whole, which will
allow everyone to offer the most appropriate suggestions of how to help
Christopher. These questions also seemed to be more appropriate for a child

approaching the elementary years, than formats such as GAPs that seem to
focus on individuals taking on more adult like responsibilities (jobs, finances).

Pre-Planning
After speaking with Christopher, it was decided that mom, dad, Abby,
Sarah, Mrs. Mary, and Mrs. Sally would be invited to participate in
Christophers plan. As previously mentioned, Abby is Christophers seven
year old sister. Abby and Christopher get along well, Abby loves to read to
her younger brother. Sarah is a family friend to Christopher and his family.
She has babysat Christopher and Abby on numerous occasions. Mrs. Mary is
Christophers pre-school teacher and Mrs. Sally is the nursery- school
teacher. Although Christopher was never in Mrs. Sallys class, Mrs. Sally and
Mrs. Mary often interact with and assist each others students. Mrs. Sally
often does art projects with Christopher and his classmates.
I spoke with Christophers mother about the plan first. We discussed the
time, place, and who Christopher chose to invite. Christophers mom
suggested we meet in the evening, after everyone is home from work. I sent
out invitations with a few different dates and times. Once everyone returned
their invitations, I choose Tuesday, June 9th at 6 pm for the meeting (because

it was the one date and time that was convenient for all). We choose the
child care center as our meeting place for a few reasons. One, this was a
facility all were familiar with and was a short distance for everyone to travel.
Also, Christophers mom mentioned she felt more comfortable holding the
meeting in a quiet place, rather than a public facility with little privacy. I sent
the invitations to all individuals mentioned above. I attached the list of
questions that would be discussed as well.

Youre Invited!
What?
Christopher would like to invite you to his first
ever, person centered plan meeting! At the
meeting we will discuss ways in which we can
help Christopher successfully transition into

When?
We would like to pick an evening that everyone
can join! Below are a few possible dates. We
would like to hold the meeting at 6 pm. Please
contact Ashley Allen at 716-982-623 with the
date that works best, at your earliest
convenience. We will notify everyone once a

Where?
WHwh
Wee-Folk Child Care
Centre

3556 Lakeshore Road Ste. 50

Blasdell, NY 14219
Christophers Person Centered Plan Meeting

Pre-K classroom, Mushroom Land

Date/Time: Tuesday, June 10th 6:00 pm -7:20 pm

Locations: Wee-Folk Child Care, Pre-school Classroom (Mushroom Land)

Attendees: Christopher Smith, Jane Smith, Don Smith, Abby Smith, Sarah
Bell, Mary Jones, and Sally Stephens
Objective: The purpose of todays meeting is to discuss ways in which we
can help Christopher make a successful transition into Kindergarten.
Schedule:
6:00-6:05- Introductions
6:05-6:10- Introduce MAPS
6:10-7:10- MAPS Discussion

7:10-7:20-Celebration & Refreshments

Meeting
Overall the meeting ran very smoothly. All attendees were engaged in the
conversation and enthusiastic about Christophers plan. I do wish that
Christopher would have participated in the discussion a bit more. I along with
his parents, teachers, and others encouraged him to respond to the
questions. However, often times he would just shrug or look to his parents for
an answer. On a few occasions Christopher put more input in than others.
For example, he did answer when everyone was asked to describe
Christopher. He was excited to mention he enjoyed soccer, Legos, and his
bike. After a little hesitation, he also chimed in while we discussed his
worries, sharing with the group that he was nervous that school would be too
hard.
I greeted all attendees at the door and handed them the meeting agenda
as they arrived. I invited everyone to sit around a circular table in the

classroom. Once everyone was situated I introduced myself, and had all
other attendees do the same. I explained the purpose of a person centered
plan to the attendees and quickly reviewed the questions I would be
asking/topics we would be discussing.
Since I do work in the pre-school classroom I was aware that Christophers
teachers (both Mrs. Mary and Mrs. Sally) had some concern with his
emotional maturity. When we arrived to the question pertaining to worries for
Christopher, I geared the question for Christopher and his parents only. Since
Christophers teachers see him in a different setting than his parents, I was
interested to see whether or not Christophers parents would bring this up as
their only major concern. Christophers emotional maturity was the first
thing that his mother brought up after I asked the question. Interestingly, his
father brought up another concern. Christophers fathers greatest worry is
that Christophers self-confidence is standing in the way of him completing
his work. He mentioned often times at home when working on letter
recognition Christopher hesitates to answer. His dad believes that
Christopher does know the material, but chooses not to answer because he
is unsure of himself and fears that he is wrong. At this time, Christophers
teacher did chime in. Mrs. Mary noted that when Christopher begins a task
he has difficulty with or a new task he becomes easily flustered. Even when
he knows an answer, he needs reassurance that it is correct. I asked
Christopher if he was scared to get answers wrong and he quietly nodded his
head. At this point, we made a connection as a group. We realized that

Christopher fears doing something incorrectly, which is the reasoning for

Christophers frustration when new or difficult tasks are introduced.
Christophers father admitted that when Christopher is faced with a new task
at home, he often does it for him, rather than giving Christopher the
opportunity to try it on his own. He does this to keep Christopher from
becoming emotional and upset.
After completing this process I truly understood the importance of
collaborating and communicating with parents and other individuals closely
connected to students. Families and friends see students in a different
atmosphere than we as teachers do. They know the students in a different
way. Coming together with the different understandings teachers, families,
and friends have allows us to paint a greater picture of the student. If it had
not been for Christophers dad mentioning he felt Christopher feared failure,
others may not have thought to ask Christopher about that fear. Learning
Christophers fear of failure allowed his parents, sister, babysitter, and
teachers to better understand Christophers frustration and negatively
towards new tasks. From there we were able to create a plan that aims to
build Christophers confidence and make him more comfortable with trying
new tasks.

The Plan
As shown in the MAPS diagram, we developed a plan of action for
Christopher. We came to the conclusion that things such as increasing
Christophers level of comfort with new tasks, building his self-confidence,
and extending his circle of support will help him successfully transition into
Kindergarten. As mentioned above, Christopher becomes extremely

frustrated and flustered by new tasks. At the meeting we became aware

that this is due to Christophers fear of failing, or doing a task incorrectly. We
decided that it is important we increase Christophers comfort with new
tasks. This way his emotions do not continue to interfere with his work as he
moves into Kindergarten. Christophers dad said he will begin encouraging
Christopher to do things independently around the house and give him
opportunities to both succeed and fail. Since Christopher fears failing at new
tasks, his dad felt allowing him to face his fear of failure would be the best
solution. Christopher agreed to begin trying new tasks. Mrs. Mary also
suggested creating a list of things Christopher can do when he becomes
upset by a new task (take a deep breathe, give it a try, ask the teacher for
help). We also all agreed that continuing to encourage Christopher would be
a help too.
It was agreed upon that building Christophers self-confidence may help
him when completing a new or difficult task as well. We discussed the idea
that if Christopher feels confident and believes in himself, it is likely that he
will be more open to try something new. He may no longer need the constant
reassurance throughout a task. The group brainstormed a few ways we can
increase his confidence. Mrs. Mary, Mrs. Sally, and I agreed that we would
continue to make school a positive environment for Christopher, in which he
feels comfortable and supported. Christophers parents and sister promised
to keep their home a safe a positive environment as well. Mrs. Sally

suggested that everyone makes sure to praise Christopher for his efforts,
even if he does not succeed each time.
Mrs. Mary mentioned that Christopher does well when he has support from
his friends. There have been numerous occasions when Christopher has
gotten upset and a friend has come right to his rescue, calming him down.
Currently Christopher has a nice group of friends. However Mrs. Mary thinks
it would be great for Christopher to branch out and extend his circle of peer
support. I suggested that he does this by joining community activities so he
can meet friends who may be in his class next year. I asked Christopher if
there were any sports or activities he would like to get into. He said he would
like to play soccer. Abby mentioned taking Christopher to his new schools
playground, since she often runs into other children from school there over
the summer. Sarah mentioned joining boy scouts as another way Christopher
can make new friends.
Christopher agreed with all of our plans, especially joining soccer and
playing at his new schools playground. We agreed that Christophers
teachers, family, and Sarah would have another meeting next month to
discuss if the plans seem to be effective.