Lindsey Lash

Dr. Suppo
Typical/Atypical Growth and Development
Parent-Child Study
The interview took place in sections, and during the interview there was
a discussion of three different children, with the main focus on the four-year-old
girl. The other two children are four and five years of age; the four-year-old boy
is a twin to the four-year-old girl. The main focused child is atypical, and her
twin has atypical symptoms as well. The oldest has no developmental issues,
and according to her mother is very bright.
A major part of the interview was a discussion about how her youngest
daughter had a lot of developmental issues due to problems that resulted
shortly after birth. One part of the interview that strikes me now that I left out
was asking if they twins were born premature. After in class discussion about
the difficulties that come along with pregnancies, especially premature births, I
wonder if there was an early birth that took place. Learning that her oldest
child does not have any developmental issues that have been discovered to
date, and her twins are more atypical, I found it interesting that they share a
diagnosis of disruptive behavior disorder. I know that many twins share
multiple traits, and sometimes have similar personalities; however, some are
very different. After further research, it is believed that identical twins are more
likely to share similar personalities rather than fraternal. The developmental
issues that are similar between the twins seem to be a coincidence, and the

females problems due more to the stroke at birth. Her problems had more
focus considering they were visible from a couple days after birth; however,
her brothers developmental problems are becoming more prevalent and
beginning to be diagnosed.
The Social-Emotional developmental area stood out the most to me
during this interview process. After hearing some of the stories the mother
had to tell me, I initially thought that her child could have bipolar disorder.
My reasoning for this is because her child has highs and lows, and after an
extreme low, she crashes. By the age of four a typical child should be
volunteering, conforming to group decisions, verbalizing feelings before
physical aggression, playing with one or two others while getting along,
responding and making verbal greetings, and playing games with another
person, to name a few. Now, the child of main discussion does not have
developmental issues that restrict her from learning content. It is the
behaviors that interrupt her learning when she is in an environment where
she does not get one on one attention. The mother also provided me with
papers that helped show the different aspects of her diagnosis as well as the
specific symptoms that were noticed. I would increase opportunities for
growth and development at home or at school by bringing in outside support.
If it has been noticed that she learns better and has better control of her
behavior in a more attention-focused environment on her then bringing in an
aide or wrap around services could prove to be very helpful. Throughout the
day the aide could help the child focus on her work while when a behavior

seems to start help to calm her down, and talk to the child in a more private
environment that is not around other children. Medication should be used as
a last resort to treat the diagnosis, and only used after trying other methods
of intervention.
For the male twin, Social and Emotional development is also an area of
distress. I asked the mother if her children get along well with others as well
as enjoy playing with one another. Her son is more of a leader, but getting
along with peers takes place with occasional incidents. When he is asked to
do anything he will respond with No! and be very defiant. For when he
wants to play with others he has even said to his mother, Mommy I want to
play. However, he will play by himself physically, but mentally be engaged
with other. For someone of four years of age, typically participating in groups
starts to begin. However, due to his Disruptive Behavior Disorder, he is a
little behind in this area. In order to help him become more a part of the
group, I would try and encourage him as best as possible to participate in the
activities. Along with this I would have observations take place to understand
which environments he likes best, as well as progresses in all developmental
areas in.
The Cognitive developmental areas seem to be progressing in a
positive manner for all of the children. Especially for the youngest girl, the
influence of her older sister has been an extremely positive aspect for her
development. Her brother, who also has Disruptive Behavior Disorder, also
takes positive development from the eldest child. All of the children have

attended Headstart from the time the twins were about six months old.
Knowing that a good foundation of education can be critical to the
development of the child, having placed the children in these programs has
also helped the cognitive development. As far as talking goes, the female
twin matched up with the developmental table by speaking words at about
one year old. Because of matching up the information gained from the
interview to the cognitive developmental table, I now have a better
understanding of when children are supposed to be hitting different
milestones. I have also learned that even a child who has a major disability,
or emotional disability can overcome a lot of the problems with the right
kinds of encouragement and the right habitats. If I were to have a child with
a behavior disability that prevented cognitive development, I would know
now to take more time with the individual child as well as knowing how
frustrating it is for the child because they have a want to know more or to do
more. Not being able to communicate wants and needs is a problem for both
of the twins, but they have their strengths in other areas. For example, the
girl twin is a great animal person. She loves them and has complete patience
and understanding for animals, where she does not all the time with people.
The Physical development of the female twin was about on par with
the developmental table. However, due to a stroke at birth and having a
diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome, having a VP Shunt, and Cerebral Palsy,
some aspects in the physical area were more of a challenge. Her mother
continued to say throughout the interview that her daughter was a fighter.

She had also stated that it was not until recently that she really started to
notice that her left side and hand had trouble doing certain tasks. As a four
year old, one of the typical developmental aspects is catching a thrown ball
against their body with their arms. Due to her left side having difficulties this
can pose a problem. Some of her developmental stages included walking at
one year, which is normal, feeding herself independently at one year,
dressing herself for the most part now; however there are complications with
the left side and needs help with coats, jackets, and armholes sometimes.
She is potty trained during the day, but at night she still has to wear pull-ups.