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Case Study

Brandons Case Study

Introduction
Brandon was diagnosed with a highly malignant primary brain tumor,
known as Medulloblastoma from birth. To remove the aggressive
cancerous cells, Brandon underwent surgery to remove the extent of the
tumor. Unfortunately for Brandon, this resulted in half his brain being
removed to extend his chances of living. By three years of age Brandon
underwent five heavy rounds of chemotherapy and thirty doses of
radiation. His mother, father and sister Taylor took Brandons recovery one
day at a time.
By age five, a decision was made about Brandons schooling. Upon
discussions with Brandon, his mother decided to send him to a small
school. Due to Brandons circumstances, he was guided by an integration
unit to ease the schooling process and provide much needed specified
support. The Ronald McDonald Learning Program assisted Brandon and his
family with funds to one on one tutoring lessons. This aided the family and
Brandon specifically in providing educational support to bring his learning
up to speed.
For Brandon, the undeveloped areas he has sustained due to the
cancerous tumors has given him an unsteady start to life. However, with
correct

support

experiences

can

and

guidance

move

Brandons

forward.

recovery

Brandon

lacks

and

learning

self-confidence,

concentration and motivation levels in some aspects of life and in the

classroom.

His

undeveloped

areas

of

social

skills,

vocabulary,

comprehension skills, lack of speech and hearing and short term memory
has raised an array of difficulties for Brandon since birth. This report will
outline

and

provided

recommendations

for

improving

Brandons

concerned areas through his strengths and interests.

Social Skills

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For Brandon his social skills and interaction with others were limited due
to his heavy medical concerns and operations. His primary interaction was
with his family which provided some scaffolding and learning of
interaction with others. Other children, who attend day care or early
learning centres benefit greatly from interacting with other children and
pick up social skills quickly. Social skills such as eye contact, listening,
sharing and turn taking, questioning and answering require a form of
interaction between two people to learn and become comfortable with one
another

(Marsh:

2010).

Brandons

social

skills

will

improve

upon

interaction with other students or children. Through demonstrating his

ability to socialise and interact, Brandon will feel more comfortable and
motivated in learning and engaging with students and activities. Over
time his social skills will greatly enhance his vocabulary, comprehension
skills and speech.
To further extend his social and interaction skills, Brandon could engage in
learning games with explicit rules with other students or children. This will
cement his learning process and provide opportunities for success in a
safe and supportive environment. Role playing helps to develop language
skills and aid in the success of social skills. Role playing with other
students or on his own using toys could assist in his lack of social skills.
Buddy systems or partnerships are great in building confidence and
making a trusting connection. The buddy systems works effectively when
partnered correctly based on their age and interests (Krause et al: 2010).
This will deepen knowledge of both students in the partnership and give
opportunities for students to correct vocabulary mistakes. Other activities
which are beneficial for Brandons learning are story circles, the articulate
game and show and tell. Each activity gives ample opportunities to
demonstrate and practice his vocabulary, whilst building confidence to
adapt social skills. Through each of the activities Brandon will be
improving upon his language and comprehension skills thus building his
confidence and refining his social skills and interactions.
Language Skills: Vocabulary
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Another important aspect of Brandons learning is the improvement of his

vocabulary.

Through

improving

his

vocabulary

skills,

Brandon

will

understand and make meaning to different texts and find comprehending

words easier (Nagel: 2012). To improve upon his vocabulary reading aloud
or to himself will allow his brain to recognise different words and become
familiar with the sounds and letters associated with each word. To further
implement this, Brandon could create a word bank of the words he may
struggle with and use them in writing tasks or in everyday language to
practice. It could be suggested that Brandon reads books of interest to
keep motivation and increase vocabulary and meaning to further cement
his learning. At a class level, the teacher could implement a word wall
where during the week students focus on these words and try to
incorporate them in their writing or homework tasks. The words chosen by
the teacher will of course be influenced by the learning of the students
like Brandon. Through the aid of technology, using iPads or iPhones
Brandon can self-regulate his learning by engaging with apps that improve
vocabulary. Choose it Literacy will give Brandon visual and audio cues
giving instant feedback and driving motivation to continue his learning
process.
Language Skills: Comprehension
Comprehension

is

another

vital

element

for

Brandons

success.

Comprehension ties the meaning of words and sentences together. Due to

the extent of his medical conditions, his understand and meaning of words
or phrases may be limited. To improve Brandons knowledge and
understanding of making explicit meaning to words or phrases, a three
step approach can be taken. Wooley (2015) explains that comprehension
can be broken into three main categories; setting goals, monitoring and
reflection and summarising. Each provides benefits to the student which
in turns improves comprehension. Brandon will be guided by a classroom
teacher to set realistic learning goals, followed by monitoring and
reflecting upon his learning. This will allow for Brandon to make
judgements and adjustments to his learning whilst being over seen by the
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teacher. Through activities Brandon will reflect and ask questions about
his learning inquiry to continuously make meaning of the words or task.
Lastly, Brandon will be asked to summarise the learning experience which
allows him to retell and organise his thoughts in a verbal or written
communication.

Brandon may express his thoughts through a visual

representation due to the fact for his love of drawings. Wooley (2015) also
explains that through drawing and representing his ideas it will improve
upon his short term memory and enhance his verbal and written
communication. To assist Brandon with his thought and reflection process
activities such as KWL charts and Think, Pair, Share will form a
structure to aid his learning.
Motivation Enhancement
Brandons lack of motivation shows in his ability to perform tasks in the
classroom and be an active and engaging learner. Motivation is self-driven
and begins with ones ability to relate and participate with content or the
task (Marsh: 2010). Through drawing upon his set learning goals,
assessment or tasks could be modified to enhance his motivation and
drive for learning. Brandons motivation is affected by his competence
level within the classroom. As a teacher it is vital activities are attainable
and result in achievable goals. His competence levels will affect his
confidence if tasks are above the achievable learning. To help selfmotivation and to his improve competence levels, Brandons independent
level of learning must be increased. This will (over time) provide Brandon
with mentality that he is able to achieve and improve his learning process
through being independently motivated. It is important to recognise that
Brandons retrieval skills may be limited, therefore recapping on prior
knowledge and incorporating a small amount of new knowledge is
impeccable.
To reiterate self-motivation, Blooms Taxonomy could assist Brandon and
his teacher to work through the levels and reach goals which are most
appropriate. Brandons learning process will be influenced by his personal
achievements and involvement he makes towards the activities.
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To motivate Brandon within the classroom, positive reinforcement and

rewards can be utilised. Brandon will not be singled out and given a
different rewards program to other students, however his positive
reinforcements will be acknowledge openly and with support from the
other students. Class rewards can vary, to stickers, stamps or vouchers to
lucky prizes or accumulation points. Regardless of the reward, Brandon
will be included and treated equitable against the other students.
Motivation in the classroom can be demonstrated to Brandon by placing
him next to another student who models the correct behaviour or a buddy
who rewards his great behaviour. To ensure Brandon and the class stay
motivated throughout the lesson, attempt (as the teacher) to provide fun,
engaging activities at the beginning of the lesson which makes meaning
to the content to follow and shows that you (as the teacher) are interested
in their learning.
Concentration Levels (tiredness)
Concentration levels have significant effects on all students. Unfortunately
for

Brandon,

losing

half

his

brain

contributes

to

the

levels

of

concentration. Through making adjustments to the learning, Brandon and

other students are able to benefit and learn more promptly in a less
disturbed environment. If Brandon is concentrating and on task other
students are more likely to be actively on task. To aid Brandon and have
controlled concentration levels, ICT can be incorporated into the learning
to offer new exciting levels of learning. Through modifying and changing
routines, classroom layout and starting activities students will become
more engaged and enthused to learn. This will boost concentration levels
within

the

classroom

and

create

more

harmonious

workspace

environment.
For Brandon, it is vital to give many small activities with direct instructions
than giving many step by step instructions. This creates boredom within
the class and increases lost concentration levels. Brandon is attracted to
colours and visual aids, so using these would improve his concentration

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levels and motivation to learning. A class timetable may also be used to

give timelines and keep students focused, especially Brandon.
For his parents, Brandon may need to adjust his sleeping pattern to
ensure he is receiving enough sleep. This will prevent his lack of effort in
classroom activities and boost his motivation and concentration levels.
Within the classroom, Brandon may work along-side another student to
reduce some of the workload, however be engaged in the main learning
aspects to ensure he is not falling behind. Lessons should be short, fun
and active to keep Brandon and other students from becoming tired or
bored. Within the classroom, a quiet corner could be set up for Brandon
and other students to resort to when feeling overwhelmed, stressed or
tired. This will prevent that student from disrupting other students during
work time and loosing concentration for the rest of the lesson or day.
Speech and Hearing Ability
Due to Brandons operations and brain trauma, he has suffered with loss
of hearing and speech difficulties. Within the classroom students like
Brandon are common and can easily be adapted into all schooling
aspects. It is recommended that Brandon is referred to a Speech and
Language Therapist (SLT) where qualified testing can be made with further
recommendations to help cater for his needs. It is important to plan with
other staffing bodies to ensure the best outcome for Brandon (DETE:
2013). Speech Language Pathologists, visiting teachers, year level cohorts
and special education staff must communicate promptly about the
progress of Brandon to make appropriate changes to his education.
Within the classroom, there are a number of different teaching strategies
that can be implemented to assist with Brandons speech and hearing
disability. By placing Brandon at the front of the room, it ensures he is able
to hear easier and watch the body language of the teacher to help him
understand and make sense of the words. Another way to convey
instructions to students, other than verbal is through written means on
the board. Brandon would be able to understand basic language and make
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meaning of the task he needs to complete. Messages can also be drawn

on the board instead of written.
Activities to support and help Brandon build his speech, comprehension
and vocabulary are pretend play with dress ups or toys, individual or class
story time, buddy systems and shared learning experiences with other
students in class. These strategies are easily adapted into classroom and
provide support to students of all learning abilities (Benedict, Homer &
Squires, as cited in Hyde, Carpenter & Conway, 2014).
Conclusion
Brandon was given an unsteady start to life, but with support he is able to
have an education and be included in schooling activities. Support will
enable Brandon and his family opportunities to progress and experience
new learning and knowledge. With the recommendations outline above,
Brandons self- confidence, concentration and motivation levels will
greater improve. Although his undeveloped areas of social skills,
vocabulary, comprehension, lack of speech and hearing and short term
memory have been a struggle in the past, Brandon has the dedication to
commit and move forward to improve his personal growth and learning
experiences.

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Reference List:
Department of Education, Training and Employment. (2013). Adjustments
for students with a hearing impairment. Retrieved from:
http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/learning/diversity/educational/hi.ht
ml
Hyde, M., Carpenter, L, & Conway, R (2014). Diversity, Inclusion &
Engagement (2nd edn). Victoria: Oxford University Press.
Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2010). Educational
psychology, (3rd ed). Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning.
Marsh C. (2010) Becoming a Teacher- Knowledge, Skills and Issues (5th
edition) Frenchs Forests NSW: Pearson Australia
Nagel, M. (2012). In the beginning: The brain, early development and
learning. Camberwell, Australia: ACER Press.

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