Format for Observation Paper

Class/secti
on:
Your
Name:
Assignmen
t:

FHS 1500-004
Chandra Washington
Observation 3

Background
Childs age:
Fictitious
name:
Location:
Brief
Description:

Information
12 years old
Dan
CTA community supports/Morning View with caretaker
Deshawn Cook
CTA focuses on tending and positively guiding children who
have disabilities. It was a 3-1 ratio with childrens ages
varying from 10-12. I observed for 1 hour.

Physical Development
Dan suffers from Autism and seizures. I notice right away that Dan
does not speak. From time to time he would open his mouth, but his words
just wouldnt come out. Which
Reminded me that in the book it states that one of the signs of Autism were
problems with social interaction and the social use of language (Berger,
2014, p. 275). I read that most children with Autism are on special diets
(Berger, 2014, p.276) but I noticed that Dan may be a little bit overweight.
At this age children are involved with staying more active; playing sports,
exercising, participating in school programs etc. (Berger, 2014, p. 245-46)
but I am sure because of his condition he doesnt participate. I didnt see
any peer interaction at all with Dan, for the most part he kept to himself.
During my visit I got to observe how he did during lunch time, and saw
something very interesting. Dan in fact ate his food, but had to separate
everything. It was hot dogs, baked chips, and mandarin oranges on his plate
and not only were the foods allowed to touch each other, but he had to
separate everything, including the hot dog from the bun. The good thing is,
is that he ate all of his food all gone. I am still trying to figure out why he is
overweight when he ate all of his food and didnt want seconds. Overall the
food was pretty healthy on his plate.
Cognitive Development
After lunch it was time for an activity. It was cutting out shapes, saying
what they were, and then gluing them to paper. Dan did not want any part

of it. When the caregiver asked for the third time for Dan to join the rest of
the group he started to holler and pat his ears. The caregiver immediately
walked to the cabinets and pulled out an IPAD. Dan sat down on the floor in
a corner, kicked off his shoes, then became content. I thought it was
interesting because I learned that children around this age have the ability to
use selective attention (Berger, 2014, p.256) and although Dan struggles
with autism he is able to tune everything out and focus just on his IPAD. I
walked over to him and saw that he was playing a SpongeBob matching
game. Dan was getting all of them correct which seems to be normal
according to the book (Berger, 2014, p. 257). I was waiting for him to try
another game, but he was stuck on this one game. I also saw that on Dans
chart it said that he is home-schooled. I was figuring that not only is it
Autism that is contributing to his avoidance with his peers, but maybe it has
something to with how when a child is home-schooled it sometimes can play
a factor in a child not being socially involved (Berger,2014,p. 268). Dan
remained in the corner for 25 minutes and did not want to be bothered. The
caregiver finally convinced Dan to put the IPAD away and participate in the
activity. Dan just sat in the chair quietly without moving; he never did
participate, nor speak to anyone at the table.
Social/Emotional Development
Like I said above Dan is not a social butterfly. He refuses to speak to
anyone and when he gets upset he just hollers. At this age it is common for
children to form peer relationships (Berger, 2014, p.304) but Dan however is
not communicating with the others. I researched that it is very common for
an Autistic child to lack in social interaction, social communication, and social
imagination. As of now Dan doesnt seem to be on the same level as
children his age but I think with time if the correct resources are utilized, the
outcome of his communication will improve. At one point Dan was playing
with the puzzles and a little girl walked up to him and took one of the pieces
to mess with him. Dan started crying uncontrollably and running around in
circles. The caregiver took the missing piece away, gave it back to Dan, and
then it was like a total turn around. Dan was content again now that he had
his missing piece. Although these are all disabled children I thought that this
other child seemed to have some bullying tendencies. According to one of
the four types of bullying (Berger, 2014, P. 306) it seems that Dan was a
victim of verbal bullying which includes teasing and taunting. Overall, I saw
actions that were considered to be normal in an autistic child, but differed
from those of a normal 12 year old boy.
Reference List

Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.
http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/communicating-and-interacting/socialskills/young-children.aspx