SPED

648 Felsenstein, Joanna

Section I: Student Profile

Jack is a seven year old second grade boy at a public school in northern New

Jersey. Jacks mother was an irresponsible drinker whilst pregnant, which will have a

lasting effect on Jack, who was given up for adoption. After adoption, he was left in his

crib with no affection show for the first month of his life, and has yet to develop empathy

as a result, also known as Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). As an infant, Jack was

diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), recognizable by delayed speech and

language development, short attention span and slow physical development. Since then,

he received a few other classifications too, including: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity

Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and an unspecified anxiety

disorder.

Jacks family is small, and wealthy in a suburban town in north New Jersey. His

adopted mother is a single woman, who works as an anesthesiologist locally. She is

supported by her mother, Jacks adopted grandmother. Jack does not have any siblings or

pets. Jacks male role models are limited, primarily served by his mothers friend from

college, whom he calls Uncle. Jacks mother is very involved with his behavioral

interventions at school, and the special education services, which he receives. Jack

stopped speech therapy after first grade, but continues with physical and occupational

therapy.

Jack is a very unique child. Jack is viewed as two different people from family at

home, and teachers and students at school, and this case study will discuss the latter, of

how he is perceived at school. Jack is not at all shy, and very happy participating in
 Felsenstein, Joanna

anything new. More than anything, in the whole wide world, Jack loves Legos,

specifically the Villains and Superheroes set! Jack brags that he can create anything with

Legos, and often proves it, if anyone dares to challenge him. Taking after his love for

Legos and building things, Jack wants to be an architect or construction work when he is

older, or a professional football player or professional wrestler. At times, Jack does not

like school, but he knows he needs it.

Jack spends most of his day in an inclusion classroom with Mrs. Pepper. Jack

also has a personal aide named Tanner, and when he is on break, Mrs. F is there to help

him keep focus. When not in Mrs. Peppers classroom, Jack attends a special (music, art,

library & media, gym) once a day, and occupational or physical therapy, which he attends

with two third grade students. Jacks primary goal in school focuses on his behavior,

and academics are secondary at the moment.

In terms of academic subjects, Jack enjoys math and engaging science lessons.

Jack enjoys arithmetic and uses touch points, fingers and a counting chart for simple

addition and subtraction, and he is familiar with counting money and has a strong number

sense and concept of the sequence of numbers. In reading, Jack is a Level K. He enjoys

recess a lot too, and finds it to be a good time to release a lot of energy. Everyday, Jack

orders a PB & J sandwich from the cafeteria, except on Fridays, when he is treated to

pizza!

His academic weaknesses include social studies, reading and writing. At Level K,

Jack is beginning to explore books with fewer pictures. Jack loves picture books, and

often procrastinates, avoids independent reading, or reads books below his level. In his
 Felsenstein, Joanna

last Independent Reading Assessment (IRA), reading and comprehension questions were

noted as a weakness. Reading a chapter can take a long time, and when he reaches the

end, he has trouble recalling the beginning and middle, and he is working on using re-

reading as a strategy. He does not enjoy reading or writing. For writing, Jack has trouble

writing true stories, and writes about what he wanted to happen instead. Related to his

dislike for reading, Jack does not enjoy social studies because there is so much reading to

go with it. In math, Jack is working on learning to tell time, to help him self-regulate his

rewards.

In regards to Jacks behavior goals, he is currently on a behavior intervention

plan, focusing on four main goals. The overall theme of his behavior plan is compliance

with behaviors, which include: a safe distance from others, hands to self, respect for

others, and maintaining an appropriate workload. The plan was initially implemented at

the start of February and has been modified slightly since then. Tanner, Jacks personal

aide, collects data, in addition to Mrs. Pepper. When Jack wants something, he can be

very persistent. If Jack is uninterested, it is difficult to motivate him to participate, or

listen. Jack struggles in social relationships and this is a priority for his behavior

intervention plan.

Overall, Jacks strengths include his persistence, strong gross and fine motor

skills, enthusiasm for math, and great imagination. However, Jack needs to work on his

reaching the goals within his behavior plan before a stronger emphasis on academics is

placed.

Section II: Contextual Factors

 Felsenstein, Joanna

Long Term Cumulative Factors

Jack is classified with an Other Health Impairment (OHI), having Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Jacks health issues are difficult to identify, beyond those

stated in his IEP. From interviewing Mrs. Pepper, when asked about parental involvement, she

suggested that Jacks mother is not disclosing an accurate representation of Jacks medical

record, and takes advantage of her job to create more obstacles for Jack.

And she has now written a doctor's note, and placed a shoe on him, because she is a

doctor, so she uses being a doctor to write prescriptions and write doctor's notes, that he

is out of any activity for the next three to six weeks. Which now, we have a child who is

overactive and needs to move, he cannot participate in gym, recess, can't do his OT diet,

we can't do anything sensory with him except roll a ball, we can't take him for walks, and

there's nothing wrong with his ankle (February 24th, 2017, p. 13).

Related to parental involvement, there is tension between home and school

communication, which is a long term cumulative factor that sets the stage for some of the

current problems. Later, in the first interview, Mrs. Pepper elaborates further about the schools

relationship with Jacks mother, revealing that she has been responsible for several firings in the

district, and she has no respect for Mrs. Peppers work and teaches Jack to act similarly

(February 24th, 2017, p. 18). When there is such an imbalance in the beliefs and priorities at

home and school, it is difficult to collaborate for person centered planning, or any planning. At

the moment, the behavior intervention plan is entirely driven by the wants and needs of Jacks

mother, and in the follow up interview with Mrs. Peppers, she confirmed that she has no control
 Felsenstein, Joanna

of the plan (March 10th, 2017, p. 27). In the long term, this is a setting event, but also a limiting

factor to any future collaboration needed between home and school.

Additionally, Jack was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which can develop into

behavioral, learning and developmental disabilities, as well as speech language deficits. Jack

is also classified with Reactive Attachment Disorder, where he received no contact within the

first month of his life, and as a result, lacks empathy. Jack is classified with Oppositional

Defiant Disorder and an unspecified anxiety disorder, which are long term cumulative factors

that set the stage for other behaviors, the short term factors.

Short Term Factors

Like the antecedent, fast triggers, happen immediately before a behavior. To identify specific

evidence of short term factors, I re-read my observation field notes and extracted three themes

found between the two observations: separate instruction, recognizing a funny event, and not

receiving attention.

Several times, in both observations, Jack received instructions after the whole group does.

This antecedent caused several behaviors: sometimes work avoidance, visible frustration, or

losing interest. From the observations, it was clear that coordinating the behavior plan with

lessons may be difficult, and is unlikely to be a priority for Jack, who, at first, had behavior as

the first priority to understand and control. In the first observation, Mrs. Pepper instructs the

class to find a partner, to pair & share about their favorite book. Since Jack received late

instructions to find a book, he was late to finding a partner too. When he found nobody, I noted

that he plunges into a seat at the resource table, with a big thump, and slouches, (February 14th,

2017, p. 2) recognizing that he was visibly frustrated, I partnered with him, but this problem
 Felsenstein, Joanna

could have been prevented. Later, Jack participates in a small guided reading group with Mrs.

Pepper and four other students. Mrs. Pepper tells Jack to get his reading journal, and while he

does that, she gives instructions to the rest of the group. Then, when he returns, the group starts

reading (February 14th, 2017, p. 6),

Jack sits up from a slouched position, leaning on his arms behind him. Mrs. Pepper asks,

Whats the problem? Jack mumbles something inaudible, and then Mrs. Pepper says, We

are reading now to help Jack refocus.

In another instance, Jack is frustrated when he misses the activity instructions.

Similar examples happen in the second observation too, where Jack misses the whole group

benchmark, to finish up work from earlier, and then waits until Mrs. Pepper is finished to have

her check the work, and then re-teach the opinion writing lesson to just Jack (March 30th, 2017,

p. 12). Throughout the second observation, Jack is completing an independent activity, while the

class is sharing something as a whole group, or Jack is doing an activity or lesson with Mrs.

Peppers, while the other students work independently. These triggers are socially isolating and

take the shape of work avoidance, as he tries to finish reading quickly to rejoin the whole group

(March 30th, 2017, p. 16).

Another fast trigger is hearing a funny story, like on page four, when Jack hears

something funny, and responds with a behavior appropriate for the funny story, but not

appropriate for the time and place where the trigger occurred. The other fast trigger that I caught

when reading through the field notes were when Mrs. Pepper ignored Jack, he curled into a ball,

or put his head in his hands, and became disengaged.

Section III: Recommendations

 Felsenstein, Joanna

Considering the long term cumulative factors first, as several of those are more limiting,

these recommendations will not include any interventions to implement at home because of the

clear divide. While it is important to collaborate between home and school, considering the

circumstances, and some limitations of the interviews, and information gathered, I do not feel

that I can make fully informed recommendations. However, the short term factors do also

contribute to the Jacks current situation, and can be changed to increase Jacks quality of life

and overall happiness in the classroom. The current goals of Jacks behavior intervention plan

are focused on compliance with behaviors, specifically keeping a safe distance from others,

hands to self, respect for others, and maintaining an appropriate work load.

When interviewing Mrs. Pepper, I asked how she would define inclusive, and she

immediately answered that it is her class (February 24th, 2017, p. 6), and she added that,

everyone feels that they belong. The sense of belonging is a key theme in all classrooms,

school and learning environments. In the course reading, Opening the Door (2002), Pitonyak

discusses the powerful medicine of belonging, and that the challenging behaviors brought to

the class are a side effect of loneliness (Pitonyak, p. 106). As an inclusive classroom, Mrs.

Pepper provided an excellent definition; however, based on Pitonyaks research and Jacks

behaviors, a discrepancy in feeling valued, or like he belongs taints that definition.

Relating to teaching and scheduling instruction, Pitonyaks concept of separating one to

one attention from a relationship is very important. In both observations, more clearly the

second, where Mrs. Pepper exclusively teaches Jack through one on one lessons, Pitonyak is

identifying the distinct difference between this teaching and the development of relationships and

the ability to connect (Pitonyak, 106), in whole group instruction. For this intervention, Mrs.
 Felsenstein, Joanna

Pepper needs to set realistic expectations for Jack, and be more flexible to schedule whole group/

benchmark instruction when Jack is present. With the new behavior plan, Mrs. Pepper will need

to scaffold the amount of work Jack is given, discuss and set realistic expectations for him to

complete, in order to participate in whole group activities. With scaffolding and some flexibility,

Jack will be able to work up to maintaining an appropriate workload, and remain involved in

whole class activities.

Another goal of Jacks behavior intervention plan is to keep hands to self. This can be a hard

concept to grasp, particularly for students with few social skills. In my first observation, the

students shared funny stories lines, If I had 100I would. Consistently, Jack laughed at

different story lines, and a few times took the liberty to act out the scenes. When acting out the

mosquito spray, he waved his hand in his peers face, and when he heard the story about

zombies, he flailed his arms like a zombie and hit his classmates on either side (February 14th,

2017, p. 4). If his response had been while playing out on the playground, and no one was hit or

got too close too, then it would have been an okay response. The funny story triggered two

responses he acted out the scene during circle time, and he did not keep a safe distance from

others.

For this, I recommend two interventions. In the course reading, Working Together, the author

explains to create respectable group dynamics and interactions is a complex skill, and would be

beneficial for the whole class, to encourage growth of social and relational skills. The article

discusses the importance of setting positive guidelines for group dynamics, but also that this

should be an open discussion to help each other grow, and to value and support all feelings in a

safe, nonviolent expression. Following the outlined steps from this article would benefit Mrs.
 Felsenstein, Joanna

Peppers class, as well as Jack, and his social development. Additionally, Mrs. Pepper can

incorporate social stories to show appropriate ways to respond at the carpet, and in different

environments. Using social stories and the collaboration of experiential and cooperative learning

as a behavior intervention strategy will guide support all students in the class and the

development of social skills, and working in a group; as well as, discretely teach and support

Jacks social development in keeping his hands to himself, and to remain at a safe distance from

his peers.

The final goal of Jacks behavior plan, currently, is respect for others, which can be

intertwined with the interventions and recommendations already given too. In the first

observation, when in the small group for guided reading, Jack raises his hand for several

questions asked by Mrs. Peppers, and when he is not called first, he stares at the ground, and

rolls into a ball (February 14th, 2017, p. 7), and Mrs. Pepper taps his shoulder to refocus him. In

the chapter, from our course readings, Problems of Tolerance (1999), Williams discusses

emotional hypersensitivity, and Jacks response fits with the Emotional Preservation Response,

to close out any possible distractions from the emotion being experienced (Williams, 212), and

so, he curls into a ball. The response is appropriate, but Jack will need to build self-regulation

skills to cope with not always being called on, and this is showing respect for others. When Mrs.

Pepper taps his shoulder, arm or back, she is acknowledging that he feels this way, but also

reminding him that he needs to move on and refocus. Moving forward, it is important for Mrs.

Pepper to scaffold this strategy and teach Jack to recall the proper response when he is not called

on first, to allow him to build self-regulating strategies and coping skills. When he
 Felsenstein, Joanna

acknowledges that it is okay that others are called first, and that he does not always need to be

first, that is building his values and respect for others.

Section IV: Resources

A. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from https://www.aacap.org/aacap/Families_and_Youth/

Facts_for_Families/Facts_for_Families_Pages/

Children_With_Oppositional_Defiant_Disorder_72.aspx

Facts for Families are simplified information sheets, which outline specific disorders or

aspects of mental illness and behavioral disorders. This database has a plethora of resources for

Jacks mother, on children with ADHD, ODD, FASD. The most helpful section of the Fact for

Families gives a list of ways parents can support their child based on the disorder focus of that

fact card. From interviewing Mrs. Pepper, it seems like Jacks mother has not educated herself

on her sons disorders and needs. This resource is a good way to quickly inform her about some

useful resources and strategies to help Jack.

Brandt, R. (1995 September). Punished by rewards? A conversation with Alfie Kohn.

Educational Leadership, 13 16.

This article is perfect for Jacks mother, who is very adamant on only giving rewards.

Mrs. Pepper revealed in her first interview, when discussing parental involvement and the

designing of the behavior plan, that Jacks mother does not punish Jack, and does not believe that

the school, or Mrs. Pepper should be either. This article discusses the importance of effective

motivation, and how students need to be intrinsically motivated to engage in learning. Kohn

argues that as destructive as consequences can be, rewards are equally manipulating of behavior.
 Felsenstein, Joanna

I hope that this article will educate Jacks mother on the damaging repercussions of rewards, and

possibly make her re-think the current behavior intervention plan.

(n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/

The Center for Parent Information and Resources (CPIR) is an excellent resource of

information for parents of children with disabilities. CPIR connects parents from all over the

United States to discuss strategies that work, or do not work, and attend trainings, and share

knowledge and materials to support parents of children with disabilities. In addition to the online

database, the CPIR team connects parents of New Jersey through their parent center, SPAN.

Most notably, I would like Jacks mother to educate herself on options for Jacks future for post

secondary education or transition education.

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved May 5, 2017, from http://never-too-early.weebly.com/

This resource is included for Jacks benefit. While Jacks mother could also read this

website and read succinct versions of the special education law in America, this resource is

important for Jack. Under the Main Menu, there is a section labeled For Students, and this

includes abridged, child friendly versions of the NJ Student Bill of Rights, Understanding How

Laws Are Made, and the AAC Communication Bill of Rights. As important as it is for Jacks

mother to be informed, based on what Mrs. Pepper mentioned in the interviews, it will be just as

crucial that Jack is also informed, and thinking about his future.
 Felsenstein, Joanna

Social Skills Groups engage children in social learning opportunities. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05,

2017, from http://interactivekids.net/index.php/services/social-skills-programs/social-skills-

groups-ages-6-12/

This resource looks like a great group to join! Jack could benefit greatly from a social

skills program to help learn effective ways to communicate and engage in social learning

opportunities. The groups meet in Cherry Hill, but the organization recently opened their first

office in north NJ, and will bring some groups north too. This group teaches thematic units each

week to help children understand how to minimize behavior challenges, and increase positive

behavior, as well as become more independent. Parents also have the opportunity to interact, and

perhaps grab coffee whilst the children are at the group, which is another great way for Jacks

mother to meet some other families experiencing similar difficulties.

Leary, M. & Donnellan, A. (2012). Chapter IV: Accommodations in Autism: Sensory movement

differences and diversity. Cambridge, Wisconsin: Cambridge Book Review Press.

This chapter had some great insights into accommodations for different situations and

needs. The writers outline this chapter well as to be able to look for Emotional Accommodations,

and there is a list of accessible accommodations to make at home or school. I thought this would

be a great accommodation for Jacks mother to help her in making accommodations at home. If

collaboration is ever going to happen between home and school for Jack, which it should for

Jacks benefit, then Jacks mother will need to be willing, capable and knowledgeable about

various accommodations that she could bring into her home. In the 2nd interview, Mrs. Pepper
 Felsenstein, Joanna

spoke of some violence directed towards Jacks mother from Jack, and when reading this

chapter, it looks like several of these accommodations could help prevent violent attacks.