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Individual Difference Student Profile

Emily Robinson

Instructor: Natalie Raass

Education 205-001: Development/Individual Differences

Spring 2017
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Individual Difference Profile Essay

I had the unique opportunity to observe a little girl to whom we will refer to as

Sophia. I was able to study her characteristics and mannerisms over the course of our 30 hour

observation. She is seven years old, tall and slender. Just looking at her you wouldn’t realize she

had a learning disability.

General Information

Sophia is like any other little girl. There hasn’t been any indications of problems with her

vision, hearing or chronic health problems. I have been told by her general education teacher that

you home life isn’t as regular as it should be and she has troubles sleeping. Sophia is enrolled in

her public elementary school and is in the first grade. She is seven years old and is a bright

student in math and science, but is falling behind in reading and writing. She seems to be falling

the dyslexic spectrum. She is in the process to being enrolled into a class to help focus on her

reading and writing for half an hour a day and she will remain in the class the rest of the day. I

wasn’t able to observe her family interactions, but from what I’ve been told by her general

education teacher her mother is in and out of the picture. She mostly lives with her grandmother

and great grandmother who has Parkinson’s disease. She has two older siblings and one younger.

Her father is not in the picture.

Physical Development

Sophia has blue eye and long blonde hair with a light complexion. She is on the taller

side of her peers, in fact she is probably one of the tallest. Sophia seems to be a physically health

little girl and like to be involved in her classroom every now and then. Sophia uses her right hand

for writing, cutting and coloring. She is a very active little girl. She enjoys playing with her
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classmates at recess and likes to interact with her siblings at home. She eats a healthy lunch at

school and if provided from her guardians she has a snack to eat in the mornings and afternoons.

I wasn’t able to observe his meals from home, but I assume they are healthy and fed regularly.

Physical fitness and large muscle development are not of concern in Sophia’s case, she seems to

be right on track. She is able to run and play just as all of the other children do, our main focus is

on her reading and writing development.

Cognitive Development

Sophia’s general education teacher has enrolled her for testing for her impairment in

reading and writing. When she is admitted she will be taken out of her general education

classroom for half an hour a day to work on reading and writing skills. The remainder of the day

she will be in the general education classroom. During class I noticed that Sophia isn’t giving her

full attention one hundred percent of the time. She will participate when she enjoys the activity,

but it is a fifty-fifty chance that she is fulling paying attention. Sophia does keep to herself and

does not cause trouble, but when trouble occurs in her direction she does participate. Frequently

she is asked to sit at the teachers table to get additional help.

I do agree with Vygotsky theory which states that culture affects the cognitive

development. I don’t think that Sophia’s guardians are working with her to help her improve her

reading and writing skills. I do believe that if they worked with her a little more she would be

closer to her peers in the level of reading and writing that they are at. I think since she is so good

at math and science that they think she is fine and don’t suspect there is something wrong. From

working with the other children I notice a big difference in her reading skills. They are

significantly lower than her peers.

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Socio-emotional Development

Sophia interactions with peers is more than normal, she has a healthy relationship with

her peers and adults as well. She doesn’t seem the most mature, but since she’s only is a first

grader I don’t expect the most mature human being. She enjoys playing with her peers like any

other little girl. I’ve noticed that she doesn’t have very many close friends in the classroom, but

plays happily and equally with the other boys and girls when they have free time and as well out

on the playground. She works well with adults as well. When she works one on one with me I

feel like she is able to get a lot of work done. When she is working alone she seems to give up

easier and not put as much effort in. Well working with teachers and aids she likes to tell stories

and may get off track every once and awhile, but always gets back on track with a little help

from an aid or teacher.

According to kidshealth.org self-esteem is “having a good opinion of one’s self and

feeling good about yourself as a person.” I do believe that Sophia has good self-esteem. I do

think that she has some things in her home life that can improve. She does have a lot of people

entering in and out of her life which I believe has caused her some trust issues, but as for having

good self-esteem I do think she does. Simplypsychology.org describes self-concept as "The

individual's belief about himself or herself, including the person's attributes and who and what

the self is". I do believe that Sophia has a good self-concept for her age. Since she’s only seven

she still has more to learn, but being a seven year old girl I think that she has a great self-concept

for her age.

I believe that Sophia falls into Erikson’s stage of industry vs. inferiority. Which

is relating with peers according to rules, processing from free to play to play that may be

elaborately structured by rules and may demand formal teamwork, such as baseball and
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mastering social studies, reading and arrhythmic. Homework is huge at this age and progresses

yearly (childdevelopmentinfo.com). I do feel that Sophia is just starting in this stage and learning

where her role is in the classroom.

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References

"Self-Esteem." KidsHealth. Ed. D'Arcy Lyness. The Nemours Foundation, Apr. 2015. Web. 01

May 2017.

McLeod, Saul. "Saul McLeod." Simply Psychology. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 01 May 2017.

Staff, Parenting Today. "Know What To Expect! The 8 Stages Of Social Development In

Children." Child Development Institute. N.p., 10 Sept. 2011. Web. 03 May 2017.