Here Are Some Of The Reports From Lee's Summit Note The Inconsistencies
03/06
Age: 13 yr, 9 mo (Actually he was really 12 yr and 9 months)
Background:
Age: 13 yr, 9 mo (Actually he was really 12 yr and 9 months)
Background:
Jacob attended Prairie View Elementary in Lee's Summit before attending his current school Pleasant Lea Middle School He has a medical diagnosis of PDD-NOS and an educational diagnosis of autism. Currently he has class within a class support for Math, Science and Communication Arts. He also has a social development class. Jacob received OT in elementary school and was dismissed at the beginning of 5th grade. Reports from elementary school indicate that he as capable of producing legible work when he slowed down as he had a tendency to rush through his work. Jacob was referred for an observation to determine if an alternative to paper-pencil would be beneficial.
Observation:
Observation:
Jacob's writing samples from his notebook were examined as well as his performance during his communication arts class. Jacob's writing in his notebooks was legible to this examiner. Some of his letters were not completely legible. However, his words were legible. He showed full pages of notes/written information indicating sufficient writing endurance. Spacing between words was generally adequate. Most writing was aligned at the left margin or according to "two column notes" organization.
During the language arts class, the teacher read a poem as the students followed along. The students were to then answer questions and respond to the poem using a worksheet. His teacher asked if he wanted to log on which he indicated he did. Jacob took his packet and went to the desktop computer behind the teacher's desk. He typed in and proceeded to log on. While the computer was "booting up" Jacob sat looking at items around him for several minutes not realizing that the log in didn't work. At that point, he gave a heavy sigh and was able to successfully log in . During a 15-minute period, Jacob typed responses to 2 questions. This was not because of slow typing speed, rather he became distracted by items on the teachers desk behind him, spent a couple of minutes looking at his paper. The teacher came back to help him at which time he stated "Oh no, not that. I'm too tired to do that." The teacher spoke to him some more and went to help other students. Jacob spent about 3 minutes looking at his paper and the items around computer area again. Again the teacher assisted Jacob, gave him prompts and encouragement. Jacob gave a heavy sigh, pulled back up to the computer and played with the mouse and raised his hand. The computer was frozen so he was instructed to go back to his desk and he would just have to write his responses. Jacob willingly went back to his desk but did not engage in any writing.
Jacob's typing skills appear to be developed. He demonstrated the ability to manipulate the mouse to place and click as necessary to access and open programs. He used both hands to type using a modified touch-typing method. His typing was quite fast. He easily used the shift, back space, and enter keys.
Impressions:
While not all of his letters were legible, his overall writing is legible, the amount of writing in his notebook shows endurance for the task, and his typing is fairly fast and appears to be developed. He was easily distracted, spent a number of minutes in non-activity, and verbalization indicated lack of desire to do the work. The amount of work that Jacob completes does not appear to be directly related to his handwriting. The modifications of allowing Jacob to access and use a computer to complete written work, as well as the other modifications for completion of written work is appropriate.
During the language arts class, the teacher read a poem as the students followed along. The students were to then answer questions and respond to the poem using a worksheet. His teacher asked if he wanted to log on which he indicated he did. Jacob took his packet and went to the desktop computer behind the teacher's desk. He typed in and proceeded to log on. While the computer was "booting up" Jacob sat looking at items around him for several minutes not realizing that the log in didn't work. At that point, he gave a heavy sigh and was able to successfully log in . During a 15-minute period, Jacob typed responses to 2 questions. This was not because of slow typing speed, rather he became distracted by items on the teachers desk behind him, spent a couple of minutes looking at his paper. The teacher came back to help him at which time he stated "Oh no, not that. I'm too tired to do that." The teacher spoke to him some more and went to help other students. Jacob spent about 3 minutes looking at his paper and the items around computer area again. Again the teacher assisted Jacob, gave him prompts and encouragement. Jacob gave a heavy sigh, pulled back up to the computer and played with the mouse and raised his hand. The computer was frozen so he was instructed to go back to his desk and he would just have to write his responses. Jacob willingly went back to his desk but did not engage in any writing.
Jacob's typing skills appear to be developed. He demonstrated the ability to manipulate the mouse to place and click as necessary to access and open programs. He used both hands to type using a modified touch-typing method. His typing was quite fast. He easily used the shift, back space, and enter keys.
Impressions:
While not all of his letters were legible, his overall writing is legible, the amount of writing in his notebook shows endurance for the task, and his typing is fairly fast and appears to be developed. He was easily distracted, spent a number of minutes in non-activity, and verbalization indicated lack of desire to do the work. The amount of work that Jacob completes does not appear to be directly related to his handwriting. The modifications of allowing Jacob to access and use a computer to complete written work, as well as the other modifications for completion of written work is appropriate.
Remarks from a Behavioral Specialist:
Based on the OT report above, there are clearly issues around learning readiness, sustained attention, and motivation. I might hypothesize that these are related to the need for much more individualized instruction. After all, persons who are deeply frustrated tend to be less motivated with that motivation correlated with effective instruction and increased competence.
Based on the OT report above, there are clearly issues around learning readiness, sustained attention, and motivation. I might hypothesize that these are related to the need for much more individualized instruction. After all, persons who are deeply frustrated tend to be less motivated with that motivation correlated with effective instruction and increased competence.
The statement in the assessment that "the amount of work that Jacob completes does not appear to be directly related to his handwriting" doesn't really mean much by itself... Work productivity might be related to handwriting and/or his ability to understand and complete the specific task.
Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration
Performance in the 3rd percentile with a standard score equivalent of 72 when compared to his age peers. This is a very low score, especially when compared to Jake's cognitive and academic functioning.
Jake was over two standard deviations slower than average with both his dominant and nondominant hands. Sequential finger opposition task revealed very mild synkineses or motor overflow. He needs to be able to type in his classroom so that he can remain in his least restrictive environment and he needs to be able to bring home his work. He needs to be able to type almost all of his work.
Psychologists Impressions:
"Jake clearly has trouble with getting information from his head down onto paper. His grooved pegboard examination and VMI were well below what would be expected given his other capabilities. This difficulty in writing neatly and accurately appears to have a neuromotor basis given his slowness in fine motor and neuromotor tasks"
March Anxiety Scale for Children (Given by Psychologist)
Jake admittedly becomes anxious with certain things. He is fearful of bugs, sleeping alone, and reports getting anxious or uptight with many aspects of school. He reports being jumpy or impulsive. He tends to get upset by certain things at school and worrying about his success there.
Jacob continues to suffer from anxiety and stress due to school and is absent many days because of this. His anxiety is completely due to issues at school and the pressures that he feels there. He is currently seeing a psychiatrist and also will have to miss some days of school to make his appointments.
Current IEP-Educational Autism
Gilliam Autism Rating 11/98 SS 92
Autistic Behavior Composite Checklist & Profile 11/98
Autism Screening Instrument for Educational Placement
Autism Behavior Checklist
11/98 103/84
Due to the other assessments, team feels the social/emotional areas are being addressed
01/11/06
Comments