Child Development Capstone

discussion 1

As was stated in Week 1 in this course, you will have the opportunity to connect the concepts you are learning to your future work with children. In this discussion, you will be able to apply your understanding of physical and language developmental milestones. You will need to choose one physical development AND one language development scenario from the table below. For each scenario and in a minimum of 200 words each you will need to:

Fully address the question(s) being asked in the scenario and support your response with a reference to the text or another scholarly source.

Within your response to the question, describe whether or not this child is developing typically or atypically according to physical and language developmental milestones. Make sure to justify your statements with the text or another scholarly source.

What would your next steps be if you were working with this parent/child? You need to support your next steps with theory and research (look back at the chart you created in Week 1 to help you).

Physical Development Scenarios

Language Development Scenarios

Amy, two months pregnant, wonders how the developing embryo is being fed and what parts of the body have formed. “I don’t look pregnant yet, so does that mean not much development has taken place?” she asks. How would you respond to Amy?

Fran frequently corrects her 17 month old son Jeremy’s attempts to talk and –fearing that he won’t use words- refuses to respond to his gestures. How might Fran be contributing to Jeremy’s slow language progress?

After a difficult birth, 2 day-old Kelly scores poorly on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). How would you address her mother’s concern that Kelly might not develop normally?

As his father place a bowl of pasta on the dinner table, 2 year old Luke exclaimed, “So ‘licious!” Explain Luke’s phonological strategy.

Lisa is concerned that her 10 month old is not sitting or crawling. Should she be concerned? Why or why not? What are some ways she can encourage her 10 month old to practice these skills?

Katy’s first words included “see, “give, and “thank you,” and her vocabulary grew slowly during the second year. What style of language learning did she display, and what factors might have contributed to it?

Lucia experienced damage to the left hemisphere of her cerebral cortex shortly after birth. As a first grader, she shows impressive recovery of language and spatial skills, but she lags behind her peers in body movement and coordination. What might account for her difficulties?

At age 20 months, Nathan says “candy” when he sees buttons, pebbles, marbles, cough drops, and chocolate kisses. Are Nathan’s naming errors random or systematic? Why are they an adaptive way of communicating?

Nine- year old Allison dislikes physical education and thinks she isn’t good at sports. What strategies can be used to improve her involvement and pleasure in physical activity?

Three year old Jason’s mother told him that the family would take a vacation in Miami. The next morning, Jason announced, “I gotted my bags packed. When are we going to Your-ami? How do language researchers explain Jason’s errors?

As a school-age child, Chloe enjoyed leisure activities with her parents. Now, as a 14 year-old, she spends hours in her room and resists going on weekend family excursions. Explain Chloe’s behavior.

Erin was raised in a house with a mother who was bilingual in English and Spanish. Her parents decided that her mother would speak to her in Spanish and her father in English so that she too would be bilingual. Erin sometimes mixes the two languages together when she is talking. Were Erin’s parents wise to teach her both English and Spanish? Does Erin’s mixing of the two languages indicate confusion?

discussion 2

Regardless of the career path that you are taking within the field of child development (teacher, parent educator, social worker, child life specialist, early interventionist etc.) you will be working with children and adolescents with disabilities. In this discussion, you will have the opportunity to read two articles that focus on different disabilities and apply your chosen career path to working with children with this disability. First, you will need to choose one of the disabilities below and read both the article in the text (Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.) and the PDF Fact Sheet listed for that disability. After reading both of the resources for the document, you will need to address the following IN 3 PARAGRAPHS:

Describe the career path that you plan to take once you have completed your degree.

How will understanding this disability will be crucial to your success in your work with children and their families? Make sure to provide at least two reasons.

What ideas from the two articles will you use to support you in your own practice? For each idea, share an example of how you will implement it.

Disability

Article in Text

PDF Fact Sheet

Visual impairments

Page 162

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.(November, 2012).Visual impairments, including blindness.

Brain Plasticity with Brain-Damaged Children

Page 188

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.(October, 2012).Traumatic brain injury.

Speech Delays

Page 285

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.(January, 2011).Speech & language impairments.

Deaf Children and Language

Pages 362-363

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.(June, 2010).Deafness and hearing loss.

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Page 457

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.(June, 2010). Autism spectrum disorders.

journal

Mindblindness” and Autism

After reading about Michael, a child with Autism” on page 457 of our textbook,Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. and the article Social Stories, reflect on the following questions:

Do you feel that Autism Spectrum Disorders are due to an impairment in an innate, core brain function or that there is a some kind of intellectual impairment involved? Why?

Also, based on what you read about social stories, do you feel this is a valuable tool for helping children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and possibly other children who are atypically developing socially? Why or why not?