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Compare your findings from the child study with developmental milestones for this child's age group. Describe this child's development in comparison with typical developments of children from the same age group as discussed in your text. Refer to specific theories and theorists whenever possible (Piaget, Erikson, Bronfenbrenner, etc.) and What did you learn about this child and child development in general by completing this assignment?

Essay Below -

Gabriel, who prefers the nickname "Gabe", is a 12-year-old Caucasian child who was identified at birth as male and continues to identify as such. He is, as far as he has made his parents aware, heterosexual and cisgender. He has been placed in the advanced classes in the public school system since third grade when he was identified as a likely candidate for placement after testing had been performed. He is musically inclined, plays the trumpet, and can identify notes from simply hearing them, along with being able to tell if a song is being played in the appropriate key. He is also able to play a song either on the piano or trumpet after only hearing it once or twice. In late 2017, Gabe's parents opted for testing for not only Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) but Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); Gabe was subsequently diagnosed with ASD level one, previously referred to as Asperger syndrome. He is now in 6th grade and is beginning to go through puberty. He is the oldest of four boys. His family has wavered between lower class (well below the state poverty line) and lower middle class, and has been on various forms of government assistance including the SNAP program and Medicaid for the majority of his life. Gabe's prenatal development was relatively normal. It was his mother's first pregnancy and was uneventful. At the time of birth, his mother was 20 and his father 22. During the anatomical scan done at 22 weeks, there was concern that he potentially showed signs of Down syndrome, but these fears were assuaged during a repeat scan in which he was given a clean bill of health. He was born approximately two and a half weeks before his estimated due date after an unremarkable labor that resulted in induction after a premature rupture of the amniotic sac. His APGAR scores were normal. Additionally, Gabe was physically very uncoordinated still. He had difficulty kicking a ball, could not skip until past age ten, and his handwriting was and is difficult to read. He struggled to color inside of the lines on coloring pages until well past most children, and often gave up trying when asked to do so because he found it so difficult. He had problems learning to use scissors and cutting on lines and took far longer than his peers to learn this skill. Most children can pedal and balance on a bicycle by age six or seven, and by ages eight or 10 show the balance, coordination, and strength that allow participation in team sports, but Gabe was the exception and struggled with all these things (Boyd, 2010, p. 54). He had problems holding a pencil appropriately, even though most children manage this skill by age six or seven, which ended up contributing to his often illegible handwriting (Boyd, 2010, p. 35). Gabe's friendships were also abnormal. He had difficulty early on connecting with his peers unless they shared his very specific interests. He still has few friends, and while interested in interacting with them at school he has no real interest in seeking out relationships with them outside of school. He has been fairly disinterested in his brothers, and while his attachment to his parents has improved, his relationship with his father is still closer since they share more hobbies and interests than he does with his mother. When playing, he did not seek out other children and instead usually sought out his parents or other adults, or older children if they were present, to interact with. In 2017, concerned with his developmental issues and the impact that they were beginning to have on his school work and home life, his parents sought out testing for ADD and ASD. Gabe was diagnosed after significant testing with ASD-1, which was formerly referred to as Asperger's syndrome. Gabe's tendencies began to make more sense, especially his inability to form meaningful friendships or make eye contact with others; these are typical of autism (Boyd, 2010, p. 34). His echolalia, handwriting problems, fixated interests, inability to deviate from a schedule, sensory processing problems, and lack of physical coordination were also identified as related to his diagnosis. Interestingly, Gabe shows problems with short-term memory as well. Boyd (2010) notes that information is usually retained in working memory, or short-term memory, for up to 30 seconds after the stimulus is gone. For Gabe this time tends to be much shorter, sometimes only a few scant seconds before he has forgotten the directions he was given or the request that was made of him. A study by Diane Williams, Gerald Goldstein, and Nancy Minshew indicates that children with autism tend to struggle with short-term memory and differ significantly from their peers in the types of working memory they possess, and how it functions (Goldstein, Minshew, Williams, 2006). Instructions must often be repeated multiple times, and if he is asked to perform a task, he typically walks off to perform it, only to arrive at his destination - if he makes it that far - and must come back to have it repeated. This may occur two or three times before he manages to complete the task. Despite his struggles, Gabe has otherwise managed to maintain a somewhat normal life. Adolescence has proven typical; he is somewhat argumentative, although for him it is often made worse because of an inability to easily empathize with others or see situations from their point of view. He has few friends but enjoys his fixated interests contently. He has gained several inches in height in the last several years, appropriate for his gender and age. He reads at a post-college level. His parents are still actively working to identify routines that will help him to remember homework and important dates and tests and are preparing to lean on the school system for development of an IEP in hopes of increasing his comfort at school through better accessibility and more physical assistance from his teachers. His brothers interact with him as much as they can, although they are aware that he is somewhat different from them and does not quite seem to process information the way they do.

Text - The Growing Child by Denise Boyd, Helen Bee