SpEd 602
Dr.Rosalie Schwartz
December 2, 2012
Final Paper Amaya is a three-year-old girl who is currently enrolled in a Daycare setting. She lives with her mother, father, two older sisters, a younger brother and grandmother. Amaya is of Puerto Rican descent. Her primary language is English. She understands Spanish well but speaks little. Amaya has a severe asthmatic condition as well as allergies. Amaya’s family members are very much involved in her life. Her grandmother speaks only Spanish no English. Amaya’s grandmother picks her up from school on occasion. Amaya was late in achieving some of the developmental milestones of early childhood. She walked at 18 months and was slow to talk. Her gross and motor skills were below average compared to her same-age peers. Additional concerns were noted in the areas of play, social skills and communication. Amaya tented to repeat words or phrases frequently, had difficulty responding to questions. She points to objects to display her communication skills. Amaya’s mother and teachers completed two standardized assessments tools that identities receptive, verbal and academic level of functioning on a rating scale .1. The PPVT (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) is a receptive vocabulary tool for American English and provides a quick estimate of verbal ability and scholastic aptitude.2. The Brigance assesses reading decode and cover a broad sampling of a child’s skills and behaviors which include fine and gross motor skills, language, academic /cognitive, self-help and emotional skills. Amaya’s receptive skills are below age average level. Her skills and behavior is estimated at 1 level below her same-age peers. Several modifications and accommodations will be adjusted according to the current levels of performance and future goals to successfully integrate Amaya delay skills Throughout the school year, Amaya social and emotional performance was noted of her difficulties working independently and sustaining attention in both small group activities and one-one adult assistance. Tantrums were occasionally observed when transition from one activity to the next and participating in new activities. However, with verbal encouragement from her teachers Amaya is given an opportunity to cool down in the quiet area this helps her regulates her behavior. Socially, Amaya does not play with a set of friends, she has difficulty engaging in social activities with her peers, For example, initiating conversation, and joining in activities, such as playing in dramatic house area. Amaya receives medication daily for her asthma which sometimes causes her to move quickly with less ability to function in daily activities as efficient as her peers. Amaya is able to follow 1-2 step directions but needs cues to follow multistep instructions Her verbalization is limited both quantity and quality .She will learn best visually and aurally. A hands-on approach and repetition would benefit Amaya. Also one-to-one activities to strengthen Amaya’s cognitive skill” will be practice when setting the table for lunch .Amaya will set one plate for every napkin, another example; will be singing the” ABC” song while pointing to each letter.sh will carry out multistep unrelated directions given no repetition but positive reinforcement.

Amaya has a variety of goals to achieve in the classroom. One goal is to have Amaya appropriately answer all wh-questions. In order for her to reach the aforementioned goal, I would demonstrate how to answer wh-questions. Instead of Amaya pointing to request what she want or and saying “that,” I would ask for specific words. If Amaya doesn’t know it, I would model for her. Initially, I would ask simple Wh-questions then advance to slightly complex. Another goal is for Amaya to be able to communicate extended meaning using narratives that are organized sequentially and cohesively using mature forms. Amaya will demonstrate comprehension of narratives appropriate to level by retelling and answering integrative questions. To reach this goal, I would read to Amaya follow by asking question about the story. When she is confident in answering questions, I will ask Amaya to retell the story in her own words. Props or pictures will be helpful. Amaya will spontaneously and appropriately comprehend vocabulary that has been formally taught and will begin to acquire new vocabulary from the natural environment more rapidly. Her vocabulary will increase through various means of socialization. The morning meeting, choice time, reading time and lunchtime are just a few areas in which Amaya’s vocabulary will expand. Choice time gives students freedom to pick an area to play in. It is understood, “That play is the work of preschool children.”(Beatty & Pratt, 2011). Through play in the dramatic play area, block center, writing center and other areas, Amaya can pick up new vocabulary and participates in pretend play scenarios.

Amaya needs to improve her fine motor, gross motor and movement skills. A goal for her is to improve arm strength and coordination. Each day I would give Amaya strengthening activities such as climbing, bike riding, carrying heavy object or pushing/ pulling the food cart. I would encourage Amaya to cut pictures out of old magazines, cutting along mark lines and coloring for a few minutes each day to strengthen fine motor skills. Amaya needs to improve her communication skills. A goal for her is to communicate her feelings using appropriate descriptive and action words. Reading books about feeling would assist Amaya in describing his feelings. A discussion about emotion during meeting time would benefit Amaya. A special education integrated setting with the ratio of twelve students to two teachers would be an ideal learning environment for Amaya. There would be a mixture of general education students. One teacher would be the general education teacher. These teachers work together in order to provide the best learning environment for every child that enters the classroom. Amaya would receive speech-language therapy. Thirty- minutes sessions twice a week would be a great starting point for her. One session would be one-on-one with the speech therapist while the other session includes Amaya, a classmate and the therapist. Each session would be beneficial for Amaya. She will receive the help she needs to further her learning and language. The speech therapist’s goal is to, “correct the child’s speech and / or language problems or help the child achieve the maximum communicative potential, which may involve compensatory and /or augmentative and alternative means of communication.” (Heward, 2009). The New York State Prekindergarten Common Core Learning standards For English Arts and Literacy have been taken into great consideration. Two of the Reading Standards for informational text will be met in the goals. Asking and answering questions about details in the text as well as retelling will help Amaya reach her goals? In order for Amaya to achieve the aforementioned academic goals, her teachers, parents and speech therapist must work together to help her becomes a successful student. Each child is our duty to provide her with whatever means possible to assist her academically.