Project based on a ‘James’ case study, including an individual education plan (IEP) in relation to a child 0-6 over a period of time, Assignment, Ireland

Note: You must read the case study and answer the questions and develop the IEP based on your knowledge of the individual child ‘James’ in the case study. The following headings should be used:

Section 1 – 11 Marks (500 words)

1. Outline the causes and main characteristics of Down Syndrome (Ref-Down Syndrome Ireland)

2. Outline the specific learning profile of James in the case study, the child with Down Syndrome

3. Identify the factors that may have a positive influence on the James’ learning including referring to best practice legislation

4. Outline the factors that may negatively affect the James’ learning

Section 2 – 14 Marks (600 words)

1. Explain how you would promote James’ Language Development by planning an appropriate activity for language development taking account of his interests and ability

2. Plan an activity that would aid James’ physical development in fine motor skills being mindful of health and safety

3. Discuss how James can be included in activities with other children Section 3 – 15 Marks (400 words, section 3 – IEP form is not included in word count)

Devise a specific Individual Education Plan (IEP) for James in the case study and include the following:

1. Outline briefly what an IEP is and its purpose.

2. Discuss who will be involved in developing this IEP and the importance of effective communication and cooperation within the team.

3. Devise a sample IEP for James, using the form given and using all the information in the child study. (Form and child study below).

Section 4 – 10 Marks (500 words) Reflection on learning and recommendations made to facilitate the child in mainstream pre-school, or primary school

You should reflect on:

1. Your own attitudes and values in relation to including children with special needs in all activities

2. The legal and ethical issues in relation to providing appropriate learning activities

3. Your own personal practice in developing activities and supporting children with special needs

4. Make two justified recommendations based on health and safety in activities for a child with special needs e.g. (supervision, support, appropriate materials, child’s ability etc.)

CASE STUDY JAMES Bees Knees Preschool, 123 Ring Road Wexford James Robinson attends your mainstream preschool 5 mornings a week. You have been assigned as a key worker to James who is 3 years old and has Down Syndrome. James lives with his parents and his younger brother Sean and the family live locally.

James was born with two holes in his heart and had medical treatment in hospital when he was two; he often has chest infections and does not attend on these occasions. From the start of this year he has not had any substantial health problems. James’s parents have witnessed the positive effects of preschool and are eager to support James when at home. James is a very physically active child and very able in many areas. He loves music, small world animals, looking at books sharing books, as well as being generally curious about everything. He has a pleasant disposition and enjoys coming to preschool. His language is delayed, and he uses pointing, facial expression, gestures and body language with words to get what he wants.

When he becomes tired, he may have an uncontrolled outburst of anger or frustration due to his difficulties communicating. He has very good gross motor skills but finds it difficult to take turns and can be a bit ‘overeager’ with other children when he is rushing to get on something outdoors. He is helpful and co-operative and very inquisitive. He has good memory skills and although speech is delayed, he is a very communicative child and finds alternatives to using speech and actively engages with others to communicate with them. James has difficulty with coordination and manipulation using his fine motor skills.

Each month in collaboration with his parents the preschool help identify appropriate and small goals for James. His parents are provided with a written plan that details how they will teach James the new skills and this is followed up with home activities with his parents. Time is allowed for him to practice his new skills every day. Before setting a new skill, we make sure he is confident and competent with plenty of practice; unless he shows an interest himself in achieving in a particular area then these will be incorporated in his new goals. James continues to make progress across all areas in his overall development.

General Abilities / Strengths He is persistent in completing tasks and concentrates intently on an object or activity of own choosing for short periods He can complete simple activities with more than one part – for example threading beads, chunky jigsaws with four pieces Plays happily with others but likes to be near a familiar adult especially if a task is challenging Watches and listens to others, copying some behaviours in own play Communication He uses many words and sounds to refer to- people or objects, up to 50 recognisable words He will vocalise and attempts to copy words and will engage with others to communicate He will imitate familiar consonants and vowel sounds associated with frequently used toys, pictures or food. He understands simple pictures and signs. He points to items in picture books and tries to articulate words and sounds for these Will follow simple requests during role play such as ‘feed teddy’ or ‘can you give me a cup of tea?’ Follows simple instructions when accompanied by gestures.

Engages in simple conversations between adult and children focusing on the here and now, much of this will be a babbling type verse Can identify simple body parts such as nose, eyes, hair; likes songs with an actions that identify body parts Enjoys sharing books, reading with an adult and listening to stories for a short period with others but loses concentration after a while Loves music, singing and dancing alone and with others Scribbles spontaneously and make dots on paper with paints and crayons Likes playing with animals and making animal noises and vocalises noises when using small world animals and farm Cognition Is intensely curious, exploring objects, rooms and outside areas Enjoys looking at picture books, recognises familiar adults and characters in picture books, recognises self in mirror or photos Matches objects with parts that fit together such as putting a lid on a tea pot Enjoys building with blocks anticipates what might happen next e.g. ‘falls yeh’! Fits large simple puzzle pieces into inset puzzles he has progressed from backward chaining to forward chaining with four-piece jigsaws Threads chunky beads onto firm cord.

Needs adult support to get beads onto string Self-Care: Drinks from an open cup independently, has difficulty using a straw but he understands the concept, ‘sucking seems to be the problem’ Eats and chews lumpy food but unwilling to accept new tastes readily Takes part in washing hands with support Toilet routines – needs support particularly dressing and cleaning self after toilet use Blows own nose and puts tissue in the bin Can eat independently but has great difficulty keeping food on spoon and holding the spoon upright Knows where his clothes are kept, for example, outdoor coat and wellies. Needs support in putting on clothes.

Physical Development Can move confidently in the indoor and outdoor environment is able to avoid objects on floor Will squat down to pick up a toy from the floor and stand up unaided Throw a small ball overhead and to the ground Attempts to kick a ball will but can’t coordinate the kick to meet the ball Climbs onto and down from large equipment without help Walks upstairs holding adults hand or banister, gets downstairs by sitting on bottom and sliding Areas for improvement /Weakness

1. James can exhibit challenging behaviour and with his parents we provide strategies to counteract behaviour that may occur in both settings. James sometimes pushes or pulls children to get at an activity his over eagerness is misinterpreted by the children as being aggressive. This mostly occurs in outdoor play. All staff have been asked to keep a watch full eye on James rushing towards other children and to remind him to wait his turn. At circle time and at other times we need to reinforce with all children a gentle approach when trying to get on equipment to show James a less ‘forceful way’ to get his turn. In addition to using praise and recognition for all children’s efforts in waiting their turn, to decrease this behaviour.

2. James can be overwhelmed by a new situation or when is tired and can’t verbalise his needs. This leads to difficult behaviour like shouting and dropping to the floor. His parents advised staff to ensure he doesn’t hurt himself – calm and comfort him and try to distract him. Quiet time with an adult can alleviate his stress, the use of pictures or signs to enable him to express his feelings and verbalising with him might help this behaviour. It has been observed that the triggers seem to be frustration, either because he can’t express his needs/ wants, or when he is tired or hungry, or when he isn’t able to do something he wants to do.

3. His ability to use a spoon and drink from a straw need to be developed and parents have been asked to seek advice from the occupational therapist to see if there are adapted spoons /straws that would make feeding easier for James.

4. He is very unwilling to accept new tastes readily. We are looking into one of Healthy Eating Programmes to find curricular activities for all children to introduce new foods textures and tastes such as Food Dudes.

5. He needs a lot of scaffolding at activities he will only sit and persevere if an adult is present to guide him and will give up immediately if the adult leaves. We are going to try getting the adults to move step by step away from him once he is focussed, but only for very short periods and still in close proximity verbally engaging with him for support. This might increase his independence at an activity. However, these will have to be very small steps indeed, so as he does not feel stressed when he needs support at any activity.

6. Looking at his attention span and gently increasing it might help him stay at activities and sit longer for stories. We are going to try progressing from short stories to slightly longer stories; or have a break between parts of some stories; introduce plenty of interaction time within the story to keep attention i.e. rhymes-songs that support the story line; we are also looking at props for the children to look at, touch and discuss as part of the story. Allowing him to choose his own story or reading alone with an adult one to one a few times gently progressing then to sitting with the group for the same story might help. These strategies will be tried one by one at different intervals over a period of time.

7. We have asked the parents to look at easy dress clothes to help him become more independent at toileting e.g. ‘elastic waists and velcro fastenings’.

8. A strategy needs to be devised to make it easier for James to be able to clean himself properly and independently after toileting. We have asked the parents if we can get independent advice from the HSE or the Early Years specialists on the AIM programme on their behalf or; if they wish they can follow this up themselves if we provide the contacts. We, (‘us and parents’) are not sure if the lack of muscle tone in James’s hands is a contributing factor and we need professional advice).

9. We need to develop his coordination in kicking and throwing balls; we are looking at large foam balls which are safe, light and easy to grip to improve these areas.

10. We are going to use our outdoor steps with rails to encourage him to try walking downstairs. Staff have suggested we make this into some sort of game that teaches safety and confidence in a fun way for all the children; James included.

11. Supporting James in all areas of development will continue in the preschool.

Key staff involved with James: He attends speech therapy once a term and the parents and staff have been shown particular exercises to strengthen his mouth and tongue muscles.

She has advised on plenty of opportunities to use speech and language in the Preschool such as reading books with adults, use of simple picture flashcards (See and Learn), music and songs and socialising in small groups with other children at play activities.

The physiotherapist regularly visits the preschool to support James with exercises to develop his fine motor coordination and manipulation. He has advised plenty of support using coordination activities e.g. Large bead threading, play dough, pouring and filling and use of craft materials.

The occupational therapist has been contacted for advice on feeding aids, and the HSE and the Early Years Specialist from AIM are to be contacted for advice on toileting. You as key worker will be involved in panning his education and care, your role is to care for James and do regular observations to identify his abilities and his weakness and report observations of progress to the key staff supporting James and his parents Process:

The family and preschool are all working towards the achievement of longer-term teaching targets to be defined in each term time using An Individual Education Plan (IEP). To support James to reach specific targets.

The supervisor has overall responsibility to put the IEP plans in place for James and work in consultation with the parents and other members of the team. Every term a formal review of James’s progress will be undertaken and his development to date will be analysed and used to support the planning of his future targets and goals. The plan will cover a number of developmental areas, such as social and emotional development, communication, cognition, self-help and motor skills.

The starting point for the first plan is looking at his current strengths and identifying where he needs support to overcome weakness; these are the priorities for the targets to be set.

It is important that the targets are simple, achievable, set within a timescale and there are not too many to cope with all at once, e.g. setting two targets per term. Only setting new targets once the first targets have been met. If these have not been achieved, the reason ‘why’ must be identified, and new strategies put in place to achieve them.

If they are not achievable, then they are unrealistic targets. All the resources, equipment, supports and strategies should be identified in the IEP, in addition to the team implementing the plan. Remember the parent and child are part of your team and adequate collaboration is required at all stages.