Summary Of Chapter 1: A Case Study Of Joshua's Behavior

According to Ms. Jackson, Joshua was evaluated in the kitchen area of his home, where the environment was well lit and free of distractions. The testing conditions were adequate and his responses were optimal. Ms. Jackson took part and fully engaged in the evaluation process. Ms. Jackson stated that she sat on the floor with Joshua and the evaluator and provided information regarding Joshua’s strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Jackson stated Joshua’s behavior during testing were typical. Joshua generally demonstrated a happy disposition. Ms. Jackson assisted Joshua to do his best and prompted him to engage and complete assessment. Ms. Jackson stated that Joshua actively participated in the evaluation process. Joshua initiated interactions with the evaluator and engaged in reciprocal social interactions. According to Ms. Jackson, Joshua displayed the same communication behaviors exhibited by Joshua during the evaluation was consistent with what was observed at home.

Ms. Jackson believed the first assessment to be administered was the
Peabody Developmental Motor Scale-II. Ms. Jackson stated that the evaluator administered the grasping and visual motor subtest. The Visual Motor Subtest would measure Joshua’s eye-hand coordination and the Grasping Subtest would measure Joshua’s ability to grasp objects and perform more refined activities. During the assessment, Joshua was placed in a seated position. Joshua was asked to grab a small cube placed in front of him. Joshua proceeded to grab the cube with his thumb opposed to his index and middle. Next, Joshua proceeded to grasp and hold two small cubes for less than five seconds. Ms. Jackson reported that the evaluator then placed several small square beads and crayons in front of Joshua. Joshua was able to move the small square beads over a couple inches, but was unable to grasp it. As for the crayons, Joshua was unable to grasp the crayon with his thumb and index finger towards the paper. Based on the evaluator's findings, Joshua performed poorly on the subtest.

Next, the evaluator performed the Visual Motor Subtest.
Ms. Jackson stated that Joshua was only capable of completing a few tasks and was unsuccessful of completing a lot. Joshua was able to place three shapes correctly into a form-board. The evaluator then demonstrated a task in front of Joshua in hopes that he performs the same task. Joshua was able to stack several blocks on top of each other. When the evaluator provided Joshua with more blocks, Joshua was unable to demonstrate what was illustrated by the evaluator. Next, Joshua was asked to turn the pages of a book. Joshua was unable to perform such task. Additionally, Joshua was unable to cut the paper with a pair of scissors, imitate a horizontal line, string beads on a lace, fold a piece of paper producing a crease and imitate a train block designed by aligning 3 cubes and positioning the fourth. According to Ms. Jackson, Joshua performed poorly during the visual motor
subtest.