Molly's Needs: Behavior, Social, Cognitive, and Sensory-Motor Skills
Unit 8 Assignment- ASD Case Study: Molly (Behavior, Social, Cognitive, and Sensory-Motor Skills) (Template)
Purpose:
The development of behavior skills, social skills, cognitive skills, and sensory-motor skills are important pieces of a typical early childhood environment. Encouraging the growth of these necessary skills in our young children with ASD is an important step in their development.
Scenario: ASD Case Study: Molly
Molly is a 4-year-old preschool child with ASD and significant expressive and receptive language deficits. She seldom uses her language spontaneously to communicate with peers and teachers. She has a difficult time following directions and transitioning from one activity to the next. Molly is very fearful of social situations and often avoids social interactions. Molly spends the vast majority of her time on the playground alone with little peer interaction. Molly engages in stereotypical behaviors such as hand flapping, vocalizations, and eye gazing. She has been noted to slap herself in the head and has recently begun slapping parents and teachers. Molly is noted to have a short attention span, poor motor coordination, difficulty tying her shoes and managing snaps and buttons, and sensory-seeking needs.
Assignment Directions
Based on the above case study of Molly, you will write a 2–3-page informative essay that analyzes how Molly’s behavior, social skills, cognitive skills, and sensory-motor skills can be addressed. This essay should include specific examples of strategies and environmental supports that would be beneficial for Molly given her identified individual needs. Be sure to address all four areas of need (behavior, social, cognitive, sensory-motor).
Introduction
• Briefly summarize the case study and identify how this paper will help address Molly’s needs in behavior, social/emotional, cognitive, and sensory-motor skills.
Behavior Skills
• Analyze how Molly's behavioral skills can be addressed in the typical early childhood environment.
• Include specific examples of strategies and environmental supports that would be beneficial for Molly given her identified individual needs.
Social/Emotional Skills
• Analyze how Molly's social/emotional skills can be addressed in the typical early childhood environment.
• Include specific examples of strategies and environmental supports that would be beneficial for Molly given her identified individual needs.
Cognitive Skills
• Analyze how Molly's cognitive skills can be addressed in the typical early childhood environment.
• Include specific examples of strategies and environmental supports that would be beneficial for Molly given her identified individual needs.
Sensory-Motor Skills
• Analyze how Molly's sensory-motor skills can be addressed in the typical early childhood environment.
• Include specific examples of strategies and environmental supports that would be beneficial for Molly given her identified individual needs.
Conclusion
• Link the strategies and supports you have provided above to illustrate the characteristics of the recommended learning environment for Molly.
Assignment Guidelines
Your assignment should include the following elements:
• Title page: Provide your name, section number, and date.
• Body: In 2 to 3 pages, answer all the questions in complete sentences and paragraphs.
o Your responses should reflect professional writing standards using proper tone and language and be free of spelling and grammatical errors. The writing and writing style should be correct and accurate and reflect knowledge of early childhood education theories and practices.
• Reference page: Sources in APA format
o Please include at least two different references in your responses.
o Your full references should be listed alphabetically on the reference page.
• Use Arial or Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced and left-aligned.
• Use standard 1" margins on all sides.
• Use current APA formatting and citation style throughout your paper.
ASD: Molly Case Study
Your Name
Department of ABC, University – Whitewater
ABC 101: Course Name
Professor (or Dr.) Firstname Lastname
Date
ASD: Molly Case Study
About Molly
Molly is a 4-year-old preschool child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As a result, she has difficulties learning and sustaining behavioral, social, cognitive, and sensory motor skills. In terms of behavior, she engages in stereotypical behaviors like vocalization, eye gazing, & hand flapping. Regarding social skills, Molly keeps to herself in the playfield, hardly uses language to communicate, and shows extreme fear in social situations. She slaps herself and has been observed slapping adults around her.
Regarding cognitive skills, Molly hardly follows directions and struggles to transition from one activity to another. His sensory motor skills are also wanting because she struggles to tie shoelaces and button up and with a short attention span. In this view, the current, informative paper aims to explain how Molly’s problems across the four categories could be addressed.
Behavior Skills Improvement
Behavioral skills influence or shape a person’s interaction with others in different situations. Molly has shown stereotypical behaviors and often slaps herself and others. A key strategy to improve her behavioral skills is consistently reinforcing her positive behaviors. The reinforcement can be done through praise, positive comments, and rewards, allowing Molly to repeat the positive behavior (Alsedrani, 2017). The strategy is beneficial because it will remind her of the behaviors that trigger them to be praised or rewarded. For example, when Molly finishes accomplishing a task without slapping herself, she should be complimented. Such a task could be a three-minute video game or an activity that involves arranging small balls based on colors.
Social/Emotional Skills
Social skills are the abilities necessary for everyday communication and interaction with others. Molly hardly communicates verbally with others, prefers to keep to herself on the playground, and has a habit of slapping others. Practicing play is of the key strategies that could improve Molly’s social skills. Such play should include or invoke social scenes or settings using props like toys or dolls (Chrysiis, 2020). For example, a teddy bear could demonstrate or play-act daily activities. An adult ...