Developmental Case Assessment

Overview

The major project for this course will be your developmental and biopsychosocial assessment of a child between 0-5 years of age. The project will consist of two parts: 1) A 8-10 page, double-spaced paper, and 2) a conclusion in video format, in which you discuss your thoughts. You will submit both the paper and the video through Blackboard.

To begin, you will select a child to interview aged 5 years or younger (infancy through early childhood). It does not matter what age you choose; every age has its own strengths and challenges, as far as how the project will be completed. The child’s guardian must be present during the interview. The interview must be done in person and will take about an hour, generally, depending on the specific circumstances of the child and family. You will interview the child using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) to help you in your developmental assessment. You will then write a biopsychosocial evaluation of the child.

In addition, you will discuss how time and timing impact the child’s life. The relevance of issues of time and timing are critical to understanding biological, psychological and social events. As time passes, many things about the person and their environment change that causes that person to behave differently. We cannot understand the contributions of the biopsychosocial dimensions of human behavior without also considering the influences of time (age and history of people and their environments) and the timing of events. What does it mean to be a child in today’s world? How does the age of the child affect the outcome of what happens to her/him? The same event can have different consequences based on the timing of that event in a person’s life history and context. The integration of these factors is essential in making valid assessments of persons and situations.

If you cannot find someone to interview, post in the Q & A Forum. Perhaps one of your classmates knows someone they could refer you to.

ASQ

There is a folder in the “Developmental Case Assessment Paper” link called “ASQs.” Follow the links to submit the age of the child you plan to interview, and then the appropriate Ages and Stages Questionnaire will appear. Make sure to follow the instructions in Blackboard carefully. You must download the ASQ, print it, and use it for your interview. You do not have to submit your completed ASQ, but be sure to keep it on hand as you write your paper.

Paper

Your paper must be written and cited in accordance with APA style. This includes a title page and a reference page. The only variation from the APA requirement is that, while APA discourages writing in the 1st person, it is fine to use the 1st person in this paper, as long as you maintain a professional, objective tone. You must include citations from the textbook. If you use ideas from outside the textbook, they must be cited from high-quality sources, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, or professionally published books. Do not cite from Wikipedia, Psychology Today, or other popular, non-peer-reviewed websites. You will need the Library for your research efforts; a link to the ASU Library databases and help resources is included in the main navigational menu. There is no minimum required number of citations, but every statement of a general nature should be supported.

Be sure to protect the confidential information about the child and the guardian(s) by using initials or pseudonyms, and do not disclose any identifying information.

Your paper must contain the following five sections:

1. Introduction
2. Age Assessment: Using the Ages and Stages questionnaire, what is your assessment of your child’s communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social development? What is your developmental assessment of your child? What recommendations would you make based on your assessment?
3. Strengths & Barriers: Conduct a (simplified) biopsychosocial assessment of your child. Identify at least one strength and one barrier in your child’s life in each of the three dimensions. Describe how this may or may not influence your child’s developmental assessment.

1. Time and Adaptations: Clearly discuss the issue of time and timing (i.e., age effects and cohort effects).
2. How do your findings have implications for understanding how the age of the person will potentially influence the person’s adaptation to any change or family transitions?
3. How do your findings have implications for understanding potential cohort or period influences in your case?
4. Conclusion