Final Project-Family Analysis Media Review

Children with Differing Abilities

Linked Competencies:
This activity will be used to demonstrate your understanding and accomplishment of the
following course competencies:
Apply child development theory to practice.
Cultivate relationships with children, family and the community.
Assess child growth and development.
Linked External Objectives:
This activity will be used to demonstrate your understanding of the following external
teaching standards:

NAEYC Standard #1: Promoting Child Development and Learning

NAEYC Standard #2: Building Family & Community Relationships
WTS # 3: The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates
instructional opportunities adapted to diverse learners
WTS #10: The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents and agencies in the
larger community to support students learning and well-being.

Critical Life Skills:

This activity will be used to demonstrate your accomplishment of the following WCTC
Critical Life Skills:
Critical Thinking Skills (NAEYC SS 4): Evaluate resources to make informed
and ethical decisions.
Communication Skills (NAEYC SS 3): Communicate effectively in personal,
academic, and professional interactions using appropriate modalities.
Learning Objectives:
Apply family systems theory to work with children with disabilities.
Understand how family, exceptionalities and other factors interact to influence a
childs development.
Assess the impact of exceptionality on the family and the developing child.
Identify the important characteristics of a childs family and community.
Consider multiple perspectives on child development.

Project Description/Directions:
As demonstration of your understanding of the impact of disability on a family unit and
of the multiple influences on childrens development, you will either watch a mainstream
media film or read a novel about an individual with disability and provide a family
analysis that details the impact of disability on the family.
Since mainstream media often reflects current societal issues, students will select a
book/movie from the list below. After reading/watching the selection, the student will

provide an analysis of the impact of disability on the family unit and on

individual members of the family unit.
Things to consider and address in your analysis include:

How do families respond to individuals with disabilities? What are the patterns of
individual family members in their interaction with the individual with disability?
How do you know (evidence)?
Where, in the grief/acceptance cycle (as discussed in class) are individual family
members at? What is there level of acceptance of disability? What evidence can
you provide for your assessment?
What processes do family members go through in coming to acceptance? What
evidence can you provide of this (give examples).
How do individual family members respond differently to the individual with a
disability?
What resilient characteristics are exhibited by the individual? By the family?

In all cases, the students should support their conclusions with concrete examples from
the film/book and should provide precise and explicit evidence to support their
conclusions.
Media Choices:
Mainstream Films:
1. I Am Sam
2. The Memory Keepers Daughter
Book Reviews:
1. The Memory Keepers Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
2. Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern
3. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
4. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night byMark Haddon
5. Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman
Project Possibilities:
You are allowed great flexibility in how you want to organize and portray your final
analysis, but possible project ideas are listed below. Students may feel free to suggest
other ideas of their own, but must obtain instructor permission first. Remember, the
goal is to demonstrate your understanding of the family dynamics/impact on
the family.
Write a term paper
Develop an electronic scrapbook that visually explores/analyzes the family system
and dynamics.
Create an electronic presentation.
Develop a family/character tree that explores the relationship between and among
characters in the movie; relate this to information shared in class on characteristics
of resilient families and the information required above.

 Create baseball/trading cards for movie characters; provide vital statistics that
address the resilient characteristics of these individuals and the dynamics of the
family.
Create an audio CD: select musical scores that represent the cycles of grief or
acceptance characters go through in the movie and the stages of growth of the
family; include a written narrative of the musical score describing and providing a
rationale for your selections.
Produce a music video or theatrical production exploring a particular theme.
In all cases, students are expected to apply principles of communication (oral and/or
written) to communicate effectively in whatever modality they choose.