Running head: PRISM III 1

PRISM III

Leon A. Serrano

College of Southern Nevada

PRISM III 2

Introduction

Trae is a seven year old boy living in a suburban area of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Immediately after his birth, his mother put him into the foster care program. Two years, later

Trae was finally adopted by his foster family. Trae is of French-Canadian/Hawaiian ancestry,

and his adoptive family is of French-Canadian/Swedish ancestry. According to infoplease.com

(Ancestry , 2011), as of 2011, French Canadian ancestry was the 22nd most populous ethnicity

in the United States; with Hawaiian ancestry falling short of the top 34 ethnicities ranked.

Traes family structure is complex in nature. One source, The Many Kinds of Family

Structures in Our Communities (Edwards, 2009), places Traes family into three separate

categories. The trans-racial adoptive family is one category since Traes Hawaiian ethnicity

differs from that of his parents. The second category his family falls into is the blended family.

Trae has a two sisters, one from his adoptive parents and one from his adoptive mothers

previous marriage. The third category is the category of the extended family since Trae spends

several days a week with his adoptive grandmother until his parents get home from work.

The socio-economic status of Traes family is primarily service class. An article in The

Washington Post (Badger, 2014) states that the service class is being replaced in urban areas by

the wealthier creative class and tend to relocate in the suburbs. This is true with Traes family

who live in the most north eastern suburbs of Las Vegas. His mother is a nurse and his father is a

kitchen prep cook. Both are part of the service industry.

Religious and philosophical ideology in Traes household is a blend of Catholicism (his

adoptive father and his grandmother from his adoptive mothers side) and atheism (adoptive

mother). This coincides with an online article from the PewResearchCenter (Americas

Changing Religious Landscape, 2015) that shows Christianity and in particular Catholicism in
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decline in America, while atheism is gaining popularity. Traes siblings believe in spirituality

but have no religious affiliation.

The educational background of Traes family is indicative of the familys socio economic

status. His mother received her Bachelor of Science degree last year. Both his father and older

sister have high-school diplomas with no future plans for upper level education. The US

Department of Labor (Careeronstop, 2015) puts families of this educational level in the lower

earning category, confirming their service class status. Traes retired grandmother had several

years of college but does not contribute financially.

Trae has some developmental disabilities that are listed under childhood impairments on

the Official Social Security Website ( 2015). These include borderline Autism (caused by Fetal

Alcohol Syndrome) and attention deficit disorder which is considered a mental disorder with

multiple aspects that affect learning and social abilities. Trae currently attends a regular full

inclusion classroom (second grade) with some special tutoring taking place in his classroom

throughout the day.

Trae was observed on three occasions at his grandmothers house. Each observance

lasted three to four hours. Some of the information compiled is from previous experience since I

am close to the family and have dinner with them every Monday. The information collected on

ethnicity, socio economic status, religious background, disabilities and adoption history was

gathered from short interviews with his mother and older sister.
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PRISM III

Physical/General

Trae is seven years and six months old. He was adopted at birth and was diagnosed with

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) at that time. His doctors and therapist suspect that he may have a

slight form of autism. Trae is 45 inches tall and weighs 36 pounds. The average height and

weight article at livestrong.com lists the average height and weight for boys 6 years old as 45

inches tall and 46 pounds (Callaway, 2013). Trae is slightly shorter and significantly thinner

than the expected average. Some of this underdevelopment may be the result of him having

FAS. The Embryo Project Encyclopedia published by Arizona State University (ONeil, 2014)

states Heavy maternal alcohol consumption while pregnant has often resulted in small children

that have difficulty gaining weight and are often abnormally small for their developmental age.

In an article published by Northern Arizona University (Ellsworth, 1998) it is presented that

young boys Traes age Tire easily and may need rest, energy is released in the form of nervous

habits. In this aspect, Trae is on track with his developmental age group. He tends to fidget and

after sudden physical exertion when playing he has been observed to lay himself down and fall

asleep; although, occasionally he may fall asleep at any location he happens to be sitting or

playing at. According to Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (Snowman, 2013, p. 252) Traes

physiological needs are being met. He lives in a pleasant, medium-sized three-bedroom house,

and all his nutritional requirements are being fulfilled. Traes safety needs (the second tier in

Maslows Hierarchy) are also being satisfied. The family is financially secure with no

outstanding debt and they live in a quiet neighborhood.

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(R) Emotional

Children Traes age are sensitive to criticism, eager to please, like to help, enjoy

responsibility, and want to do well in their schoolwork. Trae appears to be in sync with his

peers emotionally. While at his grandmothers house, he displayed sensitivity to criticism and

during times of emotional outbursts and frustration, he was observed going off to be by himself

to gather his thoughts and compose himself. His grandmother, who babysits him several days a

week, encourages him to meditate on his problem as she puts it and when allowed to do so he

returns shortly thereafter to either apologize or to ask a question pertaining to the issue that

originally frustrated him. She then thanks him for his efforts to calm his emotions and he seems

very pleased to be thanked for doing the right thing. He also enjoys when his grandmother

teaches him to read new words and upon learning something new he eagerly awaits (sometimes

asking for) a compliment for his achievement. While this self-calming behavior was far less

frequent at his own home under parental supervision it was observed as the norm while at his

grandmothers house while she cared for him on a one on one basis. Through the understanding

acceptance of his grandmother and family Traes need for belongingness and love are adequately

satisfied. These needs compose the third rung of Maslows Hierarchy (Snowman, 2013, p. 252)

and the emotional support Traes family gives him are helping him to successfully cope and

develop a strong belief that he is part of a loving family.

Intellectual/Cognitive

In Piagets theory of cognitive development, boys Traes age should be beginning the

Concrete Operational stage where egocentrism, irreversibility, and perceptual centration have

less influence over the childs thinking (Snowman, 2013, p.27). Trae seems to be very aware of

other individuals feelings often asking about them especially when he notices an air of tension.
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Piaget in this instance might say that despite him having FAS and being two years

developmentally delayed, Traes concern for the emotions of others may be a mark of an

improvement on his developmental rate; although his improvement might be unobserved by

Piaget since his theory tends to underestimate childrens abilities. Vygotsky would attribute the

improvement towards an increase in psychological tools due to the mediation (Snowman,

2013, p.34) that occurs via his grandmothers lessons on respecting other peoples feelings. Trae

displays the making of taxonomies while playing and is very creative in the realm of music and

art, drawing often and making up songs throughout the day. His memory is lacking; however,

his creative ability according to Sternbergs Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Snowman, 2013,

p.74) is normal even though his analytical development is two years behind his age group.

Likewise with Gardners Eight Intelligence (Snowman, 2013, p.75) for Gardner would say that

although Trae is behind in the realms of linguistics logic etc., he is average in the areas of

musical, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. As a student he has some difficulty

understanding his purpose as a student. Trae does complete most of his homework but does not

value it as highly as playing with his toys. His developmental delays have had an impact

regarding his desire to achieve in school. The highest tier of Maslows Hierarchy (Snowman,

2013, pg.248) is the Self Actualization need; the need for self-fulfillment, and Traes growth

need for self-actualization are not being met.

Social/Psychological

At seven years old Trae should be going through the stage of industry vs inferiority.

Eriksons theory says that if young children are encouraged to do things well, helped to

persevere, praised for trying and allowed to finish tasks industry will result (Snowman, 2013,

p.19). As I stated earlier, Trae is very responsive to praise and Eriksons input would be to keep
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encouraging his social progress by supporting his grandmothers system of praise and emotional

reward. The Snowman textbook (Snowman, 2013, p. 53) says primary grade students become

more selective in their choice of friends and Trae has been doing this with his peer group. He

has stated that he has one best friend, and although he is sociable with all his classmates, he tends

to spend most of his time with one specific male student. He formerly had one friend outside of

school that is his age (named Zander); however, as that child matured at the average rate the

relationship became less solid. Zander has become less interested in the games and activities

Trae is still participating in and consequently they have less in common, so as a result Trae has

chosen a new best friend from his class that he may feel more akin to. James Marcia (Snowman,

2013, p.21) would say that Traes friendship choices are contributing to his identity formation by

exploring and making commitments to his interpersonal relationships. Maslow would also add

that according to the Hierarchy (Snowman, 2013, p. 252) and considering his autism, Traes

Esteem needs are developing surprisingly well. This is again illustrated by his choice of

friendships and his role within his family.

Moral

Trae has been prone to self-justification when in an argument with his eleven year old

sister. As earlier stated, he responds to reward and praise and this is his strongest motivation for

obeying the rules of his household. Upon being asked to do something, I observed his usual

response as a request for some new toy if he obeys. He gets rather upset when his schedule is

interrupted or his rules are modified as per situation. In this way, Piaget would say that Trae is

developing in normal fashion for a boy his age and that Trae is in the middle of the morality of

constraint theory where rules are unchangeable, there is a single absolute moral perspective,

amount of guilt is determined by the amount of damage and moral wrongness is defined in terms
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of what is forbidden or punished (Snowman, 2013, p.41). Kohlberg would elaborate slightly on

Traes moral development as stage one of moral reasoning, punishment-obedience orientation

based on the consequence of his actions, although he also believes rules should be an even

exchange exhibiting signs of stage two the instrumental relativist orientation. When Trae sees

other rules being applied to older siblings, his first response is that is not fair. So his moral

development would be considered by both to be average despite his developmental delays. Since

Noddings and Gilligan focused on female moral development, their opinions do not apply to this

case.
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Conclusion

Through observation and with the information provided by the textbook, Trae seems to be

on a good path towards his age group development. His physiological, safety, belongingness,

and esteem needs are being satisfied (Snowman, 2013, p. 252). Through mediation provided by

his grandmother (p. 34) Traes use of psychological tools are increasing despite his

exceptionalities. According to Howard Gardner (p. 75), Trae, although, weak in some cognitive

areas shows great aptitudes in the nonacademic realms of intelligence, specifically the areas of

musical, spatial, and interpersonal intelligence. Both psychologists, Piaget and Erikson (p. 17,

p.23) would place Trae behind his developmental group due to his exceptionalities; however,

both theorists may not take into account the scaffolding that he is being provided with. Piagets

theory, in particular, has been known to underestimate the flexibility of children under the right

conditions.

Trae has made some remarkable progress in response towards his developmental delays,

and even though he may be academically behind his peer group in certain aspects he is a smiling,

happy child who feels confident with who he is.

PRISM III 10

References

Ancestry of U.S Population by Rank (2011). Retrieved from

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762137.html

Badger, E. (2014, September 29). Mapped: How the creative class cities. The Washington Post.

Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/mapped-

how-the-creative-class-is-dividing-u-s-cities/

Callaway, C. (2013, August 16). The average height and weight by age|. Retrieved from

http://www.livestrong.com/article/328220-the-average-height-and-weight-by-age/

Careeronestop (2015) Retrieved from

http://www.careerinfonet.org/finaidadvisor/earnings.aspx

Edwards, J (2009). Many Kinds of Family Structures in Our Communities. Retrieved from

http://www.scoe.org/files/ccpc-family-structures.pdf

Ellsworth, J. (1998). Pepsi as a screening tool. Retrieved from

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/lesson2-1-1.html

O'Neil, E., "Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)". Embryo Project Encyclopedia (2014-01-28). ISSN:

1940-5030 -| Retrieved from https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/fetal-alcohol-syndrome-fas

Official Social Security Website (2015, July 20). Retrieved from.

https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/ChildhoodListings.htm

PewResearchCenter (2015, May 12). Americas Changing Religious Landscape. Retrieved from

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/?

beta=true&utm_expid=53098246-2.Lly4CFSVQG2lphsg-KopIg.1

Snowman, J., and McCown, R.R. (2014). Ed Psych. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage

Learning.