Jorie Pinsof October 6, 2013

Environmental Analysis Assignment

Section I:

The child for whom I completed the analysis on is Joe.* He is a is a four-year-old boy with
Down syndrome. His birthday is July 22, 2009 and he couldnt be a more smiley and friendly
little boy. I met with him at his house in Urbana for about an hour and a half. During this time I
was able to play Uno and other games with Joe* while also getting to know his parents better. At
the meeting the people present were, Joe* his mother and father, and myself. Joe* was very
outgoing from the second I walked in. I was very excited to meet him to because I had never met
him before since I was setup with the family. Joe* was eager to play with me and show me all of
his toys. This made gathering information more of a learning experience for me because almost
every time a question was answered it was then represented by the actions that Joe* was doing or
the toys he playing with. I learned a lot about Joe* during our visit. He has a lot of favorite
activities. He loves Uno and Connect Four. He also loves a lot of sports like baseball and football
because he can play them outside with his father and older brother. He is very enthusiastic about
a TV show on the Disney channel called, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and has many toys
that are related to this show.

Section II:

My rational for choosing the instrument and environment to be analyzed was different than my
peers because I was placed with a family. Because the student wasnt in my placement it was
more important and achievable for me to analyze Joe* at home. The instrument I used was by
default the Caldwell and Bradley Home analysis summary sheet. The environmental analysis
is important for my target child because it provides the observer; myself in this situation, an
inside look in to the home environment of the child. A student may be having difficulties at
school and the home environment could be the reason for it, which is why this analysis are
important. For my student the opposite was being demonstrated. It was demonstrating great
success and progress in school and in physical therapy and much of that is attributed to what I
was seeing at home during the visit. It is important to make sure there are appropriate materials
to cater to his specific disability and his individual needs. I noticed that there were many
language and speech activities to help Joe* specifically advance in his language development,
which is another reason why it is important for target child. Some families may have many of the
materials from the analysis but it is important to notice is they cater to the specific child.

Section III:
Part A:

I used the Caldwell and Bradley HOME environment analysis sheet for infants to elementary
school-age children. This was a very formal checklist which asked a lot of the family. There
wasnt anything I had to formally perform or have Joe* do for me; it was just a list of criteria
which I was looking for and filling out. There was a book that along side it which explained the
extent to each criteria and what each step meant which made it user friendly. Lucky, my family
gave me a tour of the house and I was able to see all of the toys that Joe* had. They interacted a
great deal during our visit and I had a lot of time to play with Joe* and engage in the
conversation to observe their behaviors. I adapted it a bit and directly asked a few times if the
parents had a few of the things I was looking for. Other parts of the tool asked for example if
there was a book shelf visible, so I had to take note of those things. I quickly built a relationship
with the family so I adapted it to gain the most knowledge about the environment by simply
asking them to show me specific devises and have Joe* play them with me.
Part B:
With the data I collected the total score that the environment received was a 57 out of 65,
and some of the missing points was due to my human error of confusion. This score means that
the environment highly caters to Joes* needs and that there are many things provided to enhance
and aid his learning and development. Breaking the scoring down to the individual subgroups,
the environment received a 10 out of 13 in the category which notes the learning materials in the
environment. One of the questions dealt with school which I dont have access to since I was
placed with this family, and one question asked if they subscribe to a magazine which they dont
but they do subscribe to the newspaper. They still are above the median and are providing Joe*
with great learning materials. The following category is language stimulation. This score they
received a 9 out of 9 on. This didnt surprise me. A topic that was addressed multiple times
throughout the meeting was the mothers concerns for Joes* language development and speech.
His mom wants that to improve and is working hard to reach success in this area. He got above
the median for all the subgroups because his mother is highly educated and wants what is best
for her son. His parents are working hard so that he can reach the most success. Physical
environment was another 7 out of 7 because it is a very safe and comfortable home. The dad
wanted a home where he could take his son outside and play and this has created more of a
comfort in his surroundings. While analyzing the environment many of the things were obvious
and out front. This family has researched the things that will cause the most positive results for
Joe* and putting them into affect. Other things I just asked the family about so that I could see
them in place. They received a very high score on their environment and rightfully so. In my
analysis everything that was supposed to be there was. The first thing I noticed was that when I
entered the house, there was a newspaper sitting on the steps. The mother has done her research
and it is demonstrated by my findings in this analysis.
Section IV:
Joes* mother is extremely well researched and educated, thus most of the necessary materials
were implemented in the environment. However if I were to offer suggestions for modifying the
environment to meet the Joes* needs individually I would provide some sort of specific
workspace for him. There were a lot of materials all over the living room and in the basement,
but no area that he could call his own workspace. He has every opportunity for learning and
almost the most perfect environment, but theres no place that he can call only his where can
explore and investigate all the learning that he has at his fingertips.
Another suggestion to modify the environment to cater to Joe* specifically would be to
incorporate more technology. During our visit his mother showed me an iphone app that Joe*
loves to play which has been immensely helping his speech. Joe* was so enthusiastic about this
app and refused to give his mom the phone back when she had to leave for work. When I was
looking around and inquired about it, I realized there really wasnt much technology around him
other than the TV and this phone. Implementing the use of a computer or an ipad into his
learning could be a great help if the app so was affective.

* Indicates that a pseudonym is being used in place of a real name.