Michelle Belanger

SEI 524
August 9, 2013
Observation and Intervention Planning

Background Information:
Brennan is a 4-year-old little boy who lives in the teen family shelter with his
mom, who is expecting her second child in January of 2014. He was born after a full
term pregnancy at 5lbs and 12oz. Mom reports that labor needed to be induced due
to Brennan not breathing. Brennan has a pretty significant trauma history that
includes removal from his mother, homelessness, and abuse. Brennans father has
moved to Texas and does no longer have contact with Brennan. There is a family
history of ADHD. Both mom and Brennan receive case management services.
Brennan also received OT and DT during the school year, however was not
approved for ESY. Based on recent testing Brennan will be attending a special
purpose program 2 afternoons a week in a 3:1 classroom. He will receive
developmental and occupational therapy at the program.
Brennan attends Youth and Family Outreach 2 days a week. He has recently
transitioned from the young preschool room with a 13:2 ratio into the pre-k room
with an 18:2 ratio. Brennan was referred to CDS because of concerns with
Brennans emotionally reactive, anxiety, and aggressive behaviors with peers when
he feels uncomfortable. Also Brennans lack of attention and difficulty with any type
of transitions was a huge factor in referring Brennan to CDS.

Observations:
A major concern for the classroom teachers is the fact he has a difficult time
with transitions. Brennan 4 out of 5 times needed a verbal prompt followed by a
teacher going over to him providing a physical prompt. I observed the morning
transition from free play to lining up to get ready for breakfast. As the teacher calls
for clean up, Brennan continues to play. The teacher calls Brenans name to clean up
and he continues to play. The teacher walks over to Brennan and tells him it is time
to line up for breakfast and places her arm on his back. Brennan acknowledges this
and stops playing. The teacher takes Brennan by the hand and walks him over to
the rest of the children who have lined up for breakfast. This was observed several
times throughout the morning. This made it difficult for the other children when a
teacher needed to physically go get Brennan to join the group. The teacher reports
he is often the last one to use the bathroom or get ready because of the difficulty
transitioning. Also he fails to participate in most of the group activities during the
day (circle time, story time etc.)
Brennan has a hard time safely engaging in play with his peers. Brennan can
get easily frustrated or upset while engaged in play at center time. I observed
Brennan playing with the legos with 2 peers. He was playing along side of them as
they interacted and played together. Brennan took a lego from one of his peers. The
little boy told Brennan that he was still playing with it. Brennans started saying
that he wanted it and then he threw the lego across the room and started crying.
The teacher went over to Brennan and explained that he needed to wait his turn and
then it would be his turn. Brennan then put his toys down and went into his cubby,
removing himself from the situation. It is clear he has little social competence when
it comes to his peers.
Goals:
#1) Brennan will participate in all pre-school classroom activities and make
transitions on a daily basis.
Objectives:
Given model and cues, Brennan will transition to classroom activities on a
daily basis.
Given models and cues Brennan will follow 1 and 2 step directions given by
his teachers.
With the use of models and cues, Brennan will participate in circle time and
story time.



Rationale
This goal is important for Brennan to become an active member in the
classroom. By participating in the routines of the classroom he will learn social
competence and be able to engage in the classroom activities.

#2) Brennan will engage in back and forth social interaction /play
/communication with peers in the classroom including sharing toys, turn taking
and making choices. Brennan will use words to express his feelings; protest and
initiate play with peers.
Objectives
Given models and cues, Brennan will interact with his peers for 3 steps of
reciprocal interactions/ play/ communication.
Given models and cues, Brennan will cooperatively play with peers by
sharing and taking turns.
Given visuals and cues, Brennan will identify 5 basic emotions of his and
others.
Rationale:
This goal is important for Brennan to improve his social emotional competence
within the classroom. Also it allows him to show appropriate behavior and
emotions in a social situation.

Interventions:
Goal #1: To help Brennan reach goal #1, I would create a picture schedule so he
would know what was coming next. I would also be sure to give Brennan a 5-
minute warning before any transition. In able for Brennan to follow one and two-
step directions I would possibly do a social story to show to Brennan what he should
do at certain times.
Goal #2: To help Brennan reach goal #2 I would have Brennan play in different
centers in the classroom, such as dramatic play, I would then be there with him and
3 peers to model appropriate social interactions. To promote turn taking, I would
introduce games with rules (CandyLand, chase). To help him label his feelings I
would have mirrors and pictures of different emotions around the room to help him
in labeling emotions.