350 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT

Table 6.9 (Continued)

CASE REPORT 2: OSCAR

Age: 11 years, 5 months

Grade: 5

Norms Reported: Grade-Based for Achievement Scores, Age-Based for Cognitive Ability and Language Scores

Reason for Evaluation

Oscar attends fifth grade at a public, suburban elementary school. He has received special education services under the eligibility criteria of Emotional Disability since second grade. Mrs. Drogan, Oscar’s aunt and legal guardian, requested the evaluation to determine if Oscar has a learning disability and/or attention disorder, and to obtain recommendations for instructional approaches that will improve his reading and spelling.

Background Information

Background information was obtained from interviews with Mrs. Drogan and his fourth-grade special education teacher, Mrs. Hawthorne.

ILLUSTRATIVE CASE REPORTS 351

Family History

Oscar has been living with his aunt, uncle, and two cousins (ages 13 and 16) for the past 9 months and their family life is reported to be very happy and stable. Oscar and his family speak English only.

Oscar’s biological mother passed away 3 years ago after a battling cancer for several years. Oscar’s two younger brothers live nearby with their father, who is not Oscar’s biological father. The identity of Oscar’s biological father is unknown. Oscar has good relationships with his siblings, although they sometimes teased him because he is naïve and easily upset. After Oscar’s mother passed away while he was in third grade, Oscar showed signs of anxiety and refused to go to school.

Oscar’s mother had been diagnosed with a reading disability and also had di culty with math. She earned an associate’s degree and worked in the home. Oscar’s half siblings have not experienced learning di culties.

Mrs. Drogan describes Oscar as a sweet kid with a great laugh. He enjoys interacting with children and animals, being outdoors, and playing video games. Oscar seems to have good retention of information when he is paying attention, and he can explain things well. Science is a relative strength for him (when reading is not involved) and he enjoys doing science experiments at home. He has good social skills and makes friends with all types of people. Although he has good social skills, Mrs. Drogan reported that Oscar’s thinking is very concrete and literal, so he often does not understand a joke or figure of speech. When this happens, he will111111111 ask for explanation. Oscar is compliant and wants to please others, sometimes to a fault. He tends to be naïve and will follow others or go along with the crowd.

Medical/Developmental History

Oscar is small for his age in both height and weight, and Mrs. Drogan reported that he is a very picky eater. Oscar was the result of a full-term, healthy pregnancy and did not experience complications at birth, according to his aunt’s report. Oscar met most developmental milestones as expected, although he was delayed in speech and language. Oscar was born with a congenital hearing defect in his left ear, which was diagnosed when he was a preschooler. Due to his hearing impairment, Oscar was a late talker and had speech delays. Mrs. Drogan reported that Oscar occasionally does not produce certain speech sounds clearly. He has very little hearing in his left ear, but he’s learned to compensate in academic and social settings and his overall hearing is within normal limits. His vision is also reported to be within normal limits.

Oscar is physically healthy with no history of surgeries or significant injuries. Mrs. Drogan indicated that Oscar is accident prone and somewhat clumsy. Oscar’s teachers report that he’s fidgety and tends to be moving constantly. To diminish these behaviors during class, he has a “chewie” that he can hold or manipulate, which has been helpful. He is currently taking a low dose of Imipramine for anxiety and mood stability. Imipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant that is sometimes used o -label to treat attention disorders. Although Imipramine can have a sedative e ect, Mrs. Drogan reported that Oscar does not seem drowsy. Oscar is typically exhausted

352 ESSENTIALS OF KTEA™-3 AND WIAT®-III ASSESSMENT

by the end of the school day, but Mrs. Drogan does not attribute his exhaustion to the medication.

Emotional and Social History

Oscar has a history of anxiety. In addition to refusing to attend school for a semester of fourth grade, he has refused to go on airplanes, ride in elevators, etc. Since he began living with the Drogan family, however, he has had excellent school attendance and no longer demonstrates anxious or avoidant behaviors. Mrs. Drogan described Oscar as fairly “even keel,” although he does not like change. Oscar saw a therapist after his mother passed away, but he is not seeing a therapist at this time and he is reported to be emotionally stable. Mrs. Drogan cautioned that Oscar quickly learns how to get away with things and softly manipulate people, especially when work demands are placed on him. For example, he might suddenly report feeling sad or missing his mom to avoid schoolwork.

Educational History

Mrs. Drogan does not have detailed information about Oscar’s early academic performance, but she reported that reading di culties were evident early on. Oscar repeated second grade because his reading skills were below grade level. He has qualified for special education services since second grade, which have provided behavioral and academic support as needed. In fourth grade, he incurred excessive absences after refusing to attend school for one semester,111111111 which caused him to fall further behind. He was tutored over the summer by his fourth-grade teacher.

Oscar is currently reading about one grade level behind, according to school records. Mrs. Drogan reported that Oscar has poor fluency and comprehension, and he often loses track of where he is on the page. He tends to guess at words or sometimes he will laboriously “sound it out.” In other academic areas, Mrs. Drogan reported that Oscar needs improvement in handwriting, spelling/mechanics, and written expression. Writing by hand is not easy for him, so he writes as little as possible to get by. However, he types well and uses this accommodation at school for writing assignments. In math, he has di culty with column alignment and word problems, but his conceptual and procedural knowledge are reportedly good. Keeping his schoolwork organized and remembering to bring things home are also challenging for him.

At school, Oscar receives in-class support and accommodations such as math visual aids, math word problems and reading comprehension questions read aloud, no penalty for spelling errors on most writing assignments, and a computer for typing essays. During testing, he receives extra time with items read aloud as requested by him. His grade averages include Bs and Cs. Oscar has an e ective behavior plan in place, which provides supports such as redirection, prompts, and quiet time as needed. Oscar also receives prompts and frequent reminders to stay on task because he tends to be extremely distractible.

ILLUSTRATIVE CASE REPORTS 353

Previous Test Results

On a behavior rating scale from 3 years ago, Oscar’s behavior indicated clinically significant or at-risk levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems. His teacher last year witnessed very few “emotional breakdowns,” but said Oscar distracted easily, needed excessive reassurance, and had di culty organizing and finishing his work. Oscar did not meet fourth-grade standards or benchmarks on the statewide assessment for reading, writing, and math.

Behavioral Observations

Oscar was dressed casually when he arrived for the test session. He had a friendly smile and made eye contact when introduced. Initially, Oscar was hesitant to speak at all. He responded as briefly as possible, with a voice as quiet as a whisper. His speech was di cult to understand at times because he spoke so quietly. He said his favorite part of school is recess, and his least favorite part is learning. Towards the second half of the test session, he began speaking comfortably and asking questions. Occasional grammatical errors were observed. Oscar was seated directly across from the examiner, which Mrs. Drogan indicated was an acceptable seating arrangement for his hearing impairment. He seemed to understand the examiner’s instructions, though he occasionally asked for items to be repeated.

Oscar appreciated knowing how many things he would be asked to do and when

111111111

his breaks would be. He counted the tasks and reminded the examiner of his progress. He did not seem particularly motivated by praise or success, and did not seem interested in whether his answers were right or wrong. However, he sustained motivation throughout the test session, knowing that his hard work would be rewarded with a new game when he got home. His attention waned frequently, but he reoriented to the task when prompted. Oscar was in motion throughout most of the testing, shifting in his seat, tapping a pencil on his head, biting his nails, or occasionally standing. The testing lasted about 4 hours, not including several short breaks and a 30-minute lunch break. During one cognitive ability subtest (Figure Weights, which has multiple choice responses), Oscar appeared to be guessing as he responded to the first few items quickly without much thought. As a result, the subtest ended quickly and he scored extremely low. His performance on this subtest was not consistent with his reasoning ability on other measures, so his low

performance was attributed to insufficient e ort. With the exception of this subtest, Oscar’s levels of e ort and motivation seemed adequate throughout the test session. Thus, these results are believed to provide a valid and reliable estimate of his current functioning.