The School Years: Biosocial Development

1. The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence by Kathleen Stassen Berger Seventh Edition Chapter 11 The School Years: Biosocial Development Slides prepared by Kate Byerwalter, Ph.D., Grand Rapids Community College

2. A Healthy Time • Middle childhood, ages 7 to 11, is generally a happy, healthy time of life PHOTODISC

3. Size and Shape • The rate of growth slows during middle childhood. • Most 7-11 year olds gain 5-7 lbs. and 2˝ per year

4. Childhood Obesity • The rate of overweight and obese children is increasing. • Overweight children are at higher risk of health problems such as Type II diabetes and asthma. • They often suffer socially and academically as they face ridicule from peers.

5. Causes of Childhood Obesity • Genetic predisposition • set point • Environmental factors • cultural values • lack of exercise • poor quality food • watching TV/video

6. Puberty and Weight • Overweight children also more likely to experience puberty earlier than peers. • Early puberty has been associated with risk factors such as teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and family conflict.

7. Treatment of Childhood Obesity • Exercise! • Change family patterns • Change school lunch programs, vending machines, etc.

8. Chronic Illness • About 13% of children have special health needs. • Caring for these children can take a toll on family income, maternal self-esteem and the marriage relationship.

9. Asthma is chronic inflammation of the airways. It affects between 10% and 20% of school-age children in North America three times as common as 20 years ago figures expected to double again by 2020 Asthma

10. Possible Causes of Asthma • genes on chromosomes 2, 11, 12, 13, and 21 • exposure to allergens (dust, pet dander, etc.) LARRY MULVEHILL / PHOTO RESEARCHERS, INC.

11. Clean air (Olympics in Georgia study!) Breast feeding, remove pets from home Inhalers, medical treatment Many lower-income children lack insurance to get proper care! Prevention of Asthma

12. Brain Development • Advances include: • Continued myelination and neural connections • Greater ability for self-control • Selective attention: ability to concentrate on what is important • Automatization: some skills become routine (e.g., reading, writing one’s name)

13. Make it Real: Brain Development • What aspects of brain development are involved in playing a musical instrument? JONATHAN KIM / STOCK CONNECTION / PICTUREQUEST

14. Motor skill development continues through middle childhood, due to brain maturation and experience. Older children have a faster reaction time than younger children. Rough-and-tumble play helps regulate and coordinate frontal lobes of brain. Motor Skills

15. Make it Real: Motor Skills • List some benefits and concerns of sports for young children. • How often did you have physical education in school? SEAN SPRAGUE / THE IMAGE WORKS

16. Motor Skills (cont.) • Benefits of sports programs include exercise, fun, teamwork, sportsmanship. • Concerns include too much competition at a young age, increased stress, critical parents, risk of physical injury. • Time for physical education at school has decreased significantly, as well as safe neighborhood places to play.

17. Measuring the Mind • GRADES are an important measure of how a child is doing in school. • However, why might someone want a different assessment in addition to grades?

18. Objective Tests of Ability • Achievement Tests: measure what has been taught (given routinely in school) • Aptitude Tests: measure one’s potential • IQ Tests: designed to measure intellectual aptitude, or ability to learn in school

19. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children is a commonly used IQ test. It includes verbal and performance subtests. Scores below 70 indicate possible mental retardation; those above 130 suggest giftedness. IQ TESTS

20. In Theory, Most are Average

21. Criticisms of IQ Testing • Tests reflect the culture of the makers. • A person’s potential changes with time. • So, IQ tests should be part of a battery of assessments for an individual child. • IQ tests ignore many types of intelligence.

22. Robert Sternberg’s theory • Sternberg (1996) suggests 3 types of intelligence • academic (IQ and achievement) • creative (evidenced by imaginative endeavors) • practical (seen in everyday interactions)

23. linguistic logical-mathematical musical spatial bodily-kinesthetic interpersonal (social understanding) intrapersonal (self-understanding) naturalistic Howard Gardner:Multiple Intelligences

24. What does an IQ score tell us, really? • IQ tests can help detect learning disabilities, giftedness, and other special needs. • IQ scores predict later school achievement and to some degree, career attainment in adulthood.

25. Make it Real: Special Needs • Do you know anyone who has special needs as a result of a physical, cognitive, or emotional disability? • Examples: ADHD, autism, learning disability, physical disability, etc.

26. Children who require extra help in order to learn have “special needs.” Examples: pervasive developmental delays, learning disabilities, attention deficits, autism, physical disability, emotional impairment, and more. Children with Special Needs

27. Developmental Psychopathology • This field applies insights about typical development to study and treat various disorders (and vice versa). • Abnormality is normal • Disability changes over time • Adolescence and adulthood may be better or worse • Diagnosis depends on social context

28. Pervasive Developmental Delays • Pervasive developmental disorders are severe problems, such as autism, that affect many aspects of a young child’s psychological growth, causing evident delay of speech, movement, or social skills before age 6 years.

29. Autism • Autism is a PDD characterized by an inability to relate to other people normally, including extreme self-absorption, and an inability to learn normal speech. • The level of severity of symptoms varies across individuals (e.g. Asperger syndrome represents high functioning).

30. CORE SYMPTOMS: Absent of abnormal language Social aloofness or unawareness Repetitive, asocial play Undersensitive to pain Oversensitive to noise Insistence on routine Symptoms of Autism OTHER POSSIBLESYMPTOMS:

31. Possible Causes of Autism • Genes • Teratogens • Thimerosal, found in immunizations, has been repeatedly accused but consistently disproved as a factor) • Viruses, infections, pesticides, or drugs • Better diagnosis today

32. Treatment of Autism • Earlyintervention is beneficial • One-on-onebehavioraltraining • teaching social play strategies and language skills • Encouraging social connections • Examples: rewards for eye contact, interacting

33. Treatment for Autism (cont.) • This teacher is trying to facilitate eye contact and encourage this 4 year old child with autism to speak. ALAN CAREY / THE IMAGE WORKS

34. Learning Disability A marked delay in a particular area of learning not associated with any physical handicap, mental retardation, or unusually stressful home environment. Represents a measured discrepancy betweenaptitude and achievement.

35. Dyslexia represents unusual difficulty with reading May “guess” at reading, using contextual clues Problem may involve auditory processing of sounds Has a huge effect on self esteem Dyslexia

36. Early Education for Dyslexia • Individualized instruction before age 6 often helps minimize the problem • How? By forming new neurological connections, and teaching strategies • Unfortunately, many children don’t receive early intervention

37. Question: Attention Disorders • What do you already know (or what have you heard) about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? ELLEN SENSIS / THE IMAGE WORKS

38. Attention Disorders • ADD and ADHD are both neurological disorders involving difficulty screening out irrelevant stimuli. • Possible causes: abnormality in brain or neurotransmitters, or prenatal damage (teratogens), genetic vulnerability (boys more susceptible), or postnatal damage (lead)

40. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) • Difficulty concentrating • Prone to anxiety and depression • May seem lost in thought, “spaced out” • Increased risk of developing conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder • May also have learning disability in reading or social skills

41. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) • Difficulty concentrating for more than a few minutes at a time: inattentive, impulsive, overactive • Increased risk of developing conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder • May also have learning disability in reading or social skills

42. Treatment of Attention-Deficit Disorders Medication(e.g., Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera) BehavioralModification Training for parents and teachers

43. Educating Children with Special Needs • Leastrestrictive environment (LRE)— legally required school setting that offers children with special needs as much freedom as possible to benefit from the instruction available to other children.

45. Educating Children with Special Needs (cont.) • Children with special needs are guaranteed an IndividualEducation Plan (IEP). • Legal document • It specifies a series of educational goals, and services required

46. Educating Children with Special Needs (cont.) • Mainstreaming—special needs kids in the generalclassroom • Resource Room: separate room with a trainedspecial-educationteacher • Inclusion: child ingeneralclassroom but withparaprofessional

48. Make it Real: Children with Special Needs • Which approach to educating children with special needs to you think is most beneficial to those children, and other children? • Mainstreaming? • Inclusion? • Resource Room?