Background Information
Homer lives at home with both of his parents and his sister August, 10, in a house in Staten Island., NY. Mr. O. works for the New York City Fire Department and Mrs. O. is a stay-at-home mom. While his father is at work, Homer spends most of his time with Mrs. O. He exposed to only English. Mrs. O reported that there was no familial history of developmental delays, but a positive history of communication disorder: Mrs. O’s has three nephews that each received speech therapy.
Medical History
Mrs. O. reported that Homer was born after a full-term pregnancy with no complications and a nine-hour vaginal delivery. Homer passed the Newborn Hearing Screening, Mrs. O, did not remember the APGAR score. Mrs. described Homer as a healthy child who reported no prior hospitalization and no allergies. Vaccinations are reportedly up-to-date.
Developmental Milestones
Homer’s developmental milestones were reported that turned over and sat independently at 6 months, began crawling at 9 months and he took his first steps at 13 months. Mrs. O. said that he produced his first word “Mama” at 11 months.
Motor Development
Gross motor skills. Homer is able to stand on his own and lean over to pick something up and able to do so without falling. He pivots in his seat to reach for a toy or for an object. Homer is able to walk and runs on his own, occasionally falling when running due to tripping over a toy or object.
Fine motor skills. Homer can currently reach, grab, pick up, drop, and push away objects or toys. He is able to pick himself up to climb on a chair or couch. While eating, he has developed the skill to pick up food and feed himself. He is able to hold his bottle and a spoon. He is able to drink from a cup (not sippy cup) without assistance.
Self-help skills. Mrs. O report that Homer cooperates when his diaper is being changed as well as when they dress and undress him by lifting his arms and legs when prompted. His diet was described as mixed, in terms of texture and taste. His favorite foods are rice and beans, as well as baked ziti.
Cognitive Development
During the sessions, Homer displayed awareness of object permanence evidenced by going to grab an iPhone because he knew it was hidden behind a book. When he wanted to be picked up by his mother, he would run to her and raise his arms to indicate that he wanted to be picked up. He showed signs of action on an object, by rolling a car backwards and releasing it so that it moves forward.
According to the Westby play scale, Homer presents with functional play, as he was pushing the toy car back and forth. He displays signs of unoccupied play, as he kept rolling a car back and forth while watching TV. He would press buttons on his toy barn house to hear the song play. Homer presented signs pretend play when he took a toy cup and pretended to drink from it.
Social Development
With familiar people. Mrs. O. reports that Homer is comfortable with familiar people as he displays affection and plays with them.
With unfamiliar people. Homer reportedly used seems uncomfortable with unfamiliar people. He does not cry or does not laugh when he meets unfamiliar people, he just stares.
Speech and Language Development
Speech
Intelligibility. Intelligibility could not be assessed, as Homer is not yet using words to express himself. Phonetic inventory of consonants and vowels. Homer has a limited phonetic inventory. During the observation, Homer produced the following consonants /m/ /b/ /d/ /k/ /j/ /n/ /t/ /z/ and vowels /ɑ/ /u/ /e/ /i/ /ʌ/.
Phonological processes. Only one true word /ka/ for car was produced during the sessions. Mrs. O. reported the production of /mama/ for “mom” and /dɑdɑ/ for “dad” which suggested the presence of reduplication. Voice, resonance & fluency. Voice, resonance and fluency appeared typical for Homer’s age and gender.
Receptive Language. Homer could follow one step context-based directions (i.e. “give me the baby”, while pointing) and understand words when spoken to him by his pointing to various toys when asked where they were. He responds to his name and localizes sounds by turning his head.
Expressive Language
Form. Homer expresses himself by using reduplicated babbling, jargon, fascial expressions and gestures. He imitates various speech sounds and structures, and occasionally uses “mama”, “dada”, “no”, “ka” for car and “baba” for bottle. Homer uses the syllable structures CV, CVC, CVCV, CVCVCV, VCV, and VCVCV.
Content. Analysis of content is not yet relevant, as Homer has not yet developed a lexicon. Use. Homer uses pointing and grunting towards objects he would like to acquire. He hits or cries when he wants to dispute, or if being held, moves his body to describe that he wants to dispute. Homer calls for attention by touching the person he is trying to communicate with accompanied by babbling or yelling.
Conversation and storytelling skills. Conversation and storytelling skills analyses are not applicable yet. Comparison of Languages Observed. Receptively, Homer responds well to English. Mrs. O reported that he understands basic instructions.
Works Cited
- Owens, R. E. (2014). Language disorders: a functional approach to assessment and intervention. Boston: Pearson.
- Westby, C. E. (1980). Assessment of Cognitive and Language Abilities Through Play. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 11(3), 154–168. doi: 10.1044/0161-1461.1103.154
