LD303 Child’s Profile - Case Study

Introduction

This portfolio is about a 4-year-old boy from English as a second language (ESL) background. It details all the important and relevant information about him to help the main stakeholders – his parents, teachers, paediatrician and therapists – to understand the case objectively and from various developmental perspectives. 

Child Name: Wang Chia-Hao

Nicknames: Charlie (to facilitate his smooth preschool integration and making it easier for people to call him there)

Gender: Male

Date of birth: 21st August 2015

Family name: Wang Chun-Chieh (father), Zhi Ruo (mother)

Date of report: 20th September 2019

Name of person completing: [to be filled]

Family structure: Chia-Hao lives with his mother, grandparents and siblings. His father died in a road accident in 2016 when Chia-Hao was still an infant. He has a brother and sister, aged 8 years and 6 years, respectively. They had a pet dog, who died last year.

Place of birth: Keelung, Taiwan

Languages spoken: Chia-Hao’s mother can fluently speak Chinese, Taiwanese Mandarin and English, but his grandparents only speak Chinese and Taiwanese Mandarin. His siblings are fluent in English and speak a bit of Chinese when talking to their grandparents.

Cultural background / Religion: The Taiwanese people are primarily driven by the philosophical tenets of Confucianism and are followers of the Buddhist religion. About 185 million of the country’s people have their faith in Buddhism (Travel China Guide, 2019). The country has a rich culture in music, painting, sculpture and other arts. The Chinese value duty, politeness, seniority, loyalty, piety, respect for others, honour, collective decisions, etc. (Commisceo Global, n.d.). Coming from this collectivist culture, Chia-Hao is comfortable working and being in groups. He is obedient and respectful of teachers and his peers. However, in terms of communication, he has problems with brevity. The Chinese culture prefers clear, elaborate messages. Coming from that, Chia-Hao becomes anxious and nervous in direct communication settings where brevity is valued. The Taiwanese are also very active, athletic and hardworking people (The Fact File, 2019). They value education and kids study a lot.

Favourite toy: Chia-Hao is very fond of his toy robot, which he has named Robo. He creates a world of fantasy with Robo and loves to carry it everywhere he goes.

Health / Medication / Allergies: 4 year old Chia-Hao is an otherwise healthy child with no known allergies or chronic health problems requiring medication; however, his parents and few teachers had pointed out that he has clumsy movements and awkward motor skills. He had been recently diagnosed as a case of developmental coordination disorder (DCD), a condition where children have predominant motor difficulty or fail to acquire both fine and gross physical movements, as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) (Nelson, 2017). This condition can affect a child’s social skills, attention span, reading skills and spelling capabilities (Lingam, et. al., 2010).