Running head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE 1

Individual Differences Profile

Mailea Huber

Professor Samra Culum

Developmental/ Individual Differences

Spring 2020
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE 2

Individual Differences Profile

Introduction

August Pullman, born with facial deformities, struggles to assimilate to public school while

prematurely battling self-esteem and self-identification challenges, but is courageous and

determined to be accepted.

General Information

August Pullman is a Caucasian ten-year-old student at Beecher Prep Middle School in

New York. He has lived in New York his whole life with his mother, father, older sister, and

their dog, Daisy. Throughout the week, he begins his day at home with his family who then

usually walks him to school around 8am. During the school day, seeing as though he is in middle

school, August sees various teachers depending on the subject of the class. Each class has

approximately 20-30 students that change every period. In the beginning of his transition from

homeschool to public school, August usually sat alone while eating a lunch his parents had

packed for him that morning. However, as he grew and developed friendships, his friends would

join him in eating lunch. Once school finishes around 3 pm, some, if not all, members of his

family walk him home from school. Once being home, August does his homework, chores, plays

video games, and watches a movie with his family. Since he is high functioning, there is nothing

that deems him incapable of helping around the house and participating in activities common for

his age.

Physical Development

Due to Treacher Collins and a hemifacial microsomia, August has visible facial

deformities. His eyes droop, he has scars covering the majority of his face, he has a cleft palate,

and he has no eyebrows or eyelashes. He has brown eyes and light brown hair. In the beginning
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE 3

of his transition, he had a braid, inspired by the Star Wars series, that went down to his

shoulders, but due to schoolyard bullying he later cuts it off. He has yet to go through puberty

and any real physical maturation which explains why he is smaller than the average fifth grade

boy and why is voice is a bit higher pitch. Considering the student’s physical challenges, muscle

development is slower than the average kid as well. However, despite his history of surgeries, he

is considerably healthy. The student lacks any real interest in sports but participates in gym class

and walks to and from school with his family allowing him to be generally active for a fifth

grade boy. He has home cooked meals everyday and packed lunches portraying he lives a

healthy lifestyle.

Cognitive Development

August Pullman was homeschooled, by his mother, up until his fifth grade year. His

parents then decided to enroll him in a local public middle school. He does well in all subjects,

but excels in science. He does not require any special attention in regards to academics, in fact he

generally helps his peers in understanding the content. Besides the average help a parent

provides for their fifth grader, August is independent in his learning. He is an active learner and

has a profound curiosity and interest in science and space. The curiosity the student has for this

subject allows him to retain the information and participate actively in class. His knowledge and

creativity is demonstrated through the science fairs, experiments, and projects. He responds

accurately and logically to challenging questions regarding language and literacy.

Socio-emotional Development

In the beginning of the student’s transition from home school to public school, the

student had little to no interaction with peers. He thought the other students would ridicule the

way he ate, talked or looked. He feared that students would be his friend due to pity for his facial
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE 4

deformity, instead of his captivating qualities. Soon following his transition, one boy, in

particular, became his friend which sparked the interest of other students. August, in comfortable

situations, demonstrated his humor and wit which strengthened his friendships with his peers.

Similar to his interactions with his peers, this student feared that adults would give him special

treatment or accommodations solely due to his challenges, not realizing that he was academically

above average.

In the beginning of the observation, this student seemed shy and timid to answer

questions for all subjects excluding science. In the science field, this student participated actively

showing his profound understanding of a difficult subject at the fifth grade level. Student is very

humble about his academic knowledge. This student struggles with self-esteem which is not

helped by the schoolyard bullying that takes place throughout his first public school year.

However, as the student makes friends and builds on those relationships, his self-esteem

gradually grows and he becomes more confident of his self identification. Due to the physical

challenges that this student faces, he was more aware of his emotions and emotional

development than that of the average adolescent. He was able to feel certain emotions more

deeply than that of his peers which allowed his emotional development to mature more rapidly.

The insecurities that this student’s faces are similar (to an extent) to that of teen development

which alludes to the idea that this student is maturing faster than his peers.

Summary of Major Findings

A young fifth grade boy struggles while prematurely dealing with self-identification and

self-esteem challenges and attempting to assimilate to public school settings. As this student

builds stronger relationships with and is more accepted by his peers, he becomes more aware and

confident of himself. Student desires genuine acceptance and struggles with feeling inferior to
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE 5

peers and adults. He discovers how to cope and overcome new social situations and academic

demands. Ultimately, this student succeeds which leads to new sense of competence and stronger

views of self-identification. (Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development). Student has

physical facial deformities. This student’s cognitive development is more mature than others his

age due to the traumatic situations experienced earlier in his childhood. Forced to cope with the

stress of new social situations allow this student to experience cognitive thoughts and concepts

earlier than the average fifth grader. Academically gifted, this student discovers his intelligence,

humor, and wit allow others to be more accepting towards him. Self-identification challenges

stem from the idea that the student originally feels ostracized from his peers due to his physical

appearance. Even as student is more accepted throughout the community, he feels as though his

friend group is a group of misfits rather than an average group of fifth grade students.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE 6

Works Cited

Berk, L.E., & Meyers, A.B. (2016). Infants, children, and adolescents. Boston: Pearson.