Running head: TIM CASE STUDY 1

Kristen Weaver

College of Western Idaho

Professor Natalie Tau

EDUC-230-Intro to Special Education

Spring 2021
TIM CASE STUDY 2

General Description

Tim is a fourth-grade student. After observing Tim in class and speaking with his parents,

there does not seem to be any physical barriers disrupting him in school. Tim’s parents explained

their desire for him to participate in extracurricular activities, especially in athletics as he is

healthy and capable of joining a club or team. Despite their encouragement, Tim chooses to

continue with his personal interests of reading and using his computer at home. His parents also

mention that this behavior is usual for Tim, since he has always preferred to spend his time

alone. So far, the behavior Tim is showing in class does not seem to be related to any changes

occurring at home. His parents both have stated that everything has been fairly consistent within

their daily lives.

Strengths and Needs

In general, Tim is doing really well with his assignments and puts much effort into his

work. However, he does show an issue with perfectionism that sometimes discourages or

frustrates him when he happens to make a mistake on his homework. Being in grade four, Tim

has proven to be an advanced reader. He is reading at the high school level and spends a large

portion of his free time with a book. Along with reading, Tim also writes well and knows a lot

about using computers. While Time has his hobbies, he does not branch out or talk to others. He

seems to struggle interacting with his peers at school and turns to reading to avoid his

classmates. In order to help Tim this school year, the main area of focus should be on helping

him get more comfortable socializing with his peers and redirecting his thinking to learn from his

mistakes rather than focusing on what he did wrong.

TIM CASE STUDY 3

Behavior

During class, Tim is very focused and productive when working individually but gets

very overwhelmed when working in groups. When he does not get his way, it leads to him

lashing out and interrupting the entire class. These outbursts consist of things like various items

being thrown and shouting at his classmates. Along with his outbursts, Tim has not been seen

interacting with his peers on the playground. Instead, he is found in the library reading. After

talking with other staff members, they state that they notice Tim keeping his distance from other

kids, and they are surprised he does not have any close friends this far into the school year. A

possible explanation for Tim’s behavior is how he may believe his interests don’t align with his

peers. He may also feel like his classmates do not respect him enough to hear what he has to say.

Because he struggles to get their attention, it would make sense that he gets frustrated or feels the

need to isolate himself.

These experiences have had a more negative affect on Tim and his ability to develop

close relationships with others. According to Erik Erikson’s eight stages of development Tim’s

strengths and weaknesses could place him in two stages. Tim may be in both the industry vs.

inferiority stage and the intimacy vs. isolation stage. During the industry vs. inferiority stage, one

has a clear understanding of their interests and responds to the feedback of the adults and peers

in their life. Tim is aware of his skills, but they may not mean anything to him if he cannot get

the approval that he wants from other people. The intimacy vs. isolation stage is about

commitment and the ability to connect with people. Because the majority of Tim’s struggles are

based on his inability to communicate and bond with new people, he feels the need to shut

himself out or act out in anger (2017).

TIM CASE STUDY 4

Strategies Suggestions

After observing Tim and discussing his behavior with his parents and other staff

members, it would be most beneficial to implement a few accommodations and some new

learning strategies. My first suggestion for him would be to incorporate a way to track progress.

An effective way to do this is by having Tim make goals for himself and write down habits to

apply in order to reach the goals. These goals can be as simple as keeping his backpack

organized. The idea is that he learns to accept mistakes and learn from them, he can do this by

tallying how many times he follows through with a habit. He will find that he’s going to slip up

every once in a while, but more importantly he will learn how to improve himself by finding

more effective ways to reach his goals. Along with tracking progress, I think it would be good to

allow him time to reflect before the end of class. The reflections could be written or oral.

Hopefully, this time of reflection will help him gain more self-awareness in personal growth as

well as helping him cope with whatever negative feelings he may have.

My other suggestions for him would be a new seating arrangement every couple of weeks

along with jigsaw learning. Frequently giving Tim a new seating arrangement may help discover

who in his class he gets more along with than others. If there happens to be someone he connects

with, he can stay near them in order develop a deeper bond with that person. This will also help

to make sure he’s not around a classmate that will upset him. I think jigsaw learning would be a

good strategy because each of the students must learn a certain topic and share what they learned

in order to complete their work. This will give Tim an opportunity to demonstrate his skills to his

peers and be heard by them. Because he has a piece of information they need, his classmates will

have to listen to him and give him a chance to talk.

TIM CASE STUDY 5

My final recommendation to help Tim would be to decide on a code word or phrase to

say to his teacher when has an issue with his peers. I believe part of the reason he acts out is

because he doesn’t know how to properly express his frustration. Giving him a word or phrase

will provide some guidance as well as help his teacher to understand when to step in if his peers

are talking over him or not listening.

 TIM CASE STUDY 6

References

8 stages of development by Erik Erikson [Video file]. (2017, April 23). Retrieved May 11, 2021,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYCBdZLCDBQ