Highland Park High School, Twp. H.S.

District 113
433 Vine Avenue, Highland Park, IL 60035

CONFIDENTIAL – RESTRICTED ACCESS

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY

Student Name: Joshua Brok Date of Birth: 12/14/2008

Class Year: 09

Address: 1141 Wade Street, Highland Park, IL 60035

Telephone: (224)300-3525
Mother’s Cell #: (312)961-3858
Father’s Cell #: (312)404-3773

Parent/s: Jana and Jorden Brok Resides with: Both parents

Primary Language/Other languages spoken in the home: English

Counselor: Pablo Alvarez

Person Interviewed: Jana and Jorden Brok Date of Report: 2/5/24

FAMILY BACKGROUND/UPDATE

Household Composition: Joshua resides with his mother, Jana Brok (age 47), his
father, Jorden Brok (age 51), and his sister, Coco Brok (age 17). He also has a dog as a
pet.

Relationships:
Joshua describes his relationships with his parents and sister as a positive one. His
parents report that he interacts with his sister as though she is a close peer. According to
Joshua, growing up he and his sister had some challenges with getting along, just as
any typical sibling pair would, but over time they began to enjoy one another’s presence.
Joshua has not had any other adult play a significant role in his life and how he was
raised. Joshua’s parents are married and maintain a healthy relationship.

Significant Family Stressors:

Mr. and Mrs. Brok reported that there have not been any significant family stressors,
such as deaths in the family or divorce. Joshua was diagnosed with Chron’s Disease,
which caused significant stress for Joshua growing up. His parents reported that it
changed his life in many ways. Joshua’s father shared that Joshua experienced
anticipatory stress before being diagnosed because he didn’t know what was going on
with him. His parents also experienced stress as a result of the testing and diagnosis of
Chron’s Disease. Parents reported that the process consisted of many tests involving
Joshua’s eating habits and general food intake. As a result of this, he suffered from low
energy levels. Now that he is on Humira, his immune system is compromised and
Joshua can become very sick. Parents also reported that a part of Joshua’s identity was
rooted in basketball, but because of his diagnosis, he stopped playing. Parents also
shared that Joshua is now in a position to accept his diagnosis.

MEDICAL/DEVELOPMENTAL UPDATE
Joshua’s mother reported no complications with her pregnancy and delivery of Joshua.
She shared that Joshua met all developmental milestones appropriately. The only
medical concern noted is that of Joshua’s Chron’s Disease. Joshua takes Humira
everyday to control the symptoms of Chron’s. His immune system is compromised due
to the Humira, which can cause him to become ill often and more easily. Joshua passed
his hearing and vision test on 2/5/24.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Prior to attending Highland Park High School, Joshua began his high school career at
Rochelle Zell Jewish High School, a private high school, where his parents reported that
he did not receive enough support to help him with his academic challenges. Mom
reported that after Joshua experienced challenges in middle school, they enrolled him in
a private school feeling that there would be more hands-on support than at the public
high school, however, they felt that was not the case.

In middle school (5/19/22), Joshua was evaluated by Dr. Jeffrey O’Koon, and received a
diagnosis of Specific Learning Disorder with an impairment in the area of math. At that
time, he was also diagnosed with Other Specified Anxiety Disorder and Developmental
Coordination Disorder. Additionally, he was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
(IBD), called Chron’s Disease. Dr. Jeffery O’Koon stated that his math disorder impacts
his ability to initiate and sustain task completion, retain concepts, and demonstrate
consistent knowledge on both assessments and assignments. It is recorded that the
other diagnosis do not impact his academic performance.

Thus far this school year, Joshua had 9 unexcused period absences, 63 excused period
absences, and 16 tardies. He has received three behavioral infractions, all of which
occurred as a result of ongoing tardiness to class. Joshua passed all of his classes in the
first semester. Two of his grades, Algebra 1 and Physics were in the “D” range.
Currently, Joshua is failing two classes.

Parents report that Joshua doesn’t devote much time to doing homework at home, aside
from with a tutor that the family hired, who he sees twice a week. Joshua has had a tutor
since the beginning of high school and they support him with executive functioning.
Parents reported that Joshua’s general feelings about school are negative. He feels
consistently discouraged and anxious, according to his parents. Joshua reported that he
has mixed emotions about school. He gets along with peers and staff, but finds school to
be very hard. He reports that his most challenging classes are Physics and Math.

Grades 1st Semester, grade 09

1. Algebra 1: D+
2. English 1: B-
3. Freshman PE: A-
4. Intro to Business: B
5. Patterns in World History: C
6. Physics: D
7. Reading 1: B
Current grades (2nd semester), grade 09
1. Algebra 1: A-
2. English 1: No grade
3. Freshman PE: F
4. Intro to Business: No grade
5. Patterns in World History: A
6. Physics: F

ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR

School Environment: When Joshua began high school at Rochelle Zell Jewish High
School, he experienced many challenges paired with what Joshua and parents shared
as minimal support. Upon transferring to Highland Park High School 6 weeks into the
school year, he began to have a better experience. Both Joshua and parents still
reported that Joshua has many negative feelings towards school. Joshua feels that
school is very hard and parents share that Joshua is worried about how he is perceived
in school based on those challenges. Joshua is able to initiate and maintain positive
relationships with both peers and staff. He has established a very meaningful
relationship with his guidance counselor, who parents report as extremely helpful for
Joshua. He is not involved in any extracurricular activities at school. Joshua does not
exhibit any behavioral concerns at school.

Home/Community Environment: Joshua reports that he feels accepted by his

community. He has established strong peer relationships that he maintains in and
outside of school. His parents also shared that Joshua’s ability to connect with people,
peers especially, is evident and one of his major strengths. Joshua used to play
basketball in the community, but has since stopped playing. He hopes to play at some
point again in his life. He is not involved in any other community and school clubs or
extracurriculars. Joshua reports that his daily routine after school is to go home, play
Fortnite with his friends, do some school work and get to bed by around 11 p.m. He
wants to go to sleep earlier, but struggles to do so. Mrs. Brok reports that she guides
Joshua through a lot of the responsibilities and tasks he has at home. She wakes him up
for school, gets his backpack together for him, and makes sure he has everything he
needs. She admits that she doesn’t provide him a lot of space to do it himself and
naturally does it for him. Parents shared that Joshua is a great cook and sometimes
prepares his own meals. Joshua and his parents shared that he really values his
appearance and focuses on his personal hygiene and style.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL RISK FACTORS

History of Trauma: None reported

Substance Use: None reported

Community Conduct Issues: None reported

Significant Behavior or Mood Changes: None reported

MENTAL HEALTH HISTORY

Community-Based Mental Health Treatment: Joshua sees a therapist once a week and
had only seen her a handful of times before switching to a different provider named Dr.
Adam Levin, Psy.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist.

Specific Disorder (formally diagnosed): Other Specified Anxiety Disorder (Dates of

evaluation January/February 2022)

Medication: Humira

Agency/Therapist/M.D.: He met with Meg Hoffman, LCSW, and then switched to Dr.
Adam Levin, Psy.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist (847-525-2457) via Zoom each
week.

SUMMARY
Joshua is a 15-year-old freshman currently enrolled at Highland Park High School. He
resides in a home with his mother, father, sister, and a family dog. Joshua has lived in
the same house his entire life and feels a sense of belonging in his community. He has
strong peer relationships which he maintains in and out of school. Joshua has struggled
in school, especially in the area of math, which impacts his performance in classes that
require math skills, such as physics. He requires significant support and
accommodations from teachers in order to be successful in his classes. He benefits from
complex tasks being broken down into smaller parts, re-teaching concepts to increase
understanding, explicit instruction and repeated practice in math problem-solving and
calculation related to multiplication and division, as well as small group testing when
requested. He was diagnosed by Dr. Jeffrey O’Koon, Ph.D., with a Specific Learning
Disorder with an impairment in math, an Other Specified Anxiety Disorder, a
Developmental Coordination Disorder, and an Inflammatory Bowel Disease called
Chron’s Disease. He and his family expressed that other than the Specific Learning
Disorder in the area of math and his Other Specified Anxiety Disorder, these diagnoses
do not have much impact on his performance in school. Parents reported that the
thoughts of how others perceive Joshua involving his struggles cause him a great deal of
anxiety. He benefits from a predictable routine and schedule to decrease his anxiety,
breaking large tasks into smaller parts due to his ability to get overwhelmed and
distracted, as well as the development of coping strategies in order to help Joshua when
he is feeling anxious. He also sees a therapist weekly outside of school to address these
areas. Joshua does not present with behavioral concerns and has appropriate school
attendance this year. Given this information, Joshua may benefit from school-based
social work support. All decisions regarding placement and services will be discussed
and decided at Joshua’s multidisciplinary conference.

Maggie McCabe
School Social Work Intern