Clinical Case Study Nora Kehr Background of Student

Clinical Case Study Nora Kehr

Background of Student • Liam- 4 years old • Hoover Elementary School- Mrs. Allen’s preschool classroom • Struggles with letter recognition • Only able to recognize letter M both in name and in entire alphabet • Started preschool May 2016, continued for 2016 -17 school year and will continue preschool for the 2017 -18 school year • Summer school in 2016 and 2017

Behavior Observations • Positive attitude but still hesitant • Kind and respectful during all sessions • Very active and hard to keep sitting still in a chair for longer than 3 -5 minutes • Let down when unable to identify the letters but had a very positive try-again attitude • i. Pad brought after first few sessions • Helped keep Liam focused for longer • Provided a somewhat multisensory activity for extra practice with letters- very excited

Intervention Observations • Beginning: able to identify one letter M • Mid-Semester: able to now identify two letters L and I; lost M; questioning/guessing A • Late-Mid-End Semester: confidently and correctly identify L, I, and A; still no M by himself • All letters during intervention work were given in name order

Data Graph Liam's Name Letters 4 3, 5 Letters Known 3 2, 5 2 1, 5 1 0, 5 0 -1 1 3 5 7 Sessions 9 11 13 15

Student Response • Positive • Motivation changed from time to time but overall good • Saw his own progress and was very happy with what he was able to do

Recommendations for Teacher • Make plans to be repetitive when going through the letters. Include multisensory approaches for learning as this helps Liam stay more attentive • Provide Liam the opportunity to get off topic for a minute or so every once in a while as Liam is not able to sit through the entire session • Relate the way of teaching to a topic that interests Liam to keep his attention and let him be actively engaged throughout the whole lesson

Recommendations for Parents • Work with Liam each night to help him continuously work towards learning all four letters in his name • Provide positive feedback and encouragement when Liam seems to get frustrated in any way • Use multisensory techniques for practice of letters to keep him motivated toward working for his goal

What I Learned • Working towards the set goal for a student takes time and patience • Students don’t grasp right away, takes time and repetition • Students who can’t sit still really need the multisensory approaches for learning

Conclusion • Intervention successful • Only able to identify letter M at beginning; by end of semester Liam was able to now identify letters L, I, and A • Next step is to confidently learn letter M and be able to then recognize letters out of name order