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Observation Assignment
Kaitlin R. Billeisen
Liberty University
PSYC221
Amy Conner
5/12/2023
Observation Assignment
I spent an hour observing a male 3-year-old child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The child whom I observed is the son of my cousins. I set up a time to accommodate the family's
schedule for my observation. Furthermore, I ensured I worked in the natural environment at the
family's home. The family consists of the mother, father, the observee, and his newborn baby
brother. The main areas I focused on observing were the child's physical, cognitive, and
psychosocial development and how they were affected by his environment.
Physical Development
My participant lives on a farm that does not lack any sort of fun. Most of the observation
was spent outside watching the child play with his toys. It’s to be noted that the participant has
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ASD, “a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social
communication and interaction, and restricted repetitive behaviors and interests” (Thomas et al.,
2019, p.1). The client receives at-home/ in-clinic ABA therapy each week, so although he has
ASD, he is very high functioning in communicating his needs and opinions to others.
Immediately when we stepped outside, the client wanted to ride his bike around the driveway,
asking anyone near to play “police-man and Fireman” with him. His parents told me they never
have to try and convince the participant to go outside and play. When he wakes up, he is ready to
run around outside. Since children ages 3-6 have profound advances in motor development
(Martorell, 2022, p. 172), I observed the participant's fine gross and motor development. He
seemed to have no delays in his motor development. He would run around, jump in puddles, and
do bear crawls. His gross motor development also did not seem to have any delays. During a
cool-down time from outside, the participant played with legos in his playroom, building houses
and trucks. The participant never asked for assistance building his items; he knew precisely
where to put each piece naturally.
Cognitive Development
Children who have ASD can sometimes have difficulties like anxiety, depression, and
challenging behaviors (Chimpen-Lopez et al., 2022, p.3). The participant did not seem to
struggle with any challenging difficulties or behaviors. During the observation, I found that the
participant's object permanence was intact and did not seem to have any delays. If he would a toy
and it went out of sight, he would search for the item until he found it. If his mom or dad were
not in front of or next to him, he wouldn't panic or react since he knew they were always near,
even if they were not directly in front of him. He also enjoyed imitating his parent's behaviors; if
he saw his mom take a sip from her drink, he would look for his cup and proceed to take a sip.
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When his father would work on his truck in the garage, the participant would find his play tools
and pretend to fix his toy cars. The participant's information processing was above average for
his age. Since the participant lives on a farm with his parents, he is around many animals; during
the observation, he would categorize all the farm animals, telling me where each one lived and
the sounds they made. He also understood that he was a child by comparing himself to the
likeness of his newborn brother, calling them both “little boys and babies.”
Psychosocial Development
Children with ASD can struggle with social competence, which can cause an individual
with ASD to struggle to make peer relationships (Hume et al., 2019, p.1). There was a time
during the observation when the participant was playing cops with his father. The dad told him
that he was going to be a cop and that the participant was going to be the bad guy. As the dad
chased the participant around the yard, the participant laughed and screamed. When the dad
caught him, the participant did not show any undesirable behaviors like crying or yelling and
remained laughing, asking his dad to catch him again. The parents treat their son as if he does not
have ASD. Throughout the observation, the parents were very good at communicating with the
participant in ways he would understand without disrespecting him as a child with a disability.
Since the participant had a newborn brother, I was eager to observe their family dynamic.
Children's relationships with their siblings are considered one of the most extended relationships
someone will have during their lifetime (Brinkman et al., 2022, p.2). The participant appeared to
be in awe of his baby brother; when the mother would hold him outside, the participant would
rough play near the mother. During the observation, he asked if he could hold his brother, and as
he held him, he would speak quietly. It appeared he understood he was the baby brother who was
too young to defend himself. During a time outside, a bee was flying around, and he told his
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baby brother and mom to watch out as he began to try and bat the bee with a toy helicopter.
Throughout the session, the participant appeared to have a clear understanding of appropriate
behaviors to display due to the outside help of ABA therapy and his parents using positive and
negative reinforcements in the natural environment. During a part of our session, the participant
began to cry when his mother could join in for a game of tag; as the participant began to whine
and show undesirable behaviors, she ignored the whining and only reinforced the desired
behavior when it was presented.
Biblical Integration
Since children are a gift from God, they should be treated and valued as
precious gifts. Proverbs say, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and even then he
will not depart from it” ( Proverbs 22:6, English Standard Version). Caretakers will be
the first influence that will leave a mark on an individual; that being said, parents should
raise their child to know the Father, not because they have to, but because of His
goodness. Jesus should be a part of all areas of the family structure. His teachings and
how he treated people should be modeled; that way, children can be raised with the armor
of God and be ready for all that is a part of the narrow road.
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References
Brinkman, A. H., Barry, T. D., & Lindsey, R. A. (2022). The Relation of Parental
Expressed Emotion, Parental Affiliate Stigma, and Typically-developing Sibling
Internalizing Behavior in Families with a Child with ASD, 13.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05760-3
Chimpen-Lopez, C. A., Andres-Garriz, C., & Pretel-Luque, T. (2022). Narrative
Practices for Children with ASD: Hey! My Therapist Has an Imaginary Friend and
Other Anti-tantrum Practices, 13. doi: 10.1002/anzf.1489
The Holy Bible. (2006). Crossway Bibles.
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Hume, K., Sam, A., Mokrova, I., & Reszka, S. (2019). Facilitating Social Interactions
With Peers in Specialized Early Childhood Settings for Young Children With ASD, 11.
10.17105/SPR-2017-0134.V48-2
Martorell, G. (2022). Child. McGraw Hill Education.
Thomas, S., Hinkley, T., Barnett, L. M., May, T., & Rinehart, N. (2019). Young Children
with ASD Participate in the Same Level of Physical Activity as Children Without ASD:
Implications for Early Intervention to Maintain Good Health, 13.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04026-9
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