Jackson is a 6-year-old Caucasian boy in the first grade who has been diagnosed with ADHD. He struggles cognitively and needs extra support in subjects like math, writing, and problem-solving. Socially and physically, Jackson is on track with his peers. He enjoys art and playing with friends but has low self-esteem. With individualized teaching strategies and continued special education services, Jackson is expected to improve academically over time.

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Running head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES PROFILE
Individual Difference Student Profile Essay
Bree Hohnbaum
Instructor: Kae Hamilton
EDUCATION 205: Development/Individual Differences
Tuesday, Thursday, 1:00pm-2:15pm, Fall 2011

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Individual Difference Student Profile Essay
There are many different types of students in the America today; such a diverse
atmosphere is what makes it a great place to live. However, providing a fair and equal education
to all is the hard part for the educators of today. Such a diverse atmosphere requires a diverse
teaching approach. Though it may be a difficult task, the reward for doing a great job educating
each and every individual student will be great. In the following essay I will describe and profile
a student that I have met in my studies and I will touch on general information, physical
development, socio-emotional development, cognitive development, and then summarize and
conclude on my findings.
General Information
Jackson (changed name) is a little boy who is six years old and lives with both his mother
and father. He has a little brother who is about thirteen months old as well. Jackson and his
family are all Caucasian. Jackson likes to play tag at recess (it is his favorite) and he also likes to
play on the playground. He seems to have one close friend, another boy in the class named Jason
(changed name). These two students like to use the buddy system, whenever possible, or
whenever the teacher tells the class that they can pair up for an assignment. Jackson goes to
school in the general education classroom from eight forty-five in the morning, until three fifteen
in the afternoon. Jackson is taken out of class, for testing for about an hour in the afternoon at
about one o’clock in the afternoon and then returns to the classroom. Jackson likes to play video
games with his friends and play with his kitten when he gets home from school.
Physical Development
Jackson is a Caucasian boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. He has a slightly larger
head than most of his other peers and is a little bit shorter than the others as well. His visual

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activity is normal as well as his hearing and his visual field. Jackson also has a good use of
speech. Overall Jackson is healthy this year and has not been out of school for sickness as to
date. Jackson likes to use his right hand when he is using his best cursive and print writing and
he enjoys spending time to make things look pretty.
Jackson likes to participate when it comes to such things as his Physical Education class
and playing outside at recess. His favorite sport is kickball, which his team usually wins at. His
large muscle development seems to be fine as well as his small muscle development. He likes to
cut things out in class, but he takes a long time to do these small muscle tasks. He seems to want
to make them look perfect, but this could also be relating to his disorder as well. It is hard to
tell which one it is at this point in his student career
Cognitive Development
. Jackson is in the first grade at Maple Grove Elementary and his teacher is named Allison
Messersmith. Last year, Jackson received a “Meets Expectations” grade in his Kindergarten
class. Jackson has just started going to the resource room for special education everyday for
about an hour. Jackson goes to the resource room to work on his skills that he needs help with.
These include: Math, Writing, Spelling, and Word Problems. Jackson constantly falls behind his
peers in just about every subject and is on close watch to see if he has something like a Learning
Disability. Jackson constantly needs help from another teacher or volunteer.
As far as academic behaviors are concerned, Jackson is not up to par. Jackson has
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, so he cannot concentrate on a certain thing for more
than about a minute. He constantly needs someone right by his side to keep him on track.
Massed trial teaching seems to work very well with Jackson, and is the best route for him.
Jackson has great communication between himself, his peers, and the teacher in class, and he

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works really hard to be on the same page as the other children. Jackson has high motivation with
low outcomes, but he does try his hardest.
According to Piaget’s cognitive stages of development, Jackson is in the
preoperational stage, in which Jackson makes judgments based on appearance and he also
thinks everyone has the same viewpoints as himself (Berns, 2010). Jackson is a little behind the
others in his cognitive strategies, but he is getting better the more he goes to the resource room
to practice. Math and Science are his worst subjects. He gets so far behind on some assignments
that he has to stay in for recess to finish them sometimes. His language and literacy skills are his
best skills.
Socio-emotional Development
Jackson does not have very many friends. He has his one close friend, another boy from
class, and that is about it. The two are very close and love playing at recess. He does work well
with the other students in his class and he chats a bit with his neighbor, sometimes. Jackson
seems like he is a bit more shy than the rest of the students in his class, but he does not seem to
mind this.
Adults seem easier to talk to when it comes to Jackson. He talks well with his teacher
and the other volunteers that go to his classroom. He chats with his teacher almost more than he
does with his best friend in the class. Jackson is also very close to his mother, and it seems those
two relate to each other more than anyone else. Jackson seems to like adult interaction and adult
help more than he does with his peers.
Jackson is very good at self-regulation, but his self-esteem seems a little low. He is
always the last to line up when the students are leaving the class and he is hard on himself when
he cannot figure out a problem. Jackson frequently says “I cannot do this!” and gives up very

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easily on things. He does not think he is very smart. When asked he says things like “I am too
dumb for this,” and a variety of other answers that are about the same. His self-concept is low as
well and he does not place a very high value on himself. He is often comparing others to himself
and gets frustrated often.
According to Erikson’s Stages on Psychosocial Development, Jackson is on the School
Age: Industry versus Inferiority stage. This stage is where Jackson shows his effort for
producing things. This is seen when he does art projects that he is very proud of. Jackson is
very creative and this is seen through his artwork and with the stories he makes up on occasion
(Berns, 2010).
Summary, Conclusions, and Implications
Jackson, in summary, is a regular first grade boy with an attention problem. There may
be more going on, as stated before, and he might have a Learning Disorder that needs to be
looked at further. Since he is so young and is only in his second year of school, he is still in the
process of getting on an Individualized Education Plan. If he continues to work with the
special education teacher, he will be up on his grade level in no time. There are high
expectations of Jackson and if he gains a little more self-esteem, he will go far in school and in
life in general.
At the general level, Jackson is at a typical level with his peers and likes to exceed. He
does the normal things that his peers are doing. At a physical level, Jackson is also on track. He
loves to play kickball and usually beats his classmates when they go into physical education
class. At the cognitive level, however, Jackson is a bit behind. He doesn’t finish his work on
time and has a hard time concentrating on what the teacher is saying, so he does not learn as well
as he should and often needs things repeated to him. Jackson is on a typical level when it comes

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to socio-emotional things. He likes to hang out with his friend and he seems to be a fairly
chipper student. He is never sad or mad about anything.
Jackson is a great artist, but bad at paying attention. His ADHD does get in the way of
most things he learns, but after they are repeated to him a number of times, he gets it. Jackson
listens to the instructions better if it is told to him in a one-on-one setting. One thing that can
help out Jackson is if, in the classroom, the teacher used some strategies like within-class
grouping, so that Jackson can have better one-on-one time and his peers that he is grouped with
can help him as well. Since the students are in first grade, it is hard for them to grasp that
Jackson needs a little more time, but if he is paired up with one of the gifted and talented
students, he will exceed and learn a lot more. With time, and if the right strategies are used,
Jackson can exceed and achieve great things.

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References
Berns, Roberta M. (2010). Child, Family, School, Community: Socialization and Support. (8th
Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Print.
Taylor, Ronald L., Lydia Ruffner Smiley, and Steve Richards. (2009). Exceptional Students:
Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Print.