Case Study
Aisha is 3 and lives with her parents who are both profoundly deaf. You have just begun working in the pre-school room and during an informal observation of a small group of children you realise that Aisha says very little compared to her peers and when she does speak it is usually just single words.
You mention your observation to the room leader who says that Aisha is just shy.
- Do you think that Aisha’s behaviour falls within the expected range for her age?
- What effect might Aisha’s home situation have on her emergent language, communication, and literacy development?
- What steps could you suggest for:
- identifying whether there is a problem in Aisha’s development?
- helping Aisha’s parents to support her emergent skills?
It is rare that there is just one way to respond to a scenario or situation, so do not consider that the responses you have to the above scenario will be judged as right or wrong. Share your scenario with a work colleague or friend and ask them to tell you whether they think you have responded appropriately. Ask them to challenge your response if necessary. You do not need to submit this task for assessment unless asked to do so by your assessor.
