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PEPSI Screening
Erika Islas
Dr. Ce Isbell
Edu 220-3002
PEPSI Screening 2
Abstract
For this project I got the pleasure to observe a 6-year old boy with autism. I got to observe his
social development and his intellectual development. I have never interacted with any child that has
any type of disabilities so this was very interesting to me. Throughout this paper you will see how
unique this child is compared to ‘typical’ children. I will also introduce the Theory of Mind, and how
Jimmy (the 6 year old boy with autism) highly related to this theory.
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Introduction
The child that I chose to observe is a 6 year old hispanic boy named Jimmy. Jimmy is a young
boy with autism. Jimmy lives with both his parents, unfortunately he has no siblings and becauses of
his autism he cannot have any pets. Jimmy was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada; however both
his parents are Mexican-Americans. His mom was born in Jalisco, Mexico but moved to the United
State when she was about 10 years old and his dad was born in Baja California, but also moved to the
United States when he was young as well. Because Jimmy never grew up with any siblings or cousins
he became very antisocial, he does not like being around other people or animals. He lacks the ability to
talk or speak but he has a very intelligent and bright personality. He doesn't like loud noises.
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Physical Development
Jimmy is 6-years old, and around this time children , according to our textbook Psychology
Applies to Teaching are in this period of “relative calm and predictability in physical development,”
(Snowman, 2012, p.89). What this means is that growth in height and weight are more consistent and
moderate. However in Jimmy’s case, he has been the same weight since he was four. If you look at the
chart (figure 1) you can see that an average 6-year olds weighs 46 pounds. However, Jimmy weighed
approximately 43 pounds since he was 4-years old. His weight is very inconsistent, some days he
weighs more than others. He is not malnourished at all, his parents struggle to make him eat his full
meals three times a day but he has snacks in between, however he is a very picky eater (he loves salty
He is also extremely hyper and full of energy, which is perfect for his age; “Primary grade
children are still extremely active,” ( Snowman, 2012; p. 84). When he’s at home, he loves to run in
the backyard, around the house and in his room. He is fidgety and can’t really stay still in one place. He
loves to play and he could play all day, but he is very selfish and stingy when it comes to his toys and
he doesn't like to share at all with anything or anyone. He doesn’t like to play with anyone as well, he
loves to play on his own and by himself. He is very shy but he is also very affectionate, he loves hugs
he loves to be tickled, which speaks a lot about his household. Just from seeing him laugh, you can tell
he’s very happy in his household. His household must be filled with love, his parents make sure that he
feels love and accepted in his home, his parents overall make sure that he knows that he is loved.
According to raisingchildren.net, 6 year olds are now learning how the body moves, they are
grasping an understanding of their own body and their own strengths. “At this age this stage, children
are typically: able to draw and write with greater control and precision, move in time to the beat or
rhythm of music, ride a two-wheel bike, learn important swimming skills, have better balance and
When it comes to Jimmy, he is not at that stage yet. He is not testing his strengths or body
mobility. He knows how to run, he loves to run but he does not know how to limit himself (in other
words he runs until he’s out of energy and out of breath). Because of the severity of his autism he isn’t
capable of writing, drawing, moving to a beat or rhythm, he is not learning to ride a bike, or go
swimming, but with time and practice and much hope, eventually he will get there.
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Figure 1
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Emotional Development
In the emotional development stage children of age six are starting to connect their feelings with
knowledge; they are starting to understand their emotions. “Students are sensitive to criticism and
ridicule and many have difficulty adjusting to failure” (Snowman, 2012, p. 86). Jimmy on the other
hand, doesn’t do well with emotions. Jimmy finds it very difficult to control his emotions and doesn't
know how to express his emotions freely and openly. Jimmy can’t analyze his own behavior therefore
he can’t distinguish right from wrong. It takes time for him to even understand certain concepts. Jimmy
can only show two different types of emotions: frustration and happiness, there is no in between. When
Jimmy is tired, hungry or frustrated, he yells, screams or cries. You can tell he is happy when laughs
According to pbs.org, children of the age of six children “can express needs and wants in
appropriate ways, but may express self impulsively.” However in Jimmy’s case, he can’t express needs
or wants, because Jimmy can’t communicate using words, Jimmy uses a strange way of
communicating, he starts yelling. Yelling is Jimmy’s way of communicating. Jimmy hates being told
what to do or in other words he hate commands, for example putting his toys away or leaving his
preferred room (the playroom). It’s very challenging to get Jimmy to do something. When he is
demanded to do something, Jimmy starts to scream or cry. When he is frustrated and can’t understand
something, he starts yelling. Frustration leads to terrible emotional behavior. When Jimmy is pushed to
his limits or is extremely frustrated with himself or others, he tends to become violent and throw
tantrums. His acts can range from hitting himself to throwing objects, uncontrollably spitting, or biting.
Jimmy is also sound sensitive meaning any unpleasant sound (like a dog barking, a vacuum or a car
According to raisingchildren.net.au, by age 5-7 years old, children with autism “can recognize
happy and sad, but they have a harder time with subtle expressions of fear and anger. By adolescence,
teenagers with ASD still aren’t as good at recognising fear, anger, surprise and disgust as typically
developing teenagers.” By this we can conclude that Jimmy is right on track in developing emotions.
We can also conclude that it’s going to take a while for him to fully grasp an idea of his feelings but for
now where he stands is good for his emotional development. Figure 2 helps us understand further the
Emotional Development of an Autistic child with that of a typical “normal” child and a “recovered”
child which is a child with highly treated Autism; the numbers on the right are percentages, by age 6 we
can see that a “typical” child almost reaches 40% of understanding their emotions compared to a child
Figure 2
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Philosophical Development
When it comes to a six year olds Philosophical Development, children are learning about rules
and consequences, understanding theft, cheating, lying etc… Children are making their way and
transforming their mind into a reasoning mind; where children are starting to think more logical, this is
the stage where they are learning how to express several of emotions such as embarrassment and guilt
(if they are caught lying or stealing. Jimmy in this development resembles the development of a three
year old. Jimmy is nowhere near understanding emotions of embarrassment or guilt. But just as Jimmy
is nowhere near that, Jimmy is nowhere near stealing, lying or cheating (“Teaching Respect to Self and
Others”). Instead Jimmy s is at a Pre-Moral stage, where Jimmy is not aware of right or wrong but he
somewhat understands and recognizes his parents frustration or anger (when he does something
wrong). Jimmy also shows no way of intentionally doing things, he has no idea of why he does things
Jimmy has his own sense of mind, just like any other child. However, Jimmy is hard to control,
he likes doing what he says and when he says it. He is driven to have everything done his way (much
like the philosophical development of 3 years old). Children also at the age of six are discovering to
ways to “understand that there are different ways to know things and that some ways are better than
others,” (Snowman, 2012, p. 87). However since Jimmy is underdeveloped he needs a constant routine
According to helpguide.org, one of the techniques that help mothers with autistic children is to
provide structure: be consistent, stick to a schedule, reward good behavior and create a home safety
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zone. Jimmy’s mom does exactly that, she is very consistent when it comes to her schedule; she has a
morning routine, lunch/evening routine and a dinner routine. By her kitchen she has a printable visual
schedule where each morning she goes over what they (her and Jimmy) are going to do for that day, on
this printable schedule she has little magnetic stick on cards with activities on the front (a toothbrush, a
sandwich, a hair brush, clothes etc.). She also has a calendar that’s filled with stickers and each day that
Jimmy completes his schedule he gets a sticker, by the end of the month depending on how many
stickers Jimmy gets, he will be rewarded a surprise. Jimmy’s mom has seen that by using the printable
visual schedules, it helped with Jimmy’s inappropriate behaviors, it made him a bit more calm, it also
boosted his self-esteem as well as helping her get a bit more control of Jimmy. As you can see in Figure
3, you can see the yellow line representing the typical Philosophical Development of a 6-year old,
being compared to that development of a 6 year-old Autistic child, that is highly under-developed.
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Figure 3
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Social Development
“Six-year- old children will naturally gravitate toward more independence and will increasingly
begin to focus more on friendships with peers and show interest in adults outside of the family, such as
friends’ parents or teachers,” (Lee, 2018). By the age of six most children don’t need their parents help
with meeting and creating friends. Children may be a little shy and may need a little push but more than
that they probably will not need. However maintaining friends are the problem, children tend to be
bossy as well as selfish; they have issues sharing their toys or just belongings in general. They are also
“reverts” to poor manner, asocial stance and rudeness. Children can be very blunt and say things
Jimmy is much delayed when it comes to his social development, he does not like people.
Jimmy hates interacting with people (even people he knows sometimes). His world revolves around his
toys and his parents. He does not like participating in social activities let alone he does not like social
events/social rooms. He prefers to be by himself and loves to isolate himself. This is completely normal
when dealing with an autistic child, difficulties with social relationships and interactions have been a
challenge with autism. Autistic children prefer to be alone but are attached to their parents. “Kanner’s
(1943) original description of autism suggested that the basis for the social difficulties lay in a child’s
inability to form emotional ties,”(The National Academies Press, 2001). A huge factor that plays a role
with social skills the lack of empathy that autistic children have, they fail to see things through another
perspective. This is where we can connect the Theory of Mind with autism,
“Theory of mind refers to the notion that many autistic individuals do not understand that other people have
their own plans, thoughts, and points of view. Furthermore, it appears that they have difficulty
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understanding other people's beliefs, attitudes, and emotions,” (Edelson, 2018). This is the main reason
why autistic individuals have such a hard time with developing their social skills; they fail to
understand that there are other people revolving around their world, and that these people have feelings,
thoughts and their own perspective. Along with the Theory of Mind, it is also very common for autistic
individuals to get frustrated when they are having difficulty understanding things; which fits Jimmy’s
characteristic perfectly.
In Figure 4 you can see the level of improvements of children with ASD (another term for autism).
Jimmy is classified with high to very high levels of ASD; his improvement is very slow.
Figure 4
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Intellectual Development
Intellectually by the age of six we tend to see that children tend to put what they learn to
practice; meaning we see that children are starting to show and put into place their skills that they have
learned throughout the years. They practice logic by mental imagery to integrate ideas in their daily
tasks. We also tend to see that the attention span increases, they start to enjoy learning, we can see this
through their concentrations of energy when it comes to reading or hand writing, the idea to master
them, we can also see their eagerness to learn more new skills as well as enjoying utilizing the skills
they have previously learned. “Continuing neurological development and limited experience with
formal learning tasks,” (Snowman, 2012 p. 87), children start to recall the techniques that they have
learned.
Jimmy also is much delayed in this portion of his development. He can show progress but he
can’t practice what he learned on his own. He needs someone to push him, he can’t work
independently. His development is between those of a one year old through a three year old. He is
currently learning to use his five senses; he’s learning to understand certain sounds and smells.
According to parentfurther.com, “Your child will become more sophisticated in understanding the
concept of time. They enjoy hearing about times past. By age 6, most children can count to 100.”
Jimmy is on the right track, he is not learning to count to 100 but he is learning to count to 10. He is a
visual learner and he learns by repetition, however he doesn’t need something repeated 3 or 4 times he
needs something to be repeated for about 2 or 3 weeks on-going, every day in order for him to grasp a
certain concepts like counting; also it has to catch his interest, if he isn’t interested in learning he will
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not learn. He will not bother to pay attention to you but if it has to do with him being interested he will
pay attention. The secret to catching his interest is by using things he likes, using his favorite snacks to
count, or using his toys. Something that motivates him and grabs his interest is the way to go.
The intellectual development of an autistic child is also highly connected to the Theory
of Mind, “ individuals with autism or those with milder characteristics may not respond as well to
praise or punishment in the classroom,” (Understanding Minds 2012) because autistic children lack the
Figure 5
PEPSI Screening 16
Recommendations
Physical:
For his physical development I would recommend that Jimmy eats more veggies. I know he is a
very picky eater but maybe integrating more veggies into his diet might help him grow a little.
Emotional :
One recommendation that I suggest for Jimmy’s emotional development is to teach him how to
recognize when he needs a break. You can do this by watching him trying to complete a task, when you
see him get frustrated because he can ‘t complete it or he is having difficulties doing it, say “Jimmy
let’s take a break, let’s go outside and get some air.” Repeating this motion will prevent Jimmy from
having a melt down or throwing a tantrum. This will take Jimmy out of the situation, temporarily until
you feel like Jimmy has calmed down and is ready to continue with whatever he was doing.
Philosophical :
One recommendation that I would suggest is, each time an activity is present to go over your
schedule to remind your child of their routine. For instance, go over the routine before and after, meals,
brushing of the teeth, playing outside etc.. “Ok, Jimmy now that we are done with eating our lunch, lets
go brush our teeth, after we brush our teeth we can go outside and play.” Reminding Jimmy of his
routine, will insure that there is enforced structure around the house and that he is not in command, that
you are.
Social:
One recommendation I suggest is to start introducing more people to Jimmy. Since Jimmy grew
up, basically alone, he is used to being only alone and doesn’t like company, making him very isolated.
I suggest taking him slowly out of his comfort zone, making sure that he knows that he is accepted in a
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social setting. DO NOT bring everyone at once, slowly integrate one or two people at a time, preferably
one.
Intellectual:
One recommendation I suggest for the Intellectual part is to keep up with autistic research. Keep
up with the latest findings by reading news articles, studies, etc.. Keeping up to date with new findings
of autism is highly important because new information is always being presented; thus giving you a
better understanding of your child and autism itself (like understanding exactly what autism is, how it's
References:
Physical:
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Emotional development in children with autism spectrum disorder. (2017 January 1). Raisingchildren.
Retrieved from
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/autism_spectrum_disorder_emotional_development.html
https://www.kidcentraltn.com/article/physical-development-ages-6-7
Emotional:
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/autism_spectrum_disorder_emotional_development.html
Snowman, Jack (2012) Psychology Applied to Teaching. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Social and Emotional Growth. (2013). Pbs. Retrieved on April 13, 2018, from
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/six/socialandemotionalgrowth.html
Philosophical:
disabilities/helping-your-child-with-autism-thrive.htm
Snowman, Jack (2012) Psychology Applied to Teaching. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Social:
https://www.autism.com/understanding_theoryofmind
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social-development-621089
The National Academies Press. (2018) Educating Children with Autism. Retrieved from
https://www.nap.edu/read/10017/chapter/8#68
Intellectual:
6-9-developmental-overview
Snowman, Jack (2012) Psychology Applied to Teaching. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Understanding Minds. ( 2012 January 27). Some of the Cognitive Characteristics in the Autism Spectrum
the-autism-spectrum/