Running head: INDIVIDUAL DIFFRENCES PROFILE 1

Individual Differences Profile Essay

Fleming, Madeleine

Instructor: Dr. Egbert

Education 205: Developmental Differences

Individual Differences Profile Essay

All children and people are different. They have physical, cognitive, and cultural

differences. This student has many differences socially and cognitively, I will discuss the

physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of the student in this essay. As well

as a summary of my findings and their implications to help in the future.

General Information

Marquis is twenty-two years old and of Caucasian ethnicity. He lived with his

step mom, dad, twin sister, younger sister, and littlest brother until he recently moved. His

twin sister is 22, his younger adopted sister on his step moms’ side is 16 and his youngest

half-brother is 7. Marquis daily routine consists of him going to his landscape job which

he has been working for on and off for 4 years. The boss of this landscape job is his

biologicals moms’ good friend. Marquis biological mom died when he was 11 from an

unknown sudden cause. Marquis is the one that found her, she was brain dead for a week

before the family let her go. Throughout marquis public schooling he was on an IEP.

When marquis isn’t working, he enjoys the outdoors and dirt biking, he is a very social

person and enjoys the company of others.

Physical Development

The physical description of Marquis is as follows: he has brown hair; hazel eyes;

and tan white skin. He also has a light brown birthmark on his upper right peck.

Marquises physical maturation is the same as those of people his age. He is about 6’2 and

weighs 195 pounds.

The general physical health of the man is good. Marquis works in activities that

promote physical fitness. Some of his favorite activities are swimming, bicycling, and
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hiking, He also loves to hunt. He is ambidextrous but is prominently right handed, and his

large muscle development is normal for a twenty-two-year-old, meaning he is able to run,

jump, and lift as most grown men can. The student’s small muscle development is also

consistent with people in his age group. In that, he can use a microscope, which requires

good hand-eye coordination, and also has fair keyboarding skills. He does suffer a form

of tremor which causes him to twitch when doing small tasks and concentration. He calls

it the glitch and his little brother has it too. It causes his mouth muscles to move oddly

when he concentrates, and it also causes him to have issues holding anything steady or

still.

Cognitive Development

The person is in twenty-two but I put his placement mentally at a 9th grader.

He is not currently taking any classes, nor does he have any college background. He is

best in math skills. He lacks greatly in literature and English skills. He cannot spell

simple words and he says sentences in an incorrect social manner. His self-regulation is

fair; he can stay on task, complete assignments, and keep focused with help. He has been

diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. He has a very poor attention span, when he is

interested in what is being taught, he does better but still fidgets. He has a hard time

listening for long periods of time and staying quiet. He accidentally interrupts after 5

minutes or less. He is not on any medication for his ADD and ADHD. The student is

motivated for people he loves and the outcome he hopes for. He works hard at work and

is a lead position on the landscape team business. He stays productive and can lead a

group of other men on a job. He has gotten more responsible in this sense. I was able to

make this determination. His level of hypnotizing is low for his age, when I asked him
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what would happen if there was no sun he responded with “it would be dark, and nothing

could grow” He also stated “we would have to have light on all the time”. At his age level

a normal response would be the cold factor but that didn’t even cross his mind. He has

issues with Socio-emotional Development, you can tell that his social cues are off and

his social interaction is awkward. He has a hard time following a conversation in a clear

transition of topics. His brain just skipped over things. He is very immature for his age

group and he expresses his anger through lies. He has a emotional link to lying. Every

time he feels in a tight uncomfortable situation or nervousness, jealousy or anger he

expresses it through a lie of some sort. When you call him on the lie, he switches what he

meant and tries to cover it or move to a different topic or explanation of his meaning he

was going for.

The student is able to interact with his peers and is very funny and outgoing with

his existing friends. When it comes to making new friendships, he is confident and has a

easy time talking to new people. He is able to interact with adults comfortably and is not

shy around them. The way Marquis talks, acts, and carries himself demonstrates that he

has a very high self-esteem (what he thinks of himself) and a fair self-concept

(comfortable with his identity as a person). He has already passed the stage, where he

has concerns about physical appearances that include clothing, hairstyles, ways of

walking, and ways of dressing. Marquis is comfortable with himself after years of

bullying in school marquis is confident and almost coky. He is strong and doesn’t care

what anyone thinks of him.

He can tell what is right and wrong but suffers trust issues and bad habits caused by his

family ways. His language also consists of the word “fricking” in almost every other
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sentence when telling stories. His mental ability is less than a regular 22-year-old man

and his maturity is younger as well. Marquis has ideas that of a 11-year-old boy would

have. His mental maturity seems to be younger than his age and his social abilities are

lacking. Marquis is learning and growing slowly but is unsure of the changes bing pushed

on him for his own good. He has comprehension issues that are very visible in everyday

life.

Summary, Conclusions and Implication

The summary of the major findings of this data collection is that the student is a

normal, well adjusted, twenty-two-year-old. He is not performing at all of the

appropriate stages of development for his age group. In a positive addition, he has a

wonderful sense of self and can interact with others with confidence and semi appropriate

behaviors.

The conclusions of this data collection show that Marquis is behind his age

groups development. In that, his general development has slowed down in pace with his

age. His physical development is not impeded in any way and he does have a slight

inability with small and large muscle movements, the form of tremors (his glitch) affects

his muscle movements but not size or functionality, he was in sports throughout high

school and is very physically capable. He is not yet at the correct cognitive stage for his

age group and is unable to use hypothetical, analogical, and deductive reasoning and

thinking appropriately, he is improving over time though. Marquis stage of socio-

emotional development is less than his peers and comes off as more awkward and

scattered thought, lie and action through his emotion. He is able to make moral decisions

based on the rules of right and wrong but is somewhat unsure at times.
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Marquis’s strengths are in math and science and he is a very very kind and

outgoing child, even with unfamiliar peers. With his level of cognitive development, he is

capable of abstract thinking and this process can bring out his strength in creativity

(original thought). He has a very easy time coming up with any creative thought, he is a

dreamer and often has goals that are unreachable for his situations. He does have some

serious trouble with English and literature and could use some assistance in improving

his verbal and literature skills. His glitch does not create a problem. His high blood

pressure is more of a problem than his glitch. Marquis’s strengths in math and in his

ability to get along with others will allow him to keep progressing continuously. And is

also the reason he has progressed through life so far. Importantly, there is not another

barrier limiting his ability to be academic that I know of.

There are several learning strategies that would best support Marquis’s learning

and development. The best teaching method that would help marquis is hands on and

interactive activity. He needs to see examples and interact with a teacher throughout his

learning. He needs the 1 on 1 interaction. He would also benefit from regular brain breaks

and energy movements. A diagnostic assessment would determine his strengths and

weakness, so instruction can be skill appropriate, this would be helpful. The approach to

teaching allows the student to make continuous progress and to be challenged daily.

Teaching strategies for Marquis would allow authentic assessments such as hand on

projects, or group assignments. This approach is where teaching and learning is based

upon the child’s strengths and abilities, so he learns using his preferred way of learning

(i.e. visual, auditory, hands-on; etc.) hands on in his case.

In conclusion, no two people are just the same, we are all unique. We have

differences that are physical, cognitive and cultural. This profile has opened my eyes to

realization that as Professional Educator, we need to be able to understand different

students and realize and know their levels of development. In doing so, we can maximize

their learning potential and better them for the future.