PERFORMANCE COMPETENCE LIFESPAN FRAMEWORK Comfort/ Safety Cycle AREAS OF FUNCTION Physical Spiritual Emotional Intellectual INDIVIDUAL (The Child) ADAPTIVE RESPONSE QUALITY OF LIFE MEMBERSHIP PERSONAL SENSE OF COMPETENCE INTERACTION GIVENS Application Strategies Environmental Influences 1991 Oetter, P. & StevensDominguez, M., University of New Mexico Revised 1996, 1997 & 1998, StevensDominguez, M., Oetter P., University of New Mexico
Areas of Function At any given point in time, an assessment can be made of a child s current level of functioning. This is typically attempted with standardized assessment tools. Depending on the age of the child, assessments may look at early abilities, state regulation, and adaptive coping (Brazelton, 1973; Zeitlin, Williamson, & Szczepanski, 1988), or at performance areas such as reasoning, problem-solving, self-help, acquired learning, and communication (all under the subcategory intellectual of the Areas of Function within the Performance Competence Framework). These latter areas may be assessed using such tools as the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, second edition (Bayley, 1993), Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (Wechsler, 1989), and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition (Wechsler, 1991), in order to arrive at a standardized score. Whatever scores a child may receive, each child then expresses these levels of functioning (Areas of Function) in his/her own unique way. Areas of Function, within the Performance Competence Framework, define the child (or individual) in the moment, as a kind of who we are or what can we do right now statement. This area is perhaps the most familiar to those involved in traditional assessment issues. Areas of Function represent developmental areas that are typically tested when issues of specific competence must be defined. Traditional, standardized tests are usually aimed at describing and quantifying Areas of Function within the intellectual/linguistic, physical, or social/emotional realms. It is to a far lesser degree that we address the individual s spirit, though most professionals would agree that this is an essential area of human development. It is important to understand that performance within any one of the developmental areas is variable. Performance may be impacted temporarily, as by a flu virus which might lower performance on a set of cognitive tasks, or performance may be impacted profoundly, as in an automobile accident which forever inhibits locomotion. Certainly, Areas of Function are closely related to the givens with which an infant is born; but, unlike Givens, Areas of Function may change and are dependent upon both the immediate biological and environmental contexts. The Areas of Function to be considered within the childhood assessment arena are Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, and Intellectual. Physical This area relates to the physical body and motor skills. Characteristics of the physical body which must be considered include the size, completeness, shape, gender, and strength of the body itself. Motor skills, such as range and accuracy of motion, may be defined as age appropriate and whether these skills support the child s interaction with his/her environment to both learn and demonstrate knowledge about the world. As noted above, physical function may vary from day to day, or even moment to moment. Certainly the givens with which an infant is born create the initial template for physical function; however, physical function may be temporarily or permanently impacted by illness or injury. Most often the physical therapist and occupational therapist are able to provide in-depth information within this developmental area. The impact and interaction of physical function upon other developmental areas, however, must always be carefully considered at both the neurophysiologal level and the skill level. At the neurophysiological level, freedom and control of movement (can the child get around, have opportunities for movement, have control over movement?) needs to be considered. While at the skill level specific activities would be considered (can the child kick a ball, ride a bike, transfer from hand to hand, draw with a pencil, cut with scissors?).
O Donnell (1969) discusses seven basic principles that govern the sequence of motor development. These are outlined in the following sequence. Sequential Trends of Motor Development 1 1. Cephalocaudal pattern. Muscular development proceeds from the head to the foot. For example, infants have voluntary control over their heads before lower parts of their body. Similarly, children can usually throw before they can catch. 2. Proximo-distal pattern. Growth and development tend to proceed from the spine (proximo) to the outer extremities (distal). That is, voluntary movement begins in the shoulder, then moves on to the elbow area, wrist, and, finally, the fingers. 3. Mass-to-specific pattern. Body movement of young infants is undifferentiated involving the total body. Later, specific patterns of movement develop out of these generalized mass movements. When learning new skills, it takes time for children to inhibit the unwanted, extraneous movements. 4. Gross motor-to-fine motor pattern. Children usually gain control over large muscle activity before fine or small muscle activity. In addition, a child gain differential control. That is, movement of muscles on one side of the bodyshould occur without similar movement on the other side of the body, unless desired. 5. Maximum-to-minimum muscle involvement pattern. Like the mass-to- specific pattern, body movement becomes increasingly more efficient. With practice children learn to eliminate unnecessary expenditures of energy. Where it once took a whole bodily effort to catch a ball, children learn to catch with the use of just one arm and hand. 6. Bilateral-to-unilateral pattern. Children progress from undifferentiated use of both sides of the body to unilateral preference, referred to as the establishment of laterality. 7. Orderly development pattern. Children differ in the rate of their development but do tend to follow a similar pattern if environmental conditions are adequate and no organic deficits are present. The lack of age or developmentally appropriate skills in young children should trigger great concern in professionals and families. What is going on? Is this child having difficulty processing sensory information (e.g., visual, auditory, tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive), is there a motor planning problem (is this evidenced in other areas?), is the child ill? What specific supports and interventions are needed to improve function to support the physical aspects of interaction (from Areas of Interaction) such as writing, playing, exploring? Spiritual Students of the Performance Competence Framework, including parents, often embrace this area with their own definitions about spirit. Although this sort of individualization and personalization is surely encouraged for purposes of
understanding the intent of the Framework, the authors provide the following as a working definition. The spirit is defined as the essence of an individual s feelings and beliefs about self. It relates to the individual s sense of self within the world, i.e., one s own sense of specialness as a person. It may also include an individual s personal goals, values, and beliefs, which are often formed within the context of their sense of self within the world. Early interventionists and parents may sometimes define spirit as the spark I see in the eyes, or even place religious significance upon this part of the Framework in defining the spiritual self. While this dimension is rarely discussed in the literature of early childhood assessment, principally because of difficulties in definition and measurement, few professionals would dispute its import. It is often discussed by educators whether anything can be done to assist a child who has difficulties in this area. Educators, counselors, and even family members will say, he has no sense of self-worth; this child has given up on the world; this child doesn t want to be a part of the world. There is substantial research indicating that a connection with a significant adult, even for a short period of time, can produce dramatic results in children and young people in establishing important areas of spiritual development. In the spiritual area, careful consideration should be given to brain development research, conducted by such investigators as Perry (1995), on the effects of trauma on the developing brain. While children have individualized responses to trauma, there is evidence that sustained trauma or experiences perceived as traumatic by a child may affect the structural development of the brain most specifically, the emotional center. The response to trauma may be withdrawal, rage, or failure to develop the emotional components for well-being. Whatever the issues, reasons, or contributing factors, it is essential that children develop a positive view of who they are in the world that they believe they can contribute and have value. Emotional The individual s feelings about self and the world will affect the day to day emotions a child experiences. A child who feels valued, competent, supported, and loved, will likely survive the up s and down s of daily life reasonable well. A child who does not feel loved, competent, or secure, may have extreme reactions to such fluctuations. However, certain stressful times and/or events can produce a strong emotional reaction in almost all children. These events might include the loss of a parent, failure to master a task (i.e., riding a bike, learning division), or a physical attack. Some choose to link issues of emotional development with those of social development. Infant social and emotional development may include forming the initial strong attachment relationships with consistent caregivers, and developing a sense of self. Later emotional development progresses through separation-individuation, sharing of emotional experiences, peer interaction, representational skills and development of self-concept. While temperament is discussed within the area of Givens, a child s temperament will strongly affect their display of emotions, as well as their emotional response to events/ situations. It is critical for interventionists and families to understand that a strong emotional response (e.g., anger, frustration, fear), and especially a negative response will cause the central nervous system to initiate flight, fright and fight behaviors. Usually all three are cycled through; however, some children may develop one response more than others. For example, a child with an easy temperament having a negative emotional reaction (e.g., you don t like me, you are going to make me do something I don t want to, I am afraid of you) may most often show flight-type behaviors (e.g., withdrawing, getting away), while the feisty child may go quickly to rage. However, if threatened enough most children will go to fight (e.g., tearing up the math paper, throwing a tantrum, hitting). Even if the strong emotional response is joy or excitement, the central nervous
system is not functioning at a calm and alert state. You will often see a frustrated teacher trying to control a bunch of fiveyear-olds on an outing the excitement has pushed most of them into over-arousal. The lesson here is: strong emotions do not occur simultaneously with good attention, calmness and focused learning. We need to understand emotions, their expression, and their effect on performance, as well as to help children manage emotions in order to reestablish balance. This does not mean making them stop, but rather understanding and providing the right supports and sensory input for the child to regain balance. The psychologist is often the professional given primary responsibility for assessment in this arena; however, the issues of social and emotional development are also most important to the speech-language pathologist, early childhood educator and early interventionist. S. J. Greenspan s work, Fostering emotional and social development in infants with disabilities (Zero to Three, Sept. 1988, 8-18), as well as his video tape, Floor Time, are important works with which students should be familiar. Other references on emotional and social development are included in the discussion of principles of human development at the end of this section. Intellectual This area might also be titled cognitive/linguistic, since the authors of the Framework include communication skills within the intellectual area. This area is defined as the knowledge, abilities, and skills related to understanding, perceiving, and reasoning. Examples include the ability to send and receive messages/information; functional, conceptual, perceptual, and analytical skills; problem-solving strategies; information gathering, storing, and retrieval; and the ability to learn and demonstrate knowledge. This component represents our understandings about the world, the specific knowledge and skills that we have gathered around these understandings, and our expression and use of these understandings, knowledge and skills as we interact with and upon the world around us. It is about the quality of our transitions among areas of understanding and how we are able to draw from multiple concepts, areas of knowledge, and skills (as well as previous experience and feedback), to tackle new problems, concepts, and tasks. It is about the spaces and places where we reflect, ponder, test, redesign and start again. This area is where we would examine Gardner s (1993) different areas of intelligence. We want to look carefully at what the child understands, how he/she learns, how he/she expresses understanding, what knowledge and skills he/she has gathered, what his/her learning style is, and, importantly, what sensory systems, sensory diets, learning opportunities, social interactions, and methods of communication best support continued development in this area. The intellectual dimension has traditionally been a focus of testing, and unfortunately, has sometimes been the primary developmental area of concern. Individuals knowledgeable in the area of early childhood assessment understand how inextricably connected all of the developmental areas truly are. Impacts in any one of these areas almost assuredly affect the individual child s development in other areas. For example, if a child s physical function limits locomotion, thus limiting exploration of the environment and the acquisition of new experiences related to the environment, the development of linguistic and intellectual functioning is severely compromised. Similarly, if this physical function limitation also places limits on social experiences, the social/emotional development is also affected. This interaction of the various developmental areas is embodied in the following discussion. Principles of Human Development 2 It is beyond the scope of this manual to include a complete treatise on human development; however, students of
assessment should be familiar with the basic terms, concepts, and theories underlying some of the major principles on the subject. The following is an introduction to understanding various aspects of some of the major principles governing human development, with relevant references highlighted for further exploration where appropriate. 1. Development is determined by the interaction of the biological makeup of the child with his or her environment. See Werner (1989, pp. 107-111) for an illustration of the interaction of health status at birth with early home environment in predicting outcome. This article describes the results of the Kauai study of the long-term outcome of infants born prematurely and focuses on the concept of resilience. 2. Development involves not only growth but fundamental reorganizations of behavior, leading to greater complexity. For a good discussion of the relevance of this principle to infant assessment, see Kopp (1994, pp. 265-293). This chapter contains two case studies of infants with developmental disorders and describes the assessment process from a developmental orientation. From another point of view, Cicchetti and Wagner (1990, pp. 246-277) discuss the importance of an organizational perspective in understanding developmental delay. 3. Development is orderly, cumulative, and coherent over time. Two important distinctions to make in describing behavior is whether (1) it is stable or unstable, or (2) shows continuity or discontinuity across time (Ramey, et al., 1984; Kopp, 1984). 4. Development is holistic. Changes in one domain of behavior (e.g., physical) have profound implications for all domains (e.g., social, cognitive, etc.). 5. Developmental psychologists are interested in describing and explaining both normative development and individual differences. 6. Development occurs in context, including cultural, socioeconomic, immediate environment, and biological. a. The biological context includes the evolutionary heritage of primates to seek social stimulation and form attachments, to attend to speech sounds, and to discover and respond to contingencies in order to learn and master problem-solving tasks. There are built-in developmental timetables for these achievements, but individual variations have had adaptive value. b. The immediate environment comprises the direct and indirect contact the infant has with objects and people in his or her world, including the family system. The child has an effect on this context, as well as being shaped by it (involving concepts of bi-directional effects, reciprocal determinism, and transactional model). Sameroff & Feise (1990, pp. 119-149) provide a description and update of the Sameroff & Chandler (1975) transactional model and apply it to the early intervention field. Trout & Foley (1989, pp. 57-67) contend that an ecologically attuned early intervention team should be able to (1) acknowledge the complex and transactional nature of development, (2) respect diversity and the developmental nature of parenthood, (3) respect the decision-making and autonomy of each family, (4) enable, and (5) recognize the central role of relationships in promoting optimal development. c. The socioeconomic context includes the resources of the family, community, and nation (Werner, 1989).
d. The cultural context includes the values, norms, and structure of settings experienced by the child. As stated earlier in this text, Areas of Function are perhaps the most familiar to the reader since these have traditionally been the focus of our assessment techniques. In response to the outcry for more ecological, wholistic practice, particularly with our young children, the developers of the Performance Competence Framework have relegated this area to what we believe is its proper place in assessment practice. Certainly it is important to gain that snapshot of a child s physical and intellectual functioning at any point in time, but it is the interplay of these functions with the remaining entirity of the child, including their interaction with the world that defines that child s being. 1 Reprinted with permission from: Cook, R. E., Tessier, A., and Armbruster, V. B. (1987). Adapting early childhood curricula for children with special needs (p. 163). Columbus, OH: Merrill. 2 Prepared for Project Perspectives by Robin Smith-Jacobvitz, Ph.D., Project Perspectives Course Development Team, April- May,1996.