IFST 236

Infants and Toddlers: Development and Program Planning

Fall, 1999

PBL: ADOPTION PROJECT

The Assignment

You have been called together for a family meeting by your oldest sister. She has made the decision to adopt a child. Because of her age (35), the fact that she is single, and her commitment to adopt an infant born in the U.S. she has five available babies. She wants you, her sisters, to help her choose the “best” baby. What she means by the best baby is the one who will be easiest for her to care for and love and who has the highest probability of achieving academic success. Your sister is in business and is on the fast track for success. She is doing well financially with prospects of doing even better. Although she has a high demand job she feels that she wants to share her good fortune with a child. What she wants from you individually is to each take a child and make an assessment of the child and the challenges she will face raising this infant. Then, as her family, to collectively weigh what you know and come to a decision on the infant she should adopt. Then, give her a rationale for your choice and suggestions for what she can do to improve the child’s chances of success. You have a vested interested: you will be not only the aunt but expected to pull your weight as a babysitter as well.

This is what she has found out about each of the children. She has been persistent about asking and this appears to be all the known information.

1. Stacy was born weighing 3 pounds, 10 ounces at 36 weeks gestation. Stacy’s mother became pregnant with Stacy when she was homeless after a fight with her boyfriend. He agreed that he would get some counseling and they got back together after Stacy’s birth However, he refused to raise another man’s child. The identity of father is not known. Her mother smoked during pregnancy although the exact number of cigarettes is not known. She sees herself as a heavy smoker. She did drink during her pregnancy but stated that she never was a big drinker. Two drinks made her sleepy. She gained approximately 15 pounds during the course of the pregnancy. Stacy had an APGAR of 4. Stacy is currently 6 months old and living in a foster home. She has been there since birth.

2. Martha was born weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces at 37 weeks gestation. She had a APGAR of 7. She is available for adoption because her parents died in a car accident when Martha was 7 months old. She was in the car but apparently uninjured. Although the car was broadsided and it was not her mother’s fault she did have a blood alcohol level of .10. Martha’s mother had cut down drinking once she found out that she was pregnant, but this did not happen until she was 3 months along. And then she still found that she had a tendency to go on a few binges. She gained 30 pounds during her pregnancy. At birth Martha had no obvious signs of fetal alcohol syndrome. Her mother experienced postpartum depression. Martha is currently 9 months old. She has been in foster care since the accident 2 months ago.

3. Sam weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces at birth at 38 weeks gestation. His mother was 15 when she became pregnant. She did not tell her parents she was pregnant until she was in her sixth month. She refused to name the father. She gained 25 pounds during her pregnancy. The weight gain was primarily in the last trimester. She did not drink or smoke. Her parents told her they would disown if she did not give the baby up for adoption. She initially refused. However, Sam experienced fetal distress during labor. The placenta was small and with every contraction his heart stopped beating. This was discovered after 18 hours of labor and a Caesarean section was performed. He had an APGAR of 2. This was more than his mother could cope with. The medical profession has taken a “wait and see” approach. They agree that Sam’s muscles seem “tight” and that, at his current age , 7 months, he has not reached some developmental milestones although he has reached others. For example, he can only sit momentarily and his back seems “strange” according to his foster mother.

4. Ben was born at home to a mother who was afraid to come to the hospital because of her use of cocaine. When she began to hemorrhage they called 911 and she was taken to the emergency room with Ben. This was about 3 hours after the birth. At that point Ben weighed 6 pounds. An APGAR was not used although it was noted that his color was a little “off” and he was shaky. It was not possible to get an exact gestational age although it was felt to be in the normal range or to know how much weight the mother gained. His mother seemed to be concerned about him but was lost in her own world. Someone said she was from a good family. He was abandon at the hospital and placed in foster care. He is currently 3 months old and the authorities are seeking to terminate parental rights.

5. Sara’s mother was a brittle diabetic who became pregnant against doctors orders. It was felt that Sara was a threat to her mother’s health (which in fact she was as her mother died shortly after birthing Sara.) Sara weighted 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was induced at 32 weeks gestation. Her mother’s pregnancy was stressful as her husband left when she became pregnant and she could not work after her fifth month. She gained 70 pounds during the pregnancy. She became depressed and tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. The infant was induced shortly after this episode. Sara had an APGAR of 8 which dropped to 6 after 5 minutes. She appeared to be having some respiratory problems. She is currently 5 months old and in foster care. Her father has agreed to give up his parental rights. He is being transferred to Latin America and doesn’t know what to do with her.

Questions for Group Discussion

· What are the important variables for each child and what is their potential effect on development?

· What areas need to be researched and evaluated given the available information.

· How should this information be organized?

· What are the strengths and challenges for each child? What are the relative strengths and challenges among the children?

· After choosing a child what additional information can be added to the strengths and challenges profile and can be done to maximize the child’s probability of success?

TASK REQUIREMENTS

Ground Rules for Groups Due:

· Each group will develop ground rules for their group. Although the rules may include many different items they must include a plan to deal with conflicts when they arise, a method for dealing with a member who does not pull his/her weight, and absences.

Individual Responsibilities

· Each student will write a statement describing his/her child and a rationale for the relative strengths and challenges. The statements will include the particular variables that are being researched and the parameters of the topic in 250 words or less. There must be one copy for each member of the group and one copy for the instructor for the 2 drafts and the final version.

Group Responsibilities

Oral Presentation

· Each group will make an oral presentation to the class discussing the child their chose, how they arrived at these particular child and their recommended strategies to optimize development.

. Written presentation

· Each group will make a written presentation to the instructor discussing their decision and strategies, the process which they used to reach this particular child and developmental strategies (both discussion of the dimensions and the group interactive processes), resources they found particularly useful, and suggestions for any future related pbl exercises (750 - 1000 words).

Critique of groups oral presentation

· Each group will make an oral presentation (5 minutes) to the class with their recommendation and how they arrived at this recommendation, and their suggestions to optimize development.

Oral presentation will be given: 5 (excellent), 4 (good), 3 (satisfactory), 2 (not helpful), 1 (a waste of time).

Critique of group process

· Each student will make a written presentation to the instructor critiquing his/her group process and resolution (100 words or less) and evaluating the contribution of each of the group members on a scale of : 5 (excellent), 4 (good), 3 (satisfactory), 2 (not helpful), 1 (disruptive/negative).

SCHEDULE

Day 1 9/7 Meet with group, decide on group ground rules, determine variables, assign children, discuss and assign research strategies, exchange group information (e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and so on), arrange for group or sub-group meetings to discuss the process and share information.

Day 2 9/9 Meet with original group (Bring drafts 250 words, 12 copies) discuss progress. Meet with those who have the same children refine variables.

Day 3 9/14 Meet with original group (Bring drafts, 250 words, 5 copies) use refined variables to develop final draft. Agree on additional research strategies and who will carry them out. Make preliminary choice of child.

Day 5 9/16 Turn in final individual paper on child (250 words, 5 copies), agree on child and what additional information is necessary for the rational. Develop plan suggestions. Arrange for writing up discussion of group resolution of problem. Arrange for group or sub-group out of class meetings.

Day 6 9/23 Give group oral presentation, evaluate group oral presentations. (5 minutes)

Day 7 9/28 Turn in group written discussion, turn in individual critiques and peer evaluations

Grading: Group oral presentations will be evaluated by other groups and the instructor. Group written presentations will be evaluated by the instructor. Individual work will be evaluated by both peers and instructor.

50 points

25 written group paper

10 oral group presentation (5 students, 5 instructor for each presentation)

15 individual work (5 students, 10 instructor)

Relevant Resources:

Internet

· Facts for Families (child abuse, emotional problems, divorce)

http://www.aacap.org/web/aacap/factsFam/

· Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families

http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs

· SERI: Special Education Resources on the Internet

http://www.hood.edu/seri/serihome.htm

· ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education

http://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/

· National Child Care Information Center

http://ericps.ed.uiuc.edu/nccic/nccichome.html

· Administration for Children and Families

http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/

· Children Now

http://www.dnai.com/~children/

· Future of Children e-journal

http://www.futureofchildren.org

· National Early Childhood Technical Assistance System

http://www.nectas.unc.edu/

· Picks for Parents

http://nucleus.com/parent.html

Links to information about infant development and products for young children as well as links to other search engines.

· Zero to Three

http://www.zerotothree.org/

· LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe (Location: Library networked Databases) Provides full text articles from newspapers and magazines and can be searched by keywords and time periods.

Print Sources

Anne E. Casey Foundation. (1998) Kids count data book. New York. Author

Carnegie Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children. (1994). Starting Points: Meeting the needs of our youngest children. New York: Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Children’s Defense Fund (1999).The State of American’s Children. Washington, DC: Author

Deiner, P. L. (1997). Infants and Toddlers: Development and Program Planning. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997)Federal Register (October 22) Part V, Department of Education, 34 CFR parts 300,301, and 303 (55025 - 55135).

Karr-Morse, R. & Wiley, M. S. (1997). Ghosts from the nursery: Tracing the roots of violence. New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press.

Barron, W. M. , & Lindheimer, M. D. (Eds.), Medical disorders during pregnancy (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby

People Sources

References librarians, Morris library, especially Rebecca Knight.