Child psychology case study

Child psychology case study
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write a 3 page case study for child psychology.
Case Study of Daniel/Psychology of the Exceptional Child (PSYC 321)

You are a clinical psychologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems among children. A colleague has sent you information regarding Daniel Smith (see below) in hopes that you will provide a second opinion as to the correct diagnosis for Daniel. Read the case study, make a diagnosis, and then answer the following questions in a report to be written to his family. Be careful to fully explain concepts such that someone outside of the area of abnormal child psychology would understand. (DO NOT assume that you are writing this paper to me.)

1. What is the primary diagnosis for Daniel (be sure to specify the major diagnosis and type if necessary)? Using the criteria in the DSM-V specifically describe why Daniel’ssymptoms fit this particular diagnosis. Give specific examples of the symptoms he manifests. Do not just list the symptoms of the disorder according to the DSM. It may help to use direct quotes from the case study. You must get the diagnosis EXACTLY correct. There is enough information given so that you can make the exact diagnosis. In order to help you arrive at the correct diagnosis, try doing this. First list all of the possible diagnosis that you think are relevant forDaniel, and then rule out each diagnosis until you are left with only one. Once you reach this one diagnosis, confirm it with specific examples from the case study. If you miss the diagnosis, you will only miss points in this section. The remainder of the paper will be based on the diagnosis you gave, and not the correct diagnosis. (Information in this section must be cited.) (10 points)

2. With most diagnoses there are differential diagnoses and co-morbid conditions that you need to consider. Discuss differential diagnoses and co-morbid conditions that exist with your primary diagnosis by answering Parts 1, 2, and 3. (Information in this section must be cited.) (10 points)

a. Part 1: For your primary diagnosis that you gave in question #1, list the common differential diagnoses and co-morbid conditions.

b. Part 2: Next, take one of the differential diagnoses listed in Part 1, and explain how you would make a differential diagnosis between your primary diagnosis and that particular differential diagnosis. Next, apply it to Daniel’scase. In other words you are going to explain why Daniel has the primary diagnosis that you gave him and not the common differential diagnosis. For example, if you gave Daniel the primary diagnosis of schizophrenia (he doesn’t have schizophrenia), you would need to list Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a common differential diagnosis, and then explain how you would make a differential diagnosis between schizophrenia and ASD. If there is additional information that you would like to have to help you make a differential diagnosis, you may discuss this here.
NOTE: Information on differential diagnosis is found in the PowerPoint presentation.

c. Part 3: Take one of the common co-morbid conditions listed in part 1, and discuss whether or not Danielalso has this common co-morbid condition in addition to his primary diagnosis. Explain why you think he also has this additional diagnosis by listing the specific symptoms that Daniel displays, or explain why he does not have this additional diagnosis by discussing what symptoms he does not display. If there is additional information that you would like to have to be able to say that he has another diagnosis, you may discuss this here.
NOTE: The differential diagnosis and co-morbid condition cannot be the same. If you rule it out in the differential diagnosis, then Danielis not going to have the disorder as a co-morbid condition.

3. Based on the known causes of the particular primary diagnosis you gaveDaniel, speculate about the cause(s) of his diagnosis. You don’t have enough information to definitively know what caused the problem. Consider the most common cause of the disorder. It would be appropriate to address two or three causes; one that applies specifically to Daniel’ssituation and one based on the most common cause of the disorder. You want to explain these causes from a technical perspective. Use information from the textbook to explain why this causes the disorder that Danielhas or provide data that supports that this is a true cause of the disorder. (Information in this section must be cited.) (10 points)

4. Based on the known treatments for Daniel’sprimary diagnosis, what treatment(s) can you recommend for him and his family? This should be based on the most common and/or most effective treatment for this disorder. Be very specific about the name of the treatment and what is done in the treatment. Explain how this type of treatment conducted? Generic statements like, “Danielshould seek therapy,” are inappropriate. What type of therapy would you recommend? How is this type of therapy conducted? Be careful not to give a laundry list of all the possible treatments. Pick the best treatment forDaniel, and explain this treatment in detail. (Information in this section must be cited.) (10 points)

5. What information can you give Danieland his family about his prognosis? Base your answer on known information about the prognosis for his particular disorder, and not just what you hope for Danieland his family. For example, you may discuss what is known about what might make the prognosis better or worse. Avoid generic statements like, “With proper treatment Danielwill get better.” This is true for almost all disorders, and is what we hope for all of our clients. Say something more specific like, “Generally speaking the prognosis for Daniel’sdisorder is positive. 75% recover within one year, and only 15% relapse.” Typically, there are factors that make the prognosis better or worse. Discuss these. You also don’t necessarily want to discuss treatment effectiveness. You can add this information, but it should not be the primary information provided. You will typically find information on prognosis in the “Course” section which is found in the “Epidemiology” in the book. (Information in this section must be cited.) (10 points)
IMPORTANT NOTE: The information supporting the symptoms of the diagnosis, cause, and treatment, should be taken from another source like your textbook, the DSM, or another source. However, this information should NOT be copied word-for-word from the source, and should be correctly cited within the text and in a reference listing at the end of the paper. APA format should be used for the in-text citation and reference listing. Information on how to use APA format can be found in a document located on Blackboard in the Assignment area titled, “A Primer on Citation” or at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/. Severe penalties could result from failure to follow this requirement.

Also remember that papers containing more than three direct quotes (sentences and phrases) from sources other than the case study will receive a grade of 0.

Daniel

As she stood outside her son’s bedroom door holding the handle shut, trying to keep him inside for his punishment, Sabrina Smith fought back her tears. She felt like such a failure, and she had no idea what to do. Her 7-year-old son’s behavior was out of control. She felt both helpless and angry. Her mother-in-law, Mrs. Smith, would be home soon, and Sabrina wanted her son, Daniel to calm down before she arrived. He stopped screaming, kicking at the door, and pulling on the door knob, and she breathed a sigh of relief, hoping he was going to stop. Then she heard a loud crashing noise that made her jump and fling open the door, fearing for Daniel’s safety. To her horror, she saw that he had climbed up on the bookshelf, knocking the bookshelf down in the process. She shouted at him, swatted his bottom, and started to cry. He ran past her into the living room and flipped on the TV while she sat down on the floor in despair. At that point, she decided to get help. The next morning she called Daniel’s pediatrician, and his nurse arranged an appointment with a child clinical psychologist, Dr. Harvey.

Two weeks later, Sabrina and Mrs. Smith(Daniel’s grandmother) brought Daniel for his appointment.During the interview, Dr. Harvey found the following information about Daniel’s behavior. When he was younger, Daniel’s behavior seemed mostly likely that of other children his age. He was described as being talkative, curious, always on the go. But in the past year or so, he had gotten progressively worse. He had become a behavioral nightmare. He never followed instructions and seemed to always be doing something that would get him into trouble. He had become very mouthy and angry, andsaid mean things to his mother and grandparents. He would call his mother fat and tell his grandparents he hated them. His mother and grandparents found themselves tiptoeing around him, hoping he would stay in a good mood, because when he was mad, nobody around him could be happy.

Sabrina could not control Daniel’s behavior, nor could her husband’s parents. They had tried spanking him, reasoning with him, pleading with him, and taking away toys. They had even tried rewarding him with ice cream or candy when he behaved. When he didn’t get his way, he would have a temper tantrum until he did. During his temper tantrums, he would start crying, screaming, fall to the ground, kick and hit the floor, and if that didn’t work he would knock things off the coffee table or tip over a kitchen chair. He would also hit or kick an adult if they tried to stop him. When Sabrina tried to spank him for misbehaving, he would laugh at her and say it didn’t hurt.

He wouldn’t go to bed when asked to and fell asleep most nights in front of the television. He wouldn’t clean up his toys or even brush his teeth when asked. One time while his mother was talking on the phone, he came over and started making clicking noises with his tongue at her over and over, louder and louder, to annoy her until she paid attention to him. Even when they took him somewhere fun, his behavior was still out of control. For example, they when they went to a restaurant with an arcade, he wanted more game tokens than he was given, would run when told to walk, and complained about the food. He would argue about which booth they chose to sit in or who would sit with him. When he was arguing, his tone of voice was harsh and bossy.

Daniel is also quite disobedient at school. Just the other day, Daniel broke in line waiting for his turn at the water fountain. A pushing match ensued, and Daniel ended up hitting the boy he broke in front of. He has also stolen small sums of money, and some of the children have complained that he has taken small toys that they brought to school. When the stealing was discovered by his mother, he lied and said the children had given him the toys.

On occasions that she tried to discipline him, he would do something to get her back. Once when they were eating lunch at home, he said he wanted a dessert. Sabrina told him he could have one when he finished half his sandwich. He looked at her, then picked up a glass of milk and slowly poured it all over his sandwich and the table. She had stopped trying to take him to church or the grocery store because it was so embarrassing when he acted out.

Dr. Harvey also inquired as to the family history, and discovered the following information. Daniel was the only child of James and Sabrina Smith. They were married the summer after they graduated from high school, and a year and half later Daniel was born. Daniel was the product of a full-term pregnancy, and there were no problems during his birth. He met his early developmental milestones (crawling, walking, talking) on time and had no health problems.

Sabrina was a full-time homemaker, and James worked as a welder. They lived in their own apartment in the same part of town as James’ parents. Sabrina’s parents were divorced. She hadn’t seen her father since age 8, and didn’t have a close relationship with her mother. James was close with his parents though, and they got along well with Sabrina. Mrs. Smith (James’ mother) would often babysit Daniel.

Sabrina and James’ relationship was mostly loving and positive, but James had episodes of “moodiness” which was probably clinical depression. This “moody streak” ran on the male side of the family, and Mrs. Smith wondered if Daniel has inherited this. The few arguments that Sabrina and James had were over his drinking and marijuana use. While the use was always outside the house, James would often come home drunk and/or smelling of marijuana. Sabrina worried what effect this might have on Daniel. During one of James’ “moody streaks” his packed up his belongings and left home without leaving a note or ever calling to explain things. After some time Sabrina had spent all of the savings, and could no longer afford her apartment. She then moved in with James’ parents.Sabrina nor Daniel had heard from James in over two years.
Adapted from:

Oltmanns, T. F., Martin, M. T., Neale, J. M., & Davison, G. C. (2012).Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology (9thed). Hoboken: New Jersey: Wiley.

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