Module 8 Signature Assignment

For your signature assignment, you are to write hypothetical casestudy of one person with a disability or disorder, from birth throughend-of-life. The purpose of this assignment is to show yourunderstanding of the lifespan developmental issues of someone witha disorder. Choose a different disorder than the one you covered foryour case assignment. You may choose to study an individual with adisorder that develops in childhood (e.g. autism), or an individual thatdevelops a disorder later in life. Use readings from modules 1-8 andyour own research to back up your case study with facts andtheoretical perspectives. Make sure to cite all of your sources.

Because everyone has individual differences, you do not need tooutline every possible developmental trajectory of the disorder. This isthe point of doing a case study – you need only envision the individualdevelopment of one person. It is possible that the individual you arestudying does not show developmental problems in some stages. Ifthis is the case, outline your case’s normal development for the agerange. The following is a sample outline for the paper.

Section 1:

Introduce the case and the disability. For example:

This case study will describe the life of Jenny, a female ofTaiwanese descent. Jenny was diagnosed with Autism SpectrumDisorder (ASD) when she was four years old. According to theAmerican Psychiatric Association (2013), ASD is a disorder 1 / 4

characterized by…Jenny lives with…

Section 2:

Describe the infant development (birth to 12 months) of your case,milestones met and when, and things the parents or caregivers mayhave noticed (or not noticed) at this stage. If applicable, include hereany prenatal factors that may have influenced the child’sdevelopment.

Section 3:

Describe the early childhood development (1-5 years) of your case,milestones met and when, and things the parents or caregivers mayhave noticed (or not noticed) at this stage.

Section 4:

Describe the middle childhood development (6-12 years) of your case.For this age range, focus on issues that may develop in school,symptoms teachers may notice, interventions needed in theclassroom, and/or peer relationships.

Section 5:

Describe the adolescent development (13-18 years) of your case. 2 / 4

Section 6:

Describe the adult development (19-end of life) of your case.

Section 7:

Brief conclusion summarizing the main points of your case.

Writing Requirements

The Signature Assignment will be an 8-10 page essay(excluding cover page and references).You should use a minimum of 5-8 academic sources in yourSignature Assignment.Your written work should follow APA style and formatting.Your essay should have a cover page and reference page.Abstracts are not required.Must be double-spaced with 1-inch margins and typed in12-point Times New Roman.If you do not turn in your Signature Assignment before thedeadline, points may be deducted from your score fortardiness. If you anticipate a problem turning in yourassignment on time, please contact your instructorimmediately to avoid a failing grade for non-submission.Writing tipsThis is not an opinion paper – be sure to find research tosupport any points you are making in your paper. 3 / 4