Case Studies

James

James is 15 years old and a sophomore at Cow Pasture High School. He is a very bright, inquisitive and good-natured young man who has autism. James has many academic skills, including a high average ability in reading recognition and memory, and an average ability in verbal comprehension and reasoning. Due to his inquisitive nature, he is not afraid to ask questions when he doesn’t understand a topic. Some of his areas of concern involve comprehension and social relationships. James’ schedule includes general academic classes as well as electives, including German and band. He does not have a resource class during the day. Classroom adaptations for James include small group testing, verbal prompts to write down assignments or dates and checking for understanding of directions and assignment requirements.

James is a member of the clarinet section in symphonic band, marching band and pep band at school. Outside of school, he takes clarinet lessons. He is very interested in many styles of music and always pays close attention to music in movies and video games.

As a musician, James is very skilled and is always able to lend a helping hand if another member of his section has questions. He works on his music outside of class with his private teacher, but is very good at sight-reading. In marching band, James has a hard time marching. He is given his own set of drill that he can take home to help him learn and his section leader and drum major will work with him one on one with specific drill sets. He was overwhelmed as a freshman with marching band because of all of the social interactions, but now has adapted and is at ease with everybody. The members of the band make sure he feels welcomed and included. His success has been proven by the fact that last week he was one of the finalists in a “march off” competition with the members of the marching band.