Group+2+Allegra

1. Tasks that are difficult for Allegra:
 * Maintaining focused attention and concentration: Allegra (as well as her dolls and teddy bears) has weak mental energy and focal maintenance control. She frequently becomes distracted and loses track of the task objective.
 * Communicating through expressive language: Allegra often engages in irrelevant speech and has difficulty modulating output.
 * Understanding certain concepts: Allegra does not understand abstract concepts (time, size, "let's pretend").
 * Activities involving gross motor skills: Allegra could not ride her bike well.
 * Data processing in math: Allegra has a difficult time making sense of numbers and sequences.
 * Understanding rules and following multi-step instructions: Allegra is unable to play Chutes and Ladders, a game involving rules and a series of instructions.
 * Activities that require her to make sense of words and writing.

2. Patterns over time:
 * Difficulty with gross motor performance (Excerpt #1 -Evaluation; Excerpt #2 - "could not ride her bike very well")
 * Difficulty with math:
 * number sequencing (Excerpt #1 - Evaluation; Excerpt #2 - couldn't move her piece the correct number of spaces while playing Chutes and Ladders)
 * abstract concepts ((Excerpt #1 - Evaluation, "completely unable to understand time and size concepts"; Excerpt #3 - report)
 * Difficulty paying attention and maintaining focus (Excerpt #1 - playing with her dolls; Excerpt #3 - report)
 * Difficulty developing friendships (Excerpt #2 - "There were no groups of friends for her except the occasional weekend when my friends were invited and brought their children."; Excerpt #3 - school report says Allegra "feels frustrated and unsuccessful" in developing social relationships )
 * Difficulty understanding games with rules (Excerpt #2- She repeatedly "misunderstood the rule" while playing Chutes and Ladders; Excerpt #2 - "Peace lasted until another misunderstood rule intruded")
 * Need for routine and order
 * Strengths:
 * Reading, spelling, rhyming don't seem to be challenging
 * She is highly motivated "Allegra's approach to learning suggests years of hard work and practice" (Excerpt 3)
 * Works hard to get along socially and wants to be included
 * Lives an organized life and can create order for herself
 * Takes pride in her personal appearance
 * Able to engage in social conversations

3. How her profile relates to the disability categories that we have investigated:
 * Dyslexia - Allegra does not appear to show many of the main symptoms of dyslexia. In Excerpt #1, we read that she has a good use of oral language at a young age. In her early evaluation, she did fine naming colors and shapes (trouble naming colors in rapid sequence can be a problem associated with dyslexia), and rhyming, which shows she is developing language on a phonological and morphological level. In Excerpt #3, at age 13, a school report says "her reading and spelling skills suggest she is capable of continued achievement in these areas."