Week 3

Lisa Pennington – Week Three

Lisa is 4 years old. Marsha and Scott have managed to stay together, but it has been, to say the least, difficult. Marsha keeps saying that if it happens again, she’s going to leave. Scott’s temper has only gotten worse, and he sometimes hits Marsha. Lisa asks her mom why daddy is always so mad, and Lisa doesn’t have a good answer – she doesn’t know herself.  She’s not sure how much more she can take.

* What are the major developmental milestones for a 4 year old? What should Lisa be doing physically, cognitively, and emotionally at this point?

* What is the impact of domestic violence on the family? What options does Marsha have?

* What services would you recommend for the family at this point?

* What else is important for you to know about Lisa’s family at this point? (Hint: Think about all that you don’t currently know about the family that could be helpful for you with regard to demographic information.)un

Week 2

Lisa Pennington – Week Two

Lisa is now 12 months old. The last year has been incredibly stressful for Scott and Marsha, and they have barely been able to make the payments on their home. The stress has taken a toll on their relationship, and they get into verbal shouting matches frequently. Scott’s anger scares Marsha and makes her think back to her own upbringing when her mother and father got into shouting and shoving matches.  

* Write a developmentally appropriate dialogue that the Penningtons might have with their son to introduce him to his new sister.  

* What should Lisa be doing physically, cognitively, and emotionally at 12-months of age? Are there aspects of her development at this point that we might legitimately expect to be “culture bound?”

* What is the likely effect of the ongoing verbal arguments on Lisa’s development?

DECISION POINT

 

* Do the Penningtons stay together? If not, what happens to Lisa and her brother?

For the first post, each group will learn some information about each person’s family of origin. This should aid each group in beginning to imagine their respective adoptee. While some of the information may at first appear to be unrelated to our subject of study, life-span issues for individuals with disabilities, fear not. It will all make sense as we move through the semester. 

Lisa Pennington – Week One  

They had planned for this, but they couldn’t believe it was actually true – they were having a girl! Their 2 ½ year old son would have a sister.  They busily made preparations and made sure to keep all of the “baby” things they had used with their son. The Penningtons were concerned because Scott had just lost his job, and Marsha didn’t work. They had made a decision that one of them would stay home, and Marsha was the one. Now it looked like they would both be home — for a while. Scott and Marsha were unsure how they would keep their home, and they both started to look for work.

How much money does it take per year to raise a family of four in Virginia? (Hint: there was a study out of UVA a couple of months ago that had this data) 

What is the average annual salary in Virginia? In Harrisonburg/Rockingham?

What is the cost of having a child in a hospital? What if a C-section is necessary – what is the cost for that?

Welcome!