Lily is a four-year-old girl attending Happy Kids Preschool. Lily was born to her Greek-Australian parents, Vicki and Steve, in Melbourne, Australia. She has an older brother, Ethan, who is nine years old and was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) when he was three.
Lily was born prematurely. Therefore, she spent her early months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Lily\’s early experiences with medical interventions have left her with sensory sensitivities, making her more prone to discomfort in certain environments.
Steve works full-time, and Vicki often takes Ethan to his specialist appointments to support his ASD. Therefore, Lily often spends one-on-one time with her grandmother, who speaks only Greek. Lily understands English and Greek but struggles to express herself clearly, leading to frustration.
Despite her challenges, Lily is an imaginative and creative child who loves to draw and listen to stories. She can recognise all the letters in the alphabet and can count to 100. She loves games with patterns, numbers, and letters. Lily prefers to engage quietly in solitary play at home and does not play with Ethan, as he is highly energetic and enjoys physical sports. Lily\’s parents describe her as a \’picky\’ eater; she prefers dry and bland foods and will avoid foods with particular textures, i.e., runny or strong scents.
At preschool, she finds engaging with her peers during playtime challenging. The teachers have noticed Lily\’s hesitation to initiate interactions, and when she joins activities, she prefers to observe rather than actively participate. Finding it difficult to adapt to structured learning environments, she likes to sit in the quiet corner and listen to a story from one of the teaching assistants. Lily will become upset if another child tries to join the one-to-one session. She also prefers talking with Mary, a teaching assistant, because she speaks Greek.
A strong home-school partnership exists between the Happy Kids Preschool staff and Lily\’s parents. The Four-Year-Old Room Leader, Jax, meets with Vicki monthly to discuss Lily\’s progress. They work together to support Lily\’s needs so that she feels part of an inclusive environment.
When completing your response to the case study of Lily and her family, ensure that you:
- Introduce your assignment with an outline of what you will be discussing, including factor/s of focus (food and nutrition, parents and home environment, siblings and extended family, peers, educators and early childhood environment) and the developmental domain of your choice.
- Based on the case study, identify the factors that impact the child’s growth and development. Highlight Lily\’s strengths and challenges in the case study. Briefly link these to the ONE domain that has been identified.
- Discuss why the chosen domain is important for teachers to understand. Support your definition and explanations with readings and literature that are relevant.
- Discuss at least three (3) strategies to support the child and how this will encourage growth and development in relation to EYLF/VEYLDF.
- Reflect on the implications for your teaching practice in relation to the teaching standards (NQS).
