Reciprocal Social Interactions: Jack Stone - Kindergarten
Parent Report:
Mr. and Mrs. Stone indicated that Jack will make eye contact with you if he’s the one starting
the conversation. They reported that sometimes he will be looking at you, but he is not
“connected” and appears lost in a gaze. When in this gaze he won’t respond to questions and
needs to be prompted with a touch to “get out” of the gaze. Parents feel that Jack reads others
expressions and is able to tell when they are mad or sad. He is also able to tell when his twin
brother, Carson, is upset. Parents feel that his expressions match his feelings. He will take his
parents’s hand to lead them to what he wants. He shakes his head no.
Parents reported that Jack has friends that he tells them about. They stated he will play with
Nick from next door and also with LG from his class. Zack is another friend parents mentioned.
Carson, Jack’ brother, is his best friend. When the twins have friends over, Jack's play tends to
be more independent, rather than interactive. When peers come to the house he will hug them
or show them something and then go and play by himself. Parents reported that Jack loves little
kids and knows to be gentle with them. They described a recent situation at the school carnival
in which Jack was standing in line behind two boys his age, instead of approaching the boys or
interacting with them he stiffened up, stuck out chest and started fidgeting with his ears.
Parents report that when presented with a new situation or play opportunity, Jack will observe
first and then join when he feels comfortable.
Parents reported that Jack will share at times (for example, a picture he has drawn). When he’s
proud, he’ll stick out his chest and you can see if all over his face. If he sees a commercial of a
lego toy he wants, he will tell his mom that they need to go to the store and get it. Parents feel
he can tell when they are proud of him. He will give them a high 5 or hug, but does not initiate
it. When Jack wants to share something he will say, “I need to tell you something.” What he
has to share tends to be something that he’s been thinking about, rather than wanting to show
them something. They stated that he never gets excited about bringing something home from
school.
Parents reported that Jack struggles with letting others lead. He will share if he initiates and if it
is his rules. He tends to observe first and then engages if he is comfortable (computer, Star
Wars, soccer). They stated that he does show concern when other people are hurt. He will give
hugs, wants to talk about what happened (the facts) and see it. He cannot do conversational
turn taking because he will not wait for his turn. If he gets hurt, he will seek out comfort and
seems to need to through the comfort routine of getting a band-aid. Jack will state “Daddy it
makes me sad when you take my toy away.”
Teacher Input:
Jack’ general education teacher, Kelly Bishop, (long term substitute) reported that eye-to-eye
gaze is sometimes good but more often it is not, especially relative to peers (but there is not
much interaction with peers). She stated that when he comes to tell her something he will
make eye contact with her. She sees multiple facial expressions including an occasional smile,
frustration, tensing and a neutral expression. It was also reported that he does seem to pick up
on the teacher’s non-verbals (look), but not enough to alter his behavior.
Ms. Bishop reported that there is not much interaction with peers at school. Any interaction
that occurs is about rough housing with his brother. Jack does not seem to seek out his brother,
but if his brother walks by him or sits near him he will interact with him in a physical manner. At
recess he will occasionally join in a soccer match or a football game and seems to fit in. He is
not engaged during group time on the floor and does not interact with the peers around him.
He tends to remove himself during this time to a quiet area in the classroom. The teacher
stated that Jack is not disruptive during center rotation time when he is with a small group of
two other students. He is able to complete independent work first thing in the morning.
The teacher reported that Jack and his brother recently brought in some Spider Man books to
school and were excited about them. Jack does bring things up to the teacher to show what he
has done or made. He does not do this with his peers. When Jack and his brother brought in a
birthday snack his brother picked two friends to help pass out the snack and Jack picked two
girls that were seated right next to him.
Ms. Bishop reported that she has not seen any response by Jack to peers being upset. Jack will
inadvertently hurt kids because he is not in control of his body and when teacher calls him over
to talk about it, he gives a loud and quick “sorry.” She has to prompt it to be more purposeful.
She has never heard him ask peers anything or show interest in what they are doing. She does
see some conversation with his brother.
Evaluation Team Report:
In a one-on-one situation with his speech therapist, Jack generally displayed good eye contact
with smiles. During classroom observation he did not return an evaluator’s social smile or
wave. Jack was observed to raise his hand twice to ask a question about the story being read in
the classroom. He gave the teacher a thumbs up sign after she requested it from the class. Jack
smiles when engaged in physical play with his brother, Carson. Otherwise in the classroom
there were limited interactions with peers. He tended to have a blank, neutral look. During the
ADOS he glanced and smiled at the examiner on several occasion.
Interactions with peers were limited throughout observations. Interactions with his brother,
who is in his class, was limited to physical activity. He did not appear to have an awareness of
when a peer was upset with him or when he bumped into a peer. During an observation, a
peer came over and said something to Jack, but he made no noticeable acknowledgment of the
peer. When Jack was on the couch, a peer was looking at a book on the floor near the couch,
and Jack leaned over in front of the boy to look at the book, appearing to not realize the peer
was there or that he was in his space. The peer had to say “Jack” to get him to move. Jack was
not observed to interact with his two center partners, although they were observed to interact
with each other. Jack gave no indication of interest in them. Jack did interact with the teacher
two times during center time to state when peers were not following the rules. In doing this it
appears that Jack has limited acknowledgment of peers, but seems aware of where they are
and what they are doing. Interactions with peers were limited to pointing to letters on a peer's
shirt, asking a peer a question for the purpose of getting the letters to her name (to do at rice
table), and going up behind a boy in his class to rub his ears (the boy shrugged him off). During
music class Jack was given preferential seating next to the music teacher after he repeatedly
engaged in physical activity with his brother (five times). Once next to the teacher, Jack scooted
himself back and away from the group and did not engage in any of the group music activities
or interact.
Jack was observed to engage with speech therapist during a speech session, smiling and adding
to the story with the speech therapist's lead. During an observation he put a paper in front of
the observer’s face, but gave no verbal response when asked what he was showing. Peer
interactions appeared to be limited to getting his need fulfilled, for example, his stuffed animal
battled another peer’s stuffed animal, but there were no interactions with the peer. He did on
one occasion show his teacher a work page he had finished.
During the ADOS, Jack responded to questions asked by the examiner, however the examiner
had to carry the conversation. He responded during his speech therapy session to the speech
therapist stating “I had a really good breakfast this morning” with “what did you have? He did
not respond to two other “statement starters” that she posed. During the ADOS, he responded
to examiners “I have a favorite sport” by asking “what is it,” to which she responded
“basketball.” He followed this with an appropriate response about basketball. With his peers,
Jack appears passive and either walks away when communicative attempts are made or doesn't
respond. On the ADOS, most communication was either object-oriented or in response to
questions. In music class and in the classroom he did not participate in chorale responses. It
appears that if you frame the conversation in order to prompt him he responds, but he is not
making the social overtures himself.
Impairment in reciprocal social interactions?
 YES
 NO
Criteria (2 of 4 required):
 Marked impairments in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors, such as eye-to-eye
gaze, expressions, body postures, gestures
 Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to this student’s developmental
level
 Marked impairment in spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or
achievements with other people
 Marked impairment in the areas of social or emotional reciprocity