Cassie Observation
Cassie Observation Transcript
Sara:
Now we'll look at clips from video we took when we were observing Cassie in a familiar environment: her classroom. Most of the clips are during Cassie's regular routines. We did have a little time to try some things with her in her classroom, which is when you'll see her playing with me and Lynne. We recorded our thoughts on the sheet called "Observation Information"
In clip 1 we see Cassie playing with a keyboard and not looking at her actions at all. It isn't apparent whether the keyboard was making any noise. We can definitely hear another electronic toy that doesn't seem to be controlled by what Cassie is doing. Let's watch clip 1.
[video clip 1]
>Cassie: Stand up.
Sara:
So we marked that one on our Observation data sheet under "complexity" since the sensory environment, tactual and maybe auditory, seemed to compete and win out over Cassie's use of vision.
Lynne :In clip 2 we see Cassie checking her calendar with her teacher. Her teacher has paired an object with a picture for the activity that they are "finishing," which I believe they refer to as "Listen." The picture is a single color photo of a pinkish-red colored square on a black background, probably a cd case, and it is very non-complex. It is also laminated and shiny, which may play a factor in Cassie's looking, if she is drawn to things that are shiny. Cassie brings the photo close to her face and tilts her head slightly back while looking. Let's watch clip 2.
[video clip 2]
[stomping sounds]
>Teacher: CD?
>Cassie: Is...finished.
>Teacher: Finished?
Lynne:
We marked that clip in the row called "Field preferences" since she seemed to bring the picture into the field identified by the interview, and in "Complexity," because she held it so close to her face, as she might have been blocking some of the background in order to see the two-dimensional image.
Sara:
Clip 3 shows Cassie during her hygiene routine. Cassie is sitting in front of a sunny window, where she does this routine. She seems to be drawn toward the light, but then has a squinting response. The light seems attractive but also unpleasant. Cassie is holding the toothpaste tube and shakes it in front of her own face. We noticed that the toothpaste tube had a striped pattern on it with a dark pink, a white, and an aqua stripe. A familiar song, "Quack quack" is playing. That song is a regular part of the hygiene routine: they actually refer to hygiene as "Quack quack." Let's watch the clip.
[video clip 3]
[music playing]
Sara:
We marked that one in "Color" because Cassie seemed to be drawn to the striped pattern. We also marked that in "Need for movement," since she shakes the tube while looking, and in "Light" because of her attraction to the bright light.
Lynne:
Clip 4 shows Cassie in the same area being attracted visually to the shadow of the blinds on the wall, which creates a striped pattern. She shows this interest by reaching for the shadow. Again she looks toward the light and then squints in response to it.
[video clip 4]
>Teacher: Hi.
>Cassie: Off? Off?
>Teacher: [whispering] Off. We'll turn that off today. It's so bright. Ooooh, we are going to brush brushbrush.
Lynne:
We marked that information in "Color" because again, she is interested in the stripes and in "Light" because again, she has the same response as in Clip 3.
In clip 5 Cassie picks up an item from a complex array. It is hard to tell if she is doing this visually or tactually. The item she chooses is a single color. She picks it up and moves it around while looking at it.
[video clip 5]
>Teacher: Brush brushbrush?
Lynne:
We marked this information in "Color" and "Complexity."
Sara:
In clip 6, Cassie picks up another single color item from the same array. This time the item has a texture on it that creates a striped pattern. Cassie studies this for a bit.
[video clip 6]
Sara:
We marked our ideas again in "Color" and "Complexity."
In clip 7, Cassie is exploring a light purple comb. She looks at it, then begins exploring it tactually, but as she does this, she seems to stop looking at it. Then she looks again briefly after she is done feeling the comb. The comb pattern also creates stripes. Cassie then seems alternately attracted to and repelled by the light reflecting from the metal "finished" basket.
[video clip 7]
>Teacher: It was supposed to be on repeat.
>Cassie: [laughs] Finished. Finished. Finished? And...
>Teacher: It's finished.
Sara:
We marked that one in "Color" because it was an additional, single color item with stripes; in "Complexity" because the sensory environment competed with looking; and in "Light".
Lynne:
Clip 8 shows the sensory environment perhaps affecting Cassie's visually guided reach. She reaches towards a familiar item, her brush, on a non-complex background, the yellow sequence box. She looks away just before she makes contact with the brush. The music is also playing loudly.
[video clip 8]
>Teacher: Good job! Brush your hair?
Lynne:
We marked these observations in "Complexity" and in "Visually Guided Reach."
Clip 9 happens at the end of the routine and the hygiene music is turned off. This is the first time Cassie looks at her teacher's face during this routine. Cassie looks away as soon as the teacher vocalizes.
[video clip 9]
>Teacher: Quack quack off?
>Cassie: Finished?
>Teacher: Finished! Good job!
We marked that in "Complexity."
Sara:
In clip 10, we see Cassie looking very closely at Lynne's arm, which is moving while Lynne plays the accordion. The accordion is Cassie's favorite toy at school. Let's watch clip 10.
[video clip 10]
Sara:
We tried looking closely like Cassie did and found that the arm makes a big stripe, and thought that might be what Cassie was interested in. We marked this in "Color," and "Need for movement."
In clip 11, Cassie has left the area in which we were playing, then returns to ask for help getting on the swing. She find's my moving hand from about 15 feet, then pulls me over to request help.
[video clip 11]
Sara:
We marked that in "Need for Movement" and in "Distance Viewing."
Lynne:
Clip 12 shows Cassie's response to a striped pattern that I drew for her. The stripes are black and they are on white paper. Cassie's holds the item extremely close to her face. She opens her eyes wide and turns them up. She only examines the 2-d stripes briefly.
[video clip 12]
>Cassie: One.
>Teacher: Two. Three.
>Cassie: Finished.
>Teacher: Ok, thank you.
Lynne:
We marked this information in "Color" since there was some interest in the stripes; in "Field Preferences" because of where she places the item and holds her eyes; and in "Complexity" because she holds the item so close seemingly to block out the background. Also, once the talking starts, she lowers her eyelids and stops looking.
The next three clips are from a different observation of Cassie in the cafeteria, which is generally a very complex place. Cassie is able to use her vision surprisingly well in this environment.
Sara:
Clip 13 is very interesting. It shows Cassie on her way to the cafeteria. Cassie is able to navigate her route to the cafeteria, which is flat up until this point, but things break down on the stairs. Let's watch clip 13.
[video clip 13]
Teacher: Ooh! Two steps at a time! A daredevil!
Sara:
As you can see, Cassie basically closes her eyes and descends the stairs tactually. You can tell by the way she acts at the bottom of the stairs, reaching with her feet to see if there are more. She is getting information from her competing tactual sense in order to do this, so we marked this one in "Complexity." It also seems that stairs would be visually complex because they change as you move in relation to them. Even though you would think the stairs might look like a striped pattern, Cassie does not look at them. We also interpreted this as "Visually Guided Reach" because in this setting, Cassie is not able to look at and reach successfully with her feet to descend the stairs.
Lynne:
In clip 14, Cassie's teacher is asking her to pick up her milk. This is a noisy and visually complex environment, but Cassie is still able to find the milk carton, which is a complex, familiar, and favorite target. Also, her teacher draws Cassie's visual attention by moving the milk up to an easier to reach position and by moving her hand and tapping the milk, giving that movement to alert Cassie's visual system.
[video clip 14]
>Teacher: There's the milk! Milk.
Lynne:
We marked the information in this clip in "Movement," "Complexity," and "Visually Guided Reach," noting that Cassie looked away just before she touched the milk carton.
Sara:
In clip 15, Cassie is able to look at her teacher's face in the noisy cafeteria just briefly. Then when her teacher makes a sound, it seems to be too much for Cassie, and she looks away.
[video clip 15]
[Teacher leans in and makes silly sound]
Sara:
We marked this observation in "Complexity."