Case Study of a 14-Year-Old Student with a Complex Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Profile: Psycho educational Data and Educational Intervention

This study thoroughly evaluates the psychological and educational aspects of a 14-year-old boy going to a public school in the Greece. In general, the youngster shows a rather complicated profile with a mixture of relative cognitive strengths such as verbal comprehension and fluid reasoning, however, he has working memory and processing speed weaknesses. Besides, he is experiencing emotional and social problems, which manifest themselves through performance anxiety, peer social hesitance as well as inwardly directed behaviors. Moreover, the student struggles with attention-demanding and complex problem-solving tasks under time pressure or written language assignment. Various methods were used to collect data, including standardized tests (WISC-V, behavior rating scales), classroom observations, discussions with teachers, and interviews with family members, thus providing a full picture of the child's abilities and problems. It was found that the student thrives in an environment with a fixed schedule, gets instructions and ideas and is given the chance to explain what he knows. He tends to interact with very few people, revealing his social relations to small groups rather than large ones. A set of interdisciplinary recommendations have been developed after the assessment, which include various tiers of intervention focusing on cognitive assistance, emotional regulation, and social skills that combine scientifically validated strategies and inclusive education principles. Among other things, conveying the message via scaffolds to help the student with his limited working memory, cognitive-behavioral interventions to alleviate anxiety levels, learning with the help of peers to boost one's social skills, and using technology for augmenting the processing speed capability. The paper highlights the need for comprehensive assessment and joint teacher-psychologist-family decision-making to help the student academically, socially and emotionally.