II. Examining the Development of an Adult with a Developmental Disability The following is the story

II. Examining the Development of an Adult with a
Developmental Disability The following is the story of Gloria. From a
developmental perspective, describe Gloria from the following viewpoints:

1. Child development

2. Personality development

3. Lifespan development

Glorias Life Story Gloria, a 53-year-old developmentally
disabled adult, was born with a moderate intellectual disability and with
cerebral palsy. Soon after her birth, her parents hospitalized her in an
institution for the developmentally disabled. She lived in this institution
until she was 31, at which

II. Examining the Development of an Adult with a
Developmental Disability The following is the story of Gloria. From a
developmental perspective, describe Gloria from the following viewpoints:

1. Child development

2. Personality development

3. Lifespan development

Glorias Life Story Gloria, a 53-year-old developmentally
disabled adult, was born with a moderate intellectual disability and with
cerebral palsy. Soon after her birth, her parents hospitalized her in an
institution for the developmentally disabled. She lived in this institution
until she was 31, at which time she was placed in a group home for individuals
with intellectual disabilities. During childhood, Glorias language development
was delayed. She could not speak in sentences until she was 4 years old. She
was not toilet trained until age 7. Although her parents would visit her
periodically, her main caretakers were the social service workers at the
institution. Gloria was schooled at the institution, where she acquired the
equivalent of a second-grade education. Gloria had few friends in the
institution and was considered a loner. Despite working on socialization skills
while in the institution, Gloria still prefers to be alone and depends much of
her time painting. She has become a rather good artist, and many of her
paintings are found in the institution and in the group home. Visitors often
comment on the paintings and are usually surprised that a person with an
intellectual disability can paint so well. Gloria has a part-time job at a
local art supply company, where she generally does menial work. Although Gloria
does have some friends at the group home and at the art supply store, when she
spends much time with someone, she often ends up having a temper tantrum. When
this happens, she will usually withdrawoften to her painting. Gloria generally
blames other people for her anger. Gloria is a rules follower. She feels very strongly
about the list of rules on the bulletin board at her group home. She
methodically reports people who break the rules. She always feels extremely
guilty after having a temper tantrum because she sees herself as breaking the
rule stating that one should talk things out rather than get into a fight. In
a similar vein, Gloria feels that laws are there for a purpose. For instance,
at street crossings she always stops at red lights and waits for the light to
change.

Gloria has no sense of her future. She lives from day to
day, and, despite periods of depression, generally functions fairly adequately.
She states that she wants to get married, but her lack of social skills
prevents her from having any meaningful relationships with men. Overall, the human
service professionals who have contact with Gloria describe her as a rigid,
conscientious, talented person who has trouble maintaining relationships. They
note that, despite being in individual counseling and in a socialization
support group, she has made little progress in maintaining satisfying
relationships. Their feeling is that she probably will maintain her current
level of functioning, and they see little hope for change.