Assignment #2 Case Study: Taylor

Taylor (they/them) is an 17-year-old male born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He comes from a middle-class their last year of high school and navigating the challenges and opportunities that come with emerging adulthood. Taylor is in the 12th grade at a public high school in Mississauga. Their school day typically starts around 8:30 AM and ends at 3:30 PM. They take a mix of core subjects, including math, science, and social studies. They also have elective courses like visual art and physical education. Taylor often relies on public transportation or carpools to get to school even though they has their driver’s license.

In terms of academic performance, Taylor is a diligent student, consistently achieving above-average grades. They take their studies seriously and focus on a long-term goal of attending a well-respected university to pursue a career in health science while playing tennis. They would love to earn a scholarship to continue playing tennis at a highly competitive level. Taylor participates in school activities, often participating in extracurricular activities.

In addition to their academic pursuits and extracurricular activities, Taylor is a dedicated and talented tennis player. They have been playing the sport since they were a young child and has developed their skills over the years. They are currently a key member of a highly competitive tennis club that competes in various regional and national tournaments. Taylor’s involvement in tennis is a significant part of their life and has been for a long time. Taylor practices and has matches several times a week and usually travels on weekends. Their commitment to the sport often means early morning practice, dedicated fitness training and late-night travel. Their parents, Priyanka, and Mark, are fully supportive of their tennis journey, attending matches and cheering them on from the stands, but their parents did not play a sport themselves and have some trouble understanding the complexities that come with tennis at this level.

Like many teenagers, Taylor faces the challenge of balancing school, extracurricular activities, and social life. They occasionally experience academic stress but have developed effective time management skills to cope with it. Taylor’s social life is a mix of in-person and digital interactions. They have a close-knit group of friends they have known since elementary school, and they often hang-out after school or on weekends whenever they have some free time. The friends enjoy activities like playing video games, going to the movies, or exploring Toronto’s diverse cultural scene, which includes trying out different ethnic cuisines in the city’s various neighbourhoods. Taylor often struggles to balance their social wants with a busy schedule.

Additionally, Taylor is active on social media platforms and chats with friends online. They use platforms like Instagram and Snapchat to share updates and stay connected. This digital presence is an integral part of their social life, as they keep up with trends, events, and the latest memes.

They also follow YouTubers and influencers with similar interests, contributing to this online community. This online presence takes a lot of their time and there are risks in terms of what they share online impacting their future.

Taylor’s family consists of their parents and a younger brother. Their mother, Priyanka, is a primary school teacher, while their father, Mark, works as a software engineer. They both value education and support Taylor’s athletic and academic goals. Their younger brother, Amal, is 11 years old and attends a local middle school. The family resides in a comfortable suburban house in Mississauga, just outside of Toronto. The family has a strong and supportive bond. Priyanka and Mark try to spend quality time with their children, even with their busy work schedules. They encourage open communication and have established a loving and nurturing environment for Taylor and Amal. The family celebrates two cultures with Priyanka’s family having immigrated from India and Mark being a second- generation Canadian. Priyanka was born in Canada, but her parents raised her in traditional Indian culture. Priyanka and Mark value a balanced approach to household chores and ensure that both children learn essential life skills. Taylor’s parents are actively involved in their life, providing emotional support, guidance, and encouragement. They praise their academic achievements and support their love for tennis. The family is aware of the many challenges teenagers face and have open conversations with both their children about their experiences, challenges, and aspirations. The parents hope that Taylor is being open and honest with them too, however, Taylor is holding a few things back about themself and the social life that has not been shared fully with his parents.

The Life Event that changed everything.

Tragically, while travelling to a match outside of the city, Taylor’s family was in a car accident. Taylor experienced a severe head injury and broke their right (dominate) wrist in the crash. The wrist break required surgery to be repaired, meaning Taylor was not able to play tennis for at least the rest of the season, if not longer. The brain injury resulted in a concussion that took many months to recover from and had long-term effects on Taylor’s language abilities. While the family sustained minor injuries, the crash has had a lasting effect on everyone.

After the surgery, they began an intensive rehabilitation program to regain as much functionality as possible in their wrist. Family, friends, and the community rallied behind Taylor, offering emotional support and assistance throughout their recovery.

The injury has had significant physical, psychological, and social impacts on Taylor. Adjusting to life without tennis and with diminished communication abilities has been a challenging and emotional journey for them. Taylor has experienced a range of emotions, including grief, frustration, and uncertainty about their future. The whole family have sought psychological counseling and physical and occupational therapy from professionals to help them all cope with the physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges that have arisen because of the accident.

Read the Case Study about Taylor

In a new word document, save the document under your name and assignment #2, answer the following questions by making connections to the course content or your own life with references from the course modules, assigned readings, or videos. Use the where, what and when method for citing where you are getting your information. Use numbers to organize your answers. Review the rubric before submitting. Please do not use the questions on your assignments. Double space.

It is important that you demonstrate your understanding of the issues presented in the case study by incorporating topics covered in the course and your own experience.

Part One: Case Analysis

1.  Family Dynamics:

How might Taylor’s relationships with their parents and younger brother influence their emotional development and the formation of their personal values and beliefs? How might growing up in a multi-race family influence the dynamics and relationships within the household? What role does open communication play in addressing cultural differences and similarities? How might the family be affected by the accident? Will relationships change?

Why or how?

2.  Secrets:

What might Taylor be afraid to share with their parents? Use a topic we have talked about in the course content to explain. Be creative and support why you think they might be afraid to share. Think about what we know about teens and Taylor.

3.  Social Development:

How does Taylor’s involvement in both in-person and digital social interactions contribute to the development of their social skills and peer relationships? How do these interactions shape their understanding of social norms (e.g., dating) and their sense of belonging within their peer group? What do you think might affect Taylor being a non-binary teen in Toronto?

4.  Life Event

Taylor has suffered an accident that will/may alter their life. This life event came with no warning. What are some ways that you can support someone during or after a major life event. Be specific about what you would do, what resource(s) you might use and how you think it might be helpful.

 

Part Two: Life Events -Biopyschosocial Framework

Identify and give an example/support of at least two (2) biological examples, two (2) psychological examples, and two (2) sociocultural examples that might influence Taylor after the life event of the accident. For this, you may want to consider the family situation, potential injury/illnesses, living environment, and genetics. Feel free to consider impacts to their current or future life. It is best practice to provide a source to support (reference) your answer.

Biological: Psychological: Sociocultural:

Assignment #2 – Taylor Rubric

Family Dynamics	Clear description of the family dynamics including	The student effectively uses	The student does not	Not enough
	relationships, values and multi-race challenges	some course-driven resources	use any relevant course-	detail is given or
	and the accident demonstrating a superior	to answer questions and	driven resources and	no connection to
	understanding by extensively using a variety of	appropriately cites relevant	relies solely on personal	the course
	course-driven resources, accurately citing them	materials. Some connection to	knowledge or unrelated	content (0)
	using where, what and when after each idea and	the course content is present.	sources. (1)
	going beyond the required scope with meaningful	(3)
	connections to the course/life. (5)
Secrets	The student discusses what Taylor’s secret could	The student effectively uses	The student does not	Not enough
	be with help from the course content, using	some course-driven resources	use any relevant course-	detail is given or
	examples and potential reasons why Taylor has	to answer questions and	driven resources and	no connection to
	not shared meaningful connections to the course/life, accurately citing them using where, what and when. (3)	appropriately cites relevant materials. Some connection to the course content is present. (2)	relies solely on personal knowledge or unrelated sources. (1)	the course content (0)
Social	A thoughtful, detailed look at the relationships	The student effectively uses	The student does not	Not enough
Development	now and in the future using a variety of course-	some course-driven resources	use any relevant course-	detail is given or
	driven resources, accurately citing them using	to answer questions and	driven resources and	no connection to
	where, what and when, and going beyond the	appropriately cites relevant	relies solely on personal	the course
	required scope with meaningful connections to	materials. Some connection to	knowledge or unrelated	content (0)
	the course/life (5)	the course content is present.	sources. (1)
		(3)
Life Event	Extensive details about the impact of the accident	The student effectively uses	The student does not	Not enough
	and multiple ways to support Taylor are thoughtful	some course-driven resources	use any relevant course-	detail is given or
	and course-driven, and referenced using where,	to answer questions and	driven resources and	no connection to
	what and when. (5)	appropriately cites relevant materials. Some connection to	relies solely on personal knowledge or unrelated	the course content (0)
		the course content is present.	sources. (1)
		(3)
Biological	Two or more relevant examples are clearly	One example is given –	Example is vague	Example is not
	supported with course related sources (2)	requires more support using	OR	biological and
		content and relevant (1)	Example is unsupported	was not
			(0.5)	supported to
				show relevance
				(0 marks)
Psychological	Two or more relevant examples are clearly	One example is given –	Example is vague	Example is not
	supported with course related sources (2)	requires more support using	OR	psychological
		content and relevant (1)	Example is unsupported	and was not
			(0.5)	supported to
				show relevance
				(0 marks)
Sociocultural	Two or more relevant examples are clearly	One example is given –	Example is vague	Example is not
	supported with course related sources (2)	requires more support using	OR	sociocultural
		content and relevant (1)	Example is unsupported	and was not
			(0.5)	supported to
				show relevance
				(0 marks)
Comprehension	The student exhibits a deep understanding of the	The student shows a fair	The student has a basic	The student
and Application	subject, integrating course-driven resources	comprehension of the subject	understanding of the	demonstrates a
	seamlessly into their responses to provide	and uses course-driven	topic but struggles to	limited
	comprehensive and insightful answers. (2)	resources to support some	apply course-driven	understanding
		answers. (1)	resources effectively in	of the subject
			their responses. (0.5)	matter. (0)
Conventions of Writing	Well written with no spelling or grammar errors (2)	Few spelling and grammar errors (1)		Multiple spelling and grammar errors (0)
Citations and References	In-text citations follow the where, what, and when accurately and a reference page is included at the end of the assignment. Please see resources or the Fleming Library for help (2)	Evidence of references is included – not proper format (1)		No references provided (0)

 

Word Count: 900-1000

No. of Pages: 5