Cindy (pseudonym) is an eight-year-old African-American female who is in 3rd grade and has attended the after-school program since May 2016 at Hope Gardens Community Center (HG) in Brooklyn, New York. HG provides after-school programs for pre-K to high school students. Cindy appears to be slightly shorter and skinnier than her peers and always wears a neatly maintained school uniform. When the intern initially met Cindy, she was quiet but expressed her opinions lucidly. The after-school program teacher referred Cindy to art therapy due to her self-harm ideations and attempts. It is reported that she verbalized a desire to “disappear” and wished she did not “exist.” She scratched her arm to harm herself and threatened to smash her …show more content…
Cindy asks her mother about her father on holidays, such as if he is coming or not. Cindy’s mother does not have a new partner and is very protective of her daughter. Her mother stopped working so she can be present and support her daughter. They currently receive Food Stamps, which provides food assistance for low-income New Yorkers in supplementing the cost of their diet with nutritious foods. Her mother is very invested in supporting and finding support services for her daughter. Cindy recently lost her dog and cat; she mentioned that her mother gave them away and did not know the reason. The art therapy session is held every Tuesday at a small space in the gym. When the intern picked her up from her class, she did not look the intern and walked fast to the art therapy room. At the room, she stated that she had a “worst day at everywhere.” The intern checked in with her, but she did not share in detail. A sample of a doll and art materials were provided. Cindy asked the intern if she can take it to home, and the intern reminded her the rules. She did not respond and began to make the doll without words. Cindy appeared to be unmotivated to do art but followed the direction. In the process, Cindy required an assistance of the intern because of her clumsy hand movement. While the intern helped her, she expressed the feeling of frustration. She often mentioned “you do it… you are much better than me... you make it
Samantha Cortez Garcia (born April 20, 2000), Sam, is a Mexican- American sophomore student currently attending Mckay High School. She first began her career as a student at the age of five attending Washington Elementary as a kindergarten student.
In the case of Cindy Countess, severely mentally ill best fits her, because she had been “prescribed to Paxil to help in her mental illness that was like her mom” (FilmRise). According to Dr. Heide, “severely mentally ill offender suffers from irrational thinking and behavior” (CriminologyTV). Countess clearly was thinking irrationally after taking Paxil and that led to her behavior of mixing Paxil with alcoholic drinks and from there killed her mom in the bathroom. In my opinion, the best verdict for Countess would be second degree murder, because it was a killing done impulsively without premeditation. Countess also did not recall her killing towards her mom, due to the amount of Paxil that she took in addition to having alcoholic drinks
A documentary by Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush, known as A Place at the Table, talks about food insecurity in America. The documentary starts off by showing different people in America not knowing when their next meal is. This theme continues by showing the story of Barbie Izquierdo, a single mother who has trouble feeding her children and barely survives on food stamps. The documentary shows Barbie taking part of a program called witness to hunger raising awareness for food insecurity in America. Barbie manages to get a job working to help people qualify for food stamps. Sadly Barbie no longer qualifies for food stamps and can barely afford to feed her children on her current paycheck.
Elizabeth Avila’s is Mexican American middle age, divorced mother and employed as an elementary school teacher; also ex-wife to Javier Avila’s. She prepares Thanksgiving dinner for her family. Elizabeth and the ex-husband Javier Avila’s have a distant relationship and he no longer lives in the house; they are divorced. Elizabeth appears to be a strong mother who has moved forward with her life. She works with a teacher who appears to be a nice gentleman that cares for her. The boyfriend has never met the family until the Thanksgiving holiday. As a single mother, Elizabeth continues to advise her two young adult children on how to live their lives and how she is going to lead her own life. She has fused relationship with her mother, Emma, Anthony and Gina; they all have a great connection. Elizabeth and the children get along without the father Javier, who left without any contact and never
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston, Hurston, the author uses figurative language to compose images to express her theories on love and freedom and how they affect happiness. Janie Mae Crawford struggles to find the love freedom she has longed for her whole life and finally receives it, due to the loss of Jody Starks and the discovery of Tea Cake. Janie is telling the story of her life to her friend Phoebe and explaining all of the events that lead up to her return to the town she once called home. Janie experiences her first burst of freedom when she finally decides to run away her first husband Logan Killicks after a massive fight. “A feeling of sudden newness and change came over her.
Ironically, the person Melinda finds as the outlet to help her express her feelings is her art teacher, Mr. Freeman. In a class assignment, Melinda is assigned to create an art project based on a tree. She begins to express her inner angst through this art project. At one point, she uses dried bones to sculpt a picture of a skeleton. Then she glues broken knives and forks to the project so that the bones look like the plastic utensils are stabbing them. It is a grim depiction of how Melinda feels, and is immediately praised by Mr. Freeman.
REPORTER: The reporter/Intake Worker (Sandra) called with concerns for the victims, Keziah and Audia. On today (01/05/2016), Dorothy McLaurin (maternal great grandmother) reported that after Regina (mother) got out of prison (unknown when), she allowed her to come and live with her. Within a few months of staying there, Dorothy asked Regina to leave because she was bringing different guys to the home. Regina admitted to using marijuana, but Dorothy has never witnessed her using drugs (marijuana) in front of the children. Regina is selling her food stamps for drugs (marijuana). The reporter said the children sleep in the room with Regina, and it is not clean; there is clothing and clutter in the room. Kaziah has out grown her bed, and Regina
Audrey (age 10) has lived with her foster mother (Ms. Gomez) and four other non-kin foster children for one year. Due to neglect, she was removed from her mother’s care when she was eight years old. Audrey has weekly contact with her biological mother, but no contact with her biological father or siblings. She says that she feels welcomed and comfortable in Ms. Gomez’ home, but expects to live with her biological mother and siblings in the future. Audrey believes things would be different when she returns to live with her biological mother because her father will not be there to be mean to her and her mother. She also said, “I will never complain again about my daddy or anyone else, and then I won’t have to worry about the social
Sally takes a big risk immigrating to Canada. She leaves her relatives, culture, and language behind in China. Sally meets a kind elderly couple, Elizabeth and Joe who invite her to their apartment for a cup of tea and watch the fireworks. They are generous and even offer her a free refurbished vacuum. However, the conversation becomes stressful for Sally when Joe judges single mothers in his apartment building, “ ‘Do they know it’s their responsibility to educate their kids? Especially, some of them don’t even go to work, they live on welfare’ “ (38). Although Sally could have simply ignored Joe’s comments, she “decides to take a chance” (39). This is a significant moment in the text because Sally risks losing her friends and being misunderstood. This is a very fearful situation for an immigrant living in another country because it can make her feel isolated. In response, Sally tells Elizabeth and Joe that she is divorced and single mother. In regards to single mothers in general, “Perhaps the single mothers in your building have circumstances you don’t know about. Perhaps they are struggling against their personal crises. Perhaps they need advice, just as I did with the vacuum cleaner” (42).
Sarah’s mom suffered from effects related to diabetes and passed away and her father passed away from cardiac dysfunction. Also, Sarah and her husband begin to have problems with her marriage. In her early 40’s, I decided that Sarah and her husband were in an unhealthy relationship and needed to file for divorce and live separate lives. She begins to focus more on herself and being with her children and close friends after the divorce. Ten years later, Sarah finds a new romance and is again married. At this point in adulthood, Sarah’s children are all grown up at this point in adulthood. Hannah graduated from school, gotten married, and has a child named Lucy. Sarah’s other child Will, has gone to college and is attending a top-ranked program for engineering. Sarah’s health must be watched closely during this stage in adulthood because previous stressors in her life caused significant weight changes earlier on in adulthood. As Sarah enters late adulthood, she comes to terms with her identity and is always finding new ways to engage in different
Mothers are great people to have in young children’s lives. Maggie’s and Dee’s mother kills cows for them to have food on the table. She makes sure she can cook and be strong for her daughters. No matter what problem they have, their mama makes sure they are safe. Their Mama and mine share the similarities of how hardworking our mothers are. Since I am the first child, it was just me and my mother in one apartment where she worked two jobs to make a living. Then when my sister came along, my mother went back to college to get a better job. She put us before herself and she was just 30 years old. The mother in “Everyday Use” has a favorite child, and it is Dee. The difference between my mother and Dee’s mother is that my mother did not have a favorite. My mother treated her daughters with equal respect and equal amounts of
A. Case: James had a very difficult time in Kindergarten. He could not perform simple functions such as cutting, drawing, and writing. His teacher said that he had trouble staying in his seat and paying attention. Instead, he often spent his 4 hours a day in class laying on the floor under the table or wandering aimlessly through the classroom touching everything. James was unable to stay on task no matter what he chose to do.
Although Twyla and Roberta both struggled with mother issues, they develop different reactions yet similar solutions to their troubles. During her stay at the youth shelter,
The Sanchez family is the typical Latino family that you find in most neighborhoods. The mother, Celia Sanchez doesn’t speak English since she’s surrounded by people who speak Spanish. As a Latino mother she’s very religious attends church and participates in church events where she gets food as well. Since Celia’s English is limited this was an impediment during school conferences and other situations that she has faced. Celia wants to apply for food stamps but her husband Hector doesn’t agree and is completely against it. I kind of understand where Hector is coming from being the man of the house he feels that he needs to provide for his family and thinks he’s responsible for everyone. Thus, he doesn’t leave room for additional help and wants to everything himself.
They didn’t notice that her smile was fake, her expression - pained, and the deep, raging sadness in her eyes every time her father dismissed her opinion or made a fake gagging sound at something she wanted to buy. Nor did they notice how he didn’t protest when the injured child put her hands on the bag of groceries, offering to be the one to carry it to their vehicle; instead he just arrogantly nodded in her direction, as if telling her to carry it.