Course Highlights and Artifacts
With my professional path in mind, my coursework and artifacts have led me to explore transferable skills that are required to be an outstanding Child Life Specialist. Advocacy, for example, is a transferrable skill that I have grown my understanding in. In order to be a proper and beneficial advocate for a child, I will be aware of developmental and emotional stages of the child and their family. Communication is also a major transferable skill I have gained throughout my volunteer experience and work within my courses. When I work with children, I apply my knowledge on verbal and nonverbal communication. Not only is it important for me to understand what a child is communicating to me, but it is just as, if not more, important for a child to understand what I am communicating to them.
HDFS 2010
HDFS 3010
HDFS 1810
HDFS 2010, Lifespan Human Development in Family Context, assisted my studies in human development and family culture, from the beginning to the end of life. My knowledge on basic human development throughout the lifespan will strengthen my career goals as a Child Life Specialist by being able to communicate efficiently with all ages, in
any environment.
HDFS 3010, Child Development in the Family, focuses on development of
children from conception to adolescence. As a Child Life Specialist, it is vital to have
knowledge on social, emotional, cognitive, language, and physical development. I have
focused on how this development impacts relationships within families, which aids me in
positively impacting children and families in a hospital setting.
HDFS 1810, Introduction to the Field of Child Life, allowed me to be made aware of
the realities of what being a Child Life Specialist entails. This class will allow me to move
forward with more knowledge on certification and documentation requirements, as well as general child life skills like interpersonal abilities, flexibility, and emotional support.
This is an analysis of a topic derived from postpartum depression and its
correlation with lower urinary tract symptoms in their daughters. This paper was written in
HDFS 2010: Lifespan Development in the Family Context, in Spring 2025.
This artifact encompasses the importance of postpartum depression. Because
there is a correlation between maternal depression and lower urinary tract symptoms in
their daughters, it is important to shed light onto the impacts depression has on others.
This analysis displays my knowledge on the importance of awareness for mental health,
especially when it has an effect on children. To be the best Child Life Specialist I can be,
knowing that many bodily functions are oftentimes affected by factors that negatively
modify neurodevelopment skills. Being aware of the impacts of epigenetics will improve my care for children and their families, especially in a hospital setting. Environment plays a pivotal role in how people, of any age, respond to what is going on around them. As a Child Life Specialist, I will be able to help mothers find ways to positively affect their child’s behavioral skills and reach their emotional needs, even when feeling unsure or
apprehensive.
This is an analysis, written in HDFS 2010: Lifespan Development in the Family
Context, of the correlation between smartphone addiction in parents and poor emotional
regulation in children.
This artifact provides a comprehensive report of the negative impacts
smartphone addiction has on children. It encompasses my knowledge on the prominence
of being present with children and the negative impacts inattentiveness has on them.
Emotional regulation is a spectrum with a multitude of factors that play into it. Having
awareness on how emotional regulation could be altered is vital to do my job to the best of my abilities. As a Child Life Specialist, it is important to be aware of the negative impact smartphone addiction has on emotional regulation because this could directly affect children and their families. In order for my patients to properly regulate their own emotions and portray how they are feeling, I must be aware of how I can resolve uprising situations when children are being seen rather than heard. Acknowledging a parent-child relationship, secure or insecure, will give me the opportunity to focus on the child’s emotional development. Being aware of the emotional regulation of the child will permit me to give them the care they need, in the way I see best fit.
This is an essay that consists of observations of physical, cognitive, language, and socioemotional development in a 2-year-old female. This reflection was written in HDFS 3010, where I was able to learn more about what child development looked like, especially within a family.
I chose this report to display my observations on children around the age of 2. This report demonstrates my knowledge on the physical, cognitive, language, and socioemotional development that the average two-year-old experiences. Throughout this observation, I was able to effectively convey my understanding of fine and gross motor skills, Piaget’s sensorimotor and preoperational stages, verbal and nonverbal communication, and emotional self-regulation. This report connects to my career goals because the roles of a Child Life Specialist align perfectly with topics like Piaget’s stages, emotional self-regulation, and communication. Nonverbal communication, specifically, is important to master because facial expressions, body language, and eye contact, are just as, if not more, important than verbal communication. Child Life Specialists require skills and knowledge of these things in order to effectively communicate, whether that be with a
patient, a sibling, a parent, or a close friend. As much as these topics are important, I also deem it important to be open to exploring new things about my knowledge on development.