Developmental Autobiography from a Global Perspective

I believe that my development as a child should be viewed from a global perspective. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory applies to me because dynamic interactions between various social, cultural, and economic backgrounds shaped my development (Kinnucan, 2013). I was influenced culturally by my Indian heritage. I was impacted socially by stuttering and growing up bilingual in Gujarati and English. I was influenced economically by growing up in a middle-class family in a suburban environment. From these various perspectives, I will analyze my developmental from infancy (birth- 1 year), toddlerhood (1-3 years), preschool age (3-6 years), and school age (6-12 years). I interviewed my father in order to gain information about my behavior and development from infancy to school age.
On July 14, 1993, a healthy baby boy was delivered by C-section and weighed 8 lb. 6 oz. According to my father, as a newborn I had all the reflex behaviors such as sucking, crying, rooting, and grasping (Kail, 2012, p.97). I contracted hypoglycemia from my mother who had developed diabetes during pregnancy. I was placed in the ICU for two days for treatment (H. Patel, personal communication, November 1, 2013). Afterwards, I could be breastfed, held by my mother, and stay in the same room as my mother. These factors lead to the development of a secure attachment to my mother. In addition, I did not have elaborate bed time rituals because I co-slept with my parents or grandparents as an infant, toddler, and preschooler (H. Patel, personal communication, November 1, 2013, Kail, 2012, p.100). In my childhood, my parents and maternal grandparents cared for me and I interacted extensively with my older sister. Compared to when my sister was an infant, I...

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... stuttering affected my English more than my Guajarati. Therefore, the social interactions with my family members remained constant. Fortunately, long-term speech therapy dramatically reduced my stuttering by the time I started high school. When I was school aged I started referring to my “blue blanket” as an object rather than a living object, corresponding to the concrete operational stage of development (Kail, 2012, p.177). My memory strategies developed throughout elementary school. In 1st and 2nd grade, I studied for spelling tests by rehearsal, writing each word 10 times. Later in 4th and 5th grade I started using more elaborate methods, such as mnemonics, in order to learn words (Kail, 2012, p. 211). In 4th grade I began to play the Tabla, Indian drums, which improved my fine motor skills because of the precise hand movements needed to make various sounds.