Ryan Miller

Parent Interview #1: 1. What is your childs name, grade, and age? - Her daughter is ________ she is a freshman in college at Wartburg College in Waverley, IA. - She is majoring in Music Therapy. 2. What disability do they have? - When she was five she was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. When she was 8 or 9 years old didnt have the same typical characteristics. It looked more like a learning disability. 3. Do they have other siblings? Do they go to the same school? - She has a younger brother. They went to the same school for 2 years while in elementary school. 4. What type of school setting is your child in (gen ed, pull out, sped?)? - In elementary school she had an aide with her and back then that was pretty common. She would do well in an inclusive classroom and had the aide until 6th grade. Also during K-6 she had a resource room where she would go to until 6th grade. - Then after that she was in all general education classrooms. She had an IEP until 10th grade with no additional support. She is on her own at Wartburg and if she needs help they have a tutoring center for any student that attends the college. 5. How has she been doing with the transition to college? (Question for this interview only) - She loves it and was ready to go to school because she wanted the full college experience. It is harder than high school because it has a lot of writing, which is not her strength. Although in high school she did take AP English and _________ says that is a cakewalk compared to college. _________ plays the violin in the orchestra at Wartburg and that is one of her strengths. _________ is also doing well because of the small class sizes; the largest one is about 20 students. 6. As a parent, what did you want from your childs teachers? - At first it was really hard because we didnt think she belonged with her general education peers. However, the teachers were great and said she would learn best with her peers. - She told me that it is good for teachers to have high expectations for all their students. Also that parents need to hear that from their teachers. It is great when teachers encourage that. In kindergarten _________ had weird behaviors and then in 1st grade appeared to be more typical of the grade.

7. Have you ever had any struggles with your IEPS? If so, what has been your biggest struggle with them? - She never really had any problems. She said it really helped when _________ was growing up with deficit in speech that they were able to talk to mostly the speech pathologist. The mother said how she and the speech pathologist talked all the time on the phone and via email. They had a strong relationship that developed naturally. When giving advice to me she said it is important to get to know at least one of the members of IEP team. - The only problem with IEP team the family had was 5th to 6th grade when reading comprehension big deficit for _________. The family wanted _________ to have extended school year services to met her reading goal and the school didnt agree. From that point they set up a meeting with the resource teacher and explained what she needed (extending school year). The family told the school if she did not get the services she would regress over the summer and so the family got the services _________ needed in the end. 8. How has your childs disability affected your family socially? Emotionally? Financially? And professionally? - Socially, not now at all. When _________ was younger it was hard. When _________ was between 3-5 she displayed many odd behaviors. The mother and her husband tended not to go out as much, but now it hasnt affected them. - Emotionally, the parents first knew something was different when _________ was 2. Took her for a screening at a school district when they lived in Illinois and they said she needed an evaluation, which was hard. They had no idea the evaluators considered _________on autism spectrum disorder. When these results came in they wanted her to follow up with a special education professional and a doctor. It was hard for the parents because it was a total shock. Early on they went to a support group for children with autism and that really helped. - Financially, both parents worked in Chicago. They both had an hour commute both ways. They could not both do this with _________. They then moved back to Davenport to make it easier with one salary because the mother decided to stay home with _________. Around this same time the mother would take _________ to Augustana College for speech support twice a week. Then in the summer in 1st grade through sixth grade the mother would take _________ to speech therapy to Augustana again and these were all out of pocket expenses. Also another expense included the trips back and fourth to Iowa City for doctors appointments. - Professionally, the mother worked at the time _________ was born for a corporate rent a car company in Illinois. Then when the family went back to Davenport she didnt work. However, she has her current job for the AEA because her child has a disability. For the past ten years she has been working with families for children with disabilities. This job was a 360 turn from what she was doing before. Before the mother told me she really did not have that much of a background on children with disabilities.

9. Are you married? What has your husband done to offer support? Husbands strengths? - Yes, she says he is the stronger parent in this case. The mother would have bad days especially in the transition from preschool to kindergarten and from Elementary to middle school. Her husband during these times was a really good founding board to let her just vent and talk about her worries. She told me that he is good listener. 10. What are your strengths? - She told me that she is patient. She doesnt expect perfection and she is pretty laid back. However, she expects her children to try their hardest and be best they can be. The mother told me that from her work experience dealing with parents she is and has to be a good listener. 11. What is your biggest fear with your child down the road? - She knows that _________ has a bright future and does not really have any fears down the road. She has the same fears that any other parent with a child in college may have.

12. What comforts you at the end of the day? - The mother thinks back to the day _________ was diagnosed and it was like a death sentence for them. She dreams both her kids will go to school. When first found out about _________s diagnosis the mothers dreams were shattered and she went through grieving. However, looking back on it she sees it definitely was NOT a death sentence but a blessing. _________ got the support she needed and was in the top 10% of her graduating class out of 400 students. She is now going on to college and is going to have a career. Both parents know she is doing the best she can and is going to have a meaningful life.

Any questions for me? - At the end she gave me just a little more advice as a future teacher. She told me that parents just want to be acknowledged. They just want to know that teachers care. The more compassion you show the better relationship you will have. Thank you for your time I really appreciate this.

Summary of Interview #1: My first interview was with a mother who works for the AEA in Davenport and she has a daughter. _________ is a freshman in college at Wartburg College. _________ was diagnosed with PDD-NOS around the age of 2. The mother described finding out about _________s diagnosis as a death sentence. She really started to grieve immediately, but her husband helped keep her positive and helped her stay strong. She said one thing that was also particularly helpful was a focus group for parents that have children on the autism spectrum. The mother said how _________ displayed unusual behaviors until around first grade. Early on the mother told me how _________ had the most trouble with speech. The mother would drive _________ to speech therapy at Augustana College twice a week from 1st to 6th grade. This also included the summers, which was out of pocket spending. _________ in elementary school was mainly in the general education classroom, but would be pulled out to the special education resource room for a few things, such as speech. However, by 6th grade _________ was fully included in the general education classroom. By the time _________ reached 10th grade she also no longer needed an IEP. She also was enrolled in such classes as AP English and ended up graduating in the top 10% of her class. _________ wanted the entire college experience and felt entirely ready to do so. _________ currently is a freshman at Wartburg College where she is majoring in music therapy. At Wartburg she also plays violin in the orchestra. According to the mother_________ is really enjoying her experience and is doing fairly well with the academics. She says that she has to write a lot more than high school, but she is getting by.

The mother thinks that _________s future is truly looking bright and has only the same fears that any parent with a student in college may have. The mother left me with some final advice at the end of the interview. She told me that parents just want to be acknowledged. They just want to know that teachers care. The more compassion you show the better relationship you will have. I thought that this statement was incredibly powerful and just shows how important parent-teacher relationships are. After this interview with the mother I felt that I had new insight as a teacher that will really benefit me in the future.

Parent Interview #2: 1. What is your childs name, grade, and age? - The mothers childs name is _______he is in 3rd grade and is 9 years old. 2. What disability do they have? - He has thinning of the Corpus Callosum. This is the area of the brain that connects the two hemispheres. In _______s case his signals have difficulties crossing and so his signals are misfiring. This makes him impulsive because his brain says one thing and signal mixes up and he will do another. 3. Do they have other siblings? Do they go to the same school? - He has four siblings and _______ is the second oldest. He does not go to the same school as them. He goes to Westwood Elementary School in Ankeny for his needs and his siblings go to their home school, Crocker Elementary in Ankeny. Crocker 4. What type of school setting is your child in (gen ed, pull out, sped?)? - He is in a level three self contained classroom with a one on one aide at all times. He does integrate with the general education population for specials and for morning for check-in. At times he may go in for reading with his aide. However, large groups of students are overwhelming for him. When everyone says hello to him he gets overwhelmed and wants to leave. 5. What did you want from teachers? - They want the teachers to work on many life skills with _______. For example, the mother wants teachers to teach _______to learn functional words instead of looking at sight list words. She wants him to be able to read men and women signs for the bathroom, instead of core standards and wants him to learn self help skills. For example, he is learning how to cook and works with math in that way because it is being made more functional. 6. Have you ever had any struggles with your IEPS? If so, what has been your biggest struggle with them? - The mother said that they have been lucky and have had no problems. They did have one small issue where the school thought _______should move to a different school. But the mother and her husband fought for him to stay with the same teacher and classroom and the school decided to keep him where he is at. 7. How has your childs disability affected your family socially? Emotionally? Financially? And professionally? - Socially, pretty big because they cant do much as a family based on _______s anxiety. He loves sports but he cant go to games because he gets overwhelmed and because of his impulsiveness. This is one of the reasons _______ recently moved to a group home. - Emotionally, it has been hard. The family is all on edge because of him including his siblings. No one knows when he may tackle one of the other siblings or run

out into the street. Everyone is on edge and up tight because of this impulsiveness. She told me it is honestly more peaceful when he isnt here because he requires constant care. Although he does sleep through the night pretty well. Financially, it has not affected the family much. There are no outrageous medical costs, nothing that Medicare does not cover. Professionally, the mother stays at home because she has five kids. She was working before _______ was born, but her husband still works.

8. Are you married? What has your husband done to offer support? Husbands strengths? - Yes, he provides a lot of emotional support because he is more positive and offers support. When deciding to go to group home the mother said she was crying and didnt want it but he said it would be best. Also once they saw how great the home was for him they both agreed it would be best. The mother told me how he is right down the street. 9. What are your strengths? - The mother said her strengths are doing the daily stuff with _______ and doing what needs to be done for him. She is good at making sacrifices to keep him stable. 10. What is your biggest fear with your child down the road? - The mother said her biggest fear is for _______ to be able to function on his own. She worries who advocate and take care of _______ when her and her husband are gone because she doesnt think he will ever live alone. She just wants _______ to have some normalcy in his life and for him to hold a job. The mother told me they have a larger family to not put the burden on one child to help and care for _______ later in life. 11. What comforts you at the end of the day? - She said seeing all of her kids sleeping in their beds safely and having peace and quiet comforts her at the end of the day. She told me she is lucky to have lots of family support from both her parents and from her husbands parents physically and emotionally. Any questions for me? - No. Thank you for your time I really appreciate this.

Summary of Interview #2: After my first interview my next interview had a completely different tone. Since the mother had a child that was younger the future for her son seemed more unknown. She has a son named _______who is a nine year old in 3rd grade. He has a thinning Corpus Callosum and this is the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres. The mother told me that this means _______s brain will tell him to do one thing but he will do something completely different and so he is very impulsive. _______ has 4 siblings and was the 2nd child born. He goes to Westwood Elementary School, while his bothers and sisters all go to Crocker Elementary School. He goes to Westwood based on his needs because there he is in a level three self contained classroom. He only goes into the general education classroom for specials and for morning check-in. He will sometimes go in the general education classroom for reading, but all the other students usually will overwhelm him. As I talked to the mother further she seemed to have no real problems with _______s school and teachers. She really did stress that they focus on teaching life skills for _______. This is doing such things as when teaching him to read teach him to read things such as the mens and womens signs for bathrooms. Then when teaching him math the mother wants teachers to teach him the math that relates to learning how to cook. Through the interview I could tell how much the mother and her husband loves all of her children including _______. I could really tell she struggled when she told me that _______ recently has moved into a home where he can get the care he needs around the clock. The family still visits him and he goes to the familys house after school, but around bedtime he goes to his home. The mother explained to me that when _______ is at their house

the entire family seems to be on edge and anxious. This is caused by _______s impulsiveness. The family does not know when he may run out into the street or tackle one of his siblings. The mother also shared with me her fears with _______ down the road and this was definitely something that differed from my first interview because the mother thinks _______ will never be able to live alone. The mother shared with me that part of the reason she had so many kids was to not put the burden on one sibling down the road to help and care for _______. All the mother wants for _______ down the road is to be happy in life and to live a mostly normal life with a job. However, the mother is thankful to have her husband supporting her through all of this as well as her parents and her husbands parents helping physically and emotionally along the way.

Overall impact summary of both interviews: The interviews I had were completely different in the tone, with the childs age, disability, the way the family functions, and much more. I really thought this was a good thing for me to see though as a future educator. Each individual interview helped me as a future teacher, but seeing the two together and comparing them shows me the different family dynamics that exist and how age can play a huge difference in how the parent responds to questions. These interviews really helped me because I got to talk to the first mother who had an older child and whose child had a lot of growth during her years in school. In the beginning the first mother was very negative, but now she has few worries about her child. While on the other hand in my interview with the mother she had more worries and did not know what the future held. When I am a teacher I will be teaching the younger students and so many of the parents I work with may be worried about their childs future. Therefore, as a teacher I really need to be positive with my parents and offer them any resources that I believe can help them. The advice that the first mother really helped me at the end because she told me what teachers should do when working with parents. She told me to show compassion towards the child because the parent wants to see from the teacher is that you care. I will make sure to do this for all of my students through open communication, offering resources to the family, and by sharing the childs accomplishments at school. In addition, the mother gave me good insight as well. She told me what she wanted from teachers when it came to teaching _______ life skills because that is what he will need. I think that as a teacher I need to listen to what the parent wants for their child because in the end it will be to the childs

benefit and will take some of the burden off the parent. I will need to make sure to adapt my lessons to teach the child what needs to be taught as well as listening to what the parent wants. This will require me to be an active listener as a teacher and to sit down and work with some of my lessons and units with the parent to best teach the all of my students. Overall I need to make sure I am teaching all of my students to the best of my ability. In order to do this I will need to work with the parents and have open lines of communication to get an insight of what they want for their child and of their family dynamics. Every student will have a different story, different disability, and different parents and by being aware of that and establishing a relationship with every family will benefit me greatly as a future teacher and these interviews really showed me that.