Family Interview Nichole Salvador EEX 5051 June 29, 2009

Pre-reflection: When this assignment was explained all that ran through my head was I don’t know anyone that comes from a different cultural background and has a child with a disability. When I went to work the next day I tried to think of who I could ask. Then I remembered a substitute that I had talked to early in the week who had a son that was deaf. I remembered her saying that they had to move from Puerto Rico so that her son could be in a deaf hard and hearing classroom. She informed me that in Puerto Rico that they had no such program so it was important to her to get her son in an American school. The mother ended up substituting for the week and I asked her if I could interview her. I prepared questions that I wanted to ask her and gave them to her. I informed her that she only had to answer the questions that she felt comfortable with. I set up an interview for the next day so that she had time to go over the questions and decide which ones that she felt comfortable with.

Interview: 1)Who are the members of your family? My husband, daughter and son, there are four members in our family 2) What is one of the major strengths of your family? We share everything together and help each other out. Sometimes we get together and play music and sing. 3) What are some things that your child likes or dislikes? My son likes to listen to music and he loves playing his guitar. He also likes to play on the playground, he dislikes eating vegetables. 4) What are some things that seem to be going especially well for your child? He is improving in school and his health is good. 5) What are some of the challenges that your child is facing right now? Learning English, he is struggling with pre-writing, and he has some fine motor issues which he is seeing an occupational therapist for.

Interview: 6) What’s your view of how things are going at school? He has a good teacher right now, loves going to PE and art. All of his therapy services are being provided and are going well. 7) What part has been the hardest raising your child with an exceptionality? My son requires extra care at home and school, though sometimes it is hard to give extra care at home because he is not my only child. When we moved to the U.S. it took two years to get right placement for my son. He was placed in the trainable classroom because when they gave him an IQ test he scored a 45 (later on the psychologist was fired). He had just got his hearing aids for the first time during the testing process. I took him to a neurologist outside of the school system and he found him to be developmentally normal. I had to fight with the school system to get another evaluation done. I also had to get a family advocate involved so that my son would be put in the right place. On the next IQ test my son scored a 88 showing that he was capable of learning. He was in the TMD room for almost two years until finally placed him in the deaf hard and hearing classroom. Being new to the U.S. I wasn’t sure of the whole process and when they asked me to sign things I did, thinking they knew what they were doing. I now know better and have been doing a lot of research. 8) How does your child’s exceptionality influence schoolwork as well as relationships with classmates? His hearing problem affects his speech, and also makes it challenging for him to learn English. His reading is affected because of his speech delays. As far as it affecting his peer relationships he is in a classroom with other children who are hearing impaired. He has no problems with getting along with other classmates.

Interview: 9) Standing in your child’s shoes, how do you think he or she sees himself in terms of personal strengths and weaknesses? My son strength is he sees himself as a normal child who is able to do anything. Speech and language are things he struggles with and he knows that those are his weaknesses. 10) What is a typical day like in your family? We get ready for school, my son puts his hearing aids in, then we go to school after school the children do homework and play outside with the neighbors. Three times a week my son receives speech therapy and physical therapy for one hour. We eat dinner together and then get ready for bed. 11) Do you have time built in throughout the day for relaxation? I am working as a substitute right now and I am taking to college courses, on top of taking care of my family, I have very little time to relax. 12) Of all the educators who have worked with your child in the past, which one seemed to have a good relationship with your child? The teacher that my son currently has is great. He loves her and likes going to school. Before when he was in the TMD room he hated going to school and his teacher then didn’t see his potential. I have a great communication with the teacher now and I am pleased.

Interview: 13) Describe a situation in the past that was really difficult when an educator was not especially helpful at all to you and your child. The first psychologist and principal that worked with my son. They didn’t seem to care about what was best for him. All they cared about was his test score. They didn’t even consider what I said about my son. 15) What services through the school system is your son currently receiving? He receives speech and language, occupational therapy. At home he receives private speech and physical therapy. 14) In what way do you think your child has been best prepared for his or her future by school experiences? He has the right supports to help him be successful in the education classroom. When in the TMD classroom he never wanted to go to school and was very depressed. His teacher now is bilingual which helps him out and he loves going to school now.

Post-reflection: When I first approach this mother to ask for an interview I had no clue the hardship that she had been through. She did inform me during the interview that her language barrier has made it hard on her she stated that sometimes when people say certain things to her that she doesn’t know what it means. She also stated that because of the language barrier she felt taken advantage of during her son’s special education placement. Though she told me that it only made her stronger and more knowledge, she spent many hours at the library researching what she could do for her son. During the interview when she told me that her son was originally put in a TMD room I couldn’t believe it. Did the team that was working with this boy ever take the time to understand who he really was? I mean he was wearing hearing aids for the first time and was just hearing his language for the first time and English. How could they expect him to score high on an IQ test? Its scary to think that there are educators out there who base their placement off of testing. I feel that placement should consider testing but also what is best for the child should be taken into consideration. Taking the time to do observations and work with the child in a classroom setting is important. After the meeting I gave the parent one of the books that we received in class. I also gave her my address and informed her that if she ever had any questions to contact me and I would get the answer for her. I feel that doing this interview was a great experience for me. It has given me insight into the hardship that parents have to go through to help their child get what they need. This mother fought until her son was in the right placement and now I see more then ever how important it is as an educator to do the same with my students.