Parent interview assignment ?

[eoffg]

Hi Healthy,
We often have new members who are training for a qualification, and have an assignment to interview a parent/s.  
Where they have a prepared list of questions.
Often similar or same questions.

But what this made me think about?  Is whether we could possibly create a dedicated category on the Board, for these members?
Where we take the various questions that they have asked, and create a thread for each question?
Then some previous posts could be copied to the thread, or a link them added?
But also new discussions of each question could also happen?

While we might of these questions as just an assignment that these students need to do?
The assignment is given to them, to help them to gain some insight into the various issues related to LDs.

Where a common complaint, is a lack of understanding by 'professionals?
So that we could provide a resource, to help trainees gain some insight and understanding.
So I wonder if we could consider this?

[healthy11]

Eoffg, I think your idea has merit, but I am not sure if it is practical to implement.

I have been a member and moderator of several different special education forums over the years, and what I've seen is a reluctance by most posters to reply, even to general queries. Whether it was on Schwablearning, Greatschools, or here, there have always been many more posters asking questions than answering. The disparity is even more pronounced when it comes to members who are willing to respond to "personal interview" questions.

I suspect that part of the reason people may be reluctant to post is because it does take time, and when a parent is already busy trying to coordinate a household with a child who has special needs, they simply don't have much "free time." In addition, there is a security/privacy worry that many parents have, and I can understand where they may be concerned about revealing too much personal information, especially if their child has a unique profile that school personnel or others might recognize if they saw it online, or worse yet, that some peers/classmates might be able to identify their child and then bully them, etc.

The other difficulty that I have is the overall declining number of active members on Millermoms Forum. There are SO MANY more "parenting and education forums" on the Web than when the internet, and Millermoms, began. I also know many parents who posted regularly in the past have stopped doing so, because their children are now young adults and no longer in school.

I would hate to have a forum category for Interview Questions which just consists of "copy/pasted old replies" but none of the original posters was around to clarify their answers. Since I'm one of the few members who is still posting regularly, I'm more than willing to share my son's story. I'd welcome more people posting their children's stories, too, but nobody has done that in years. If the situation should change, and we do get more activity again, I'll certainly reconsider your suggestion for a separate Interview category. For now, I'll do my best to direct them to information that can help them individually.