Teaching student in need of help with an interview

[svelez2010]

I am needing to do an "interview" for my class, really its an open discussion that needs to address certain criteria...

What is the referral process being used in the local school and what was your experience with it?
What was the testing process and how what was your view on it or experience with it?
How did the IEP process work and what role did each team member play?
What services and support is being offered and used in the school?
What is the role and function of the general and special education teachers?
What is your view on the outcome of the services that have been provided?

Any help would be much appreciated for this single mom who works full time and is just trying to get through school.

[healthy11]

Svelez2010, welcome to our forum. Several other prospective school psychologists and special ed teachers have had similar assignments to talk to parents over the years. It may be difficult to get responses from parents of younger students, because they're often too busy/overwhelmed with trying to get through each day, and still trying to figure out what their child's needs are and how the school might accommodate/address them. Although my son is older now, you still might find his story to be of interest. You can read it at www.millermom.proboards.com/thread/13329/future-teacher-parent-interview and please SHARE resources about "2e" students with your professors and peers!

P.S. Another piece of advice that I neglected to mention, but is vitally important to be aware of, is that even if parents recognize that their student is struggling (some are in denial), others may not appreciate any suggestion that their child could have learning differences. They may get upset at thinking their child is "abnormal." Certain types of learning issues can "run in families" and the parent(s) may feel like they "were the same way in school, but grew up and turned out okay," so they don't think it's a real problem. Dealing with the day-to-day issues of having young children is stressful enough for most parents, but if parents have their own learning and executive functioning weaknesses, it can be even harder. (For some very good information about Executive functioning, see www.nldline.com/executive_functioning.htm )

I don't have LDs myself, and I could "sense the differences" between my son's school experiences and that of "more typical" children. (Note that I don't use the word "normal," because there is no such child!) I'm also a fairly well-organized and detail-oriented person who was able to undertake the tasks of trying to learn ways to help him and to "educate the educators" along the way, so we could work together to "maximize his potential." It wasn't easy, but I feel the results have been worthwhile.

[svelez2010]

Thank you for responding. This is such a huge help with such short notice. I had one person lined up to interview but they didn't come through so that left me in a pinch.

[healthy11]

You're welcome. Please come back to browse our site for other information at any time....There is a "search" feature on the menu bar if you want to look for specific topics.