Interview of a parent for special education course

[strib123]

Hello all,
I have an assignment where I must interview a parent who has a child with a disability. I had an interview scheduled with a family friend but unfortunately, things came up and she cannot do the interview by the deadline. I was wondering if there are any parents out there who would be willing to just answer some of the questions I have. Any responses would be very helpful! 
1. How did you first find out that your child has a disability? What was the immediate reaction?
2. How did you learn about characteristics of the disability? Highlight the different professionals who
assisted in educating you about the disability.
3. Did you encounter any challenges in accessing services for your child? Explain? At what point in the
child’s development did you begin reaching out for services?
4. What were your biggest concerns regarding the child and his/herdisability? How have you managed
to address these concerns?
5. Was it difficult to adjust to the terminology and procedures when the child first entered the school
system?
6. Has your school district been supportive throughout the child’s schooling? Highlight the main areas
of agreement and disagreement?
7. Describe your child’s first day of school.
8. Describe your IEP meeting experiences.
9. Discuss your philosophy and beliefs regarding inclusion.
10. How do “typically developing” children respond/interact with the child?
11. How involved are you with the school?
12. Howhas having a child disability impacted your other children?
13. Have you thought about other long-term care systems for the child?
14. What advice would you provide to teachers regarding their communicating with parents - highlight
specific do’s and don’ts

[healthy11]

Strib123, 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.