Using the information presented within the responses from the interviewee in the attached file, complete parts 3 and 4 of the assignment. For Part 3: Summary of Research-Based Strategies, summarize t

Part 1: Demographics

Interviewee’s Name

Jenna (Mother)

Name of Individual with the Disability

Noah (Son)

Description of the Disability

Dyslexia / Reading and Word Comprehension

Age of the Individual with the Disability

16

Describe the relationship between the interviewee and the individual with the disability:

The interviewee is the mother to the individual with the disability.

Part 2: Interview Questions

1. How did you learn that ____Noah_____ has a disability? (Who was present? When did this happen?) If you were giving advice to professionals who need to explain to a parent that their child has a special need, what would that advice be?

We first noticed and learned of his disability as he struggled to identify and distinguish different letters. Letters like B’s and D’s are some of the letters that have been his biggest struggles. He also has a hard time sounding the word out due to his struggles with identifying the letters that create the word of interest. For example, he has difficulties with the “TH, PH, Sho, Wou, and Woo” sounding words as they are very similar in their pronunciations. With that note, the advice that I would give the professionals, more so the Paraprofessionals who work with kids like Noah should have or create a program that educates school district staff on how to fully present the questions he must read during the school day in a way in which he can process and comprehend them. They also need to become more well-rounded in the means of educating a student with disabilities and maintaining the connection with that student during the school year. At his school right now, he has four classes with four different paraprofessionals assisting him. I am not a huge fan of this because it makes Noah adjust to each different teaching styles of the Paraprofessional, rather than confining to the style of teaching of just one Paraprofessional.

1. How did you feel when you received the diagnosis?

Renewed and happy that there was going to be some sort of assistance or help for my child. Assistance that would be able to teach him, allow him to retain information, or adjust his learning style so he can succeed and that someone other than myself and my family cared about my son.

1. Have your feelings changed since the initial diagnosis? Describe.

No, I am extremely grateful for the help that is given to Noah each day at school. I am proud that with the assistance, he can progress and succeed with the tools such as extra time on tests, a computer that can help him sound out the words or read the question aloud to him if there is no other person there to aid him. These people and other tools are what keep him going and interested in the task at hand. Without these tools, he would usually give up and move on to the next thing of interest.

1. What have been the positive aspects of having a child with a disability?

Noah is great with hands on activities, understands and identifies actions through pictures (like putting a chair together by just looking at the pictures rather than reading the direction), finds creating fishing lures interesting in which he can focus for long periods of time (unlike trying to read a book which gets him frustrated).

1. What problems or challenges have you experienced with having a child with a disability?

When assignments are due, he sometimes turns those assignments in late because of the assistance is only provided by one Paraprofessional (who knows the content of the class) to him for the length of the class rather than all day. He would rather wait to go over the assignment one last time to ensure he fully understood all the content (which is directly stated in his IEP that he can do). Even though it is stated in his IEP, the teacher and the case manager have difficulties coming to terms with each other, in return Noah then has a reduced grade or he fails the assignment due to the teacher not accepting late work. He also struggles a lot and fails in math due to the comprehension issues with defining the difference in the word or math problems such as positive (+) and negative (–) values. As a result, he becomes depressed at times due to the lack of confidence provided by others outside our family.

1. How did your other children react to learning their brother/sister had a disability? What impact has __________ had on them? (if applicable)

That you can’t always look down upon their failures and you can’t be negative. You must be even more assistive than those at the school, you must learn how to adjust and adapt (like being more hands on). Have or create more family-based activities and have just one activity at a time. If he is placed in a situation where he must do or complete more than one activity, he becomes over stimulated, causing him to shut down and not complete any of the activities at hand.

1. What kinds of support have been most helpful to you (e.g., family members, parent groups, neighbors, etc.)? How would you rank your family’s needs in terms of the areas in which you need more assistance?

Have more background knowledge about the disability, the child, and their family. This extra information might be of assistance to the school staff when addressing certain learning strategies during the day. These strategies can then be transferred home to maintain the educational progress of Noah. This information also lets me be able to voice my opinion and deliquated and alter certain items within Noah’s IEP meetings.

1. What have been your experiences in working with school personnel? What have they done that has been most helpful? What have they done that was least helpful or even harmful?

Most Helpful:

When the school listens to my concerns and comments and adjusts the educational strategies to help Noah succeed.

Least Helpful:

That the educational assistance by Paraprofessionals is not consistent with each other throughout the day. The turnover rate in Paraprofessionals at his school (this causes him to have to constantly readjust and become used to the different assistance strategies of different people).

1. How could the school help your child transition to adulthood?

Don’t treat him any differently than all the other students, I just want him to be treated like he would be if he didn’t have any issues or difficulties reading. Even though he has assistance on some things, he still putting in the effort and he is still completing the work even if it was altered or not. I think that the schoolwork is still schoolwork that takes effort to complete even if that schoolwork may happen to be at different educational levels. I also think that the school needs to change the way in which they look at kids like Noah, because it is almost as if they are discriminating towards normal general education students. Just because Noah has an IEP, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t deserve the credit and or treatment that other normal general education students receive (don’t look at me any different than you type of thing, I am a person just like you).

1. If I were to be _____Noah_____’s teacher next year, what advice would you want to give me so that he/she has an optimal learning experience?

One thing at a time, don’t have him complete multiple tasks at one given time where he must split his attention to different items or documents to complete an assignment. Like playing the game of Bingo for example. Having Noah play Bingo with just one board that has only one number called at a time is more enjoyable for him because he can comprehend the game rather than having him play three cards at one time.

1. What would you want me to do/not do in terms of my interactions with you if I were _____Noah_____’s teacher?

To Do:

Focus on the good in Noah or any student to make them feel well and congratulate them on their success and be a good sport and team player that provides great support to both the student and the parents. Just aim to alter the educational experience but never try to change the child themselves.

Not To Do:

Don’t make the tasks or assignments too lengthy, it will just cause Noah to give up. Don’t go on and on about his failures, he already thinks that if he walks or moves two steps back when he doesn’t pass an assignment and moves twice as slow. Don’t let the parents of kids with disabilities continue to constantly renegotiate the student’s IEP because I did that with Noah’s he would never get consistent aid to help him grow educationally. Just aim to alter the educational experience but never try to change the child themselves.

1. I am just learning about students with disabilities and how to work effectively with them in my classroom. What other information would you like me—and my classmates—to know about working with children with special needs?

You must keep an open mind, heart, have plenty of patience, and treat all students or children with disabilities like Noah with the same level of care and respect, almost like it was a universal standard.