Rashunda Ford

SPED 854-M7-INTERVIEW

I interviewed my former colleague Lynn. Lynn has a son, Paul, who is 22 years-old with

autism. When Paul was an infant Lynn said that he cried more than normal and she began

noticing that Paul was not developing at the same level as other babies his age. Paul was not

meeting particular milestones as well. Paul was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2 by his

local school district. Lynn said that her and her husband felt hopeless about Pauls diagnoses.

They felt that the initial meeting with the school personnel was intimidating, scary, and

overwhelming. She said the school personnel used a lot of technical terms and acronyms that

she did not understand. Paul began an early intervention program at age 3. Lynn said that she

felt that there was no collaboration with the school personnel. They did not ask her for her

input. They told her what strategies that they were implementing at school and what she

should implement at home. Lynn says she did not fully understand some of the things that

school personnel told her to do and the reasoning behind it. For example, the school personnel

stressed to her to use visuals to teach Paul to communicate versus using verbal communication

which Paul was capable of doing. The special education teachers or personnel did not

collaborate with her at all. It wasnt until Paul was in the 1 st grade that the special education

teachers and personnel begin to collaborate more with Lynn and her husband. They were able

to express what goals and objectives that they wanted to be included on Pauls IEP. They really

worked well with Pauls special education teacher, who was his teacher for grades 1st, 2nd, and

3rd. This teacher encouraged more verbal communication which is what Lynn wanted. This

teacher set high expectations for Paul and pushed him to excel academically. Lynn says she is
grateful for this teacher. She and her husband had confidence in this teacher and her abilities

to provide the best quality education for their son.

Lynn faced many challenges. The first challenge was in her marriage. She and her

husband blamed each other for Pauls disability. They were both under a lot of stress. They

had different views on how to cope with Paul having autism, what strategies to use to ensure

academic success, as well as how to discipline him. Another challenge was the next steps to

take once Paul was able to communicate verbally. School personnel emphasized the use of

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and only focused on using these strategies, but Paul was

showing that he was ready to move on. Lynn said that she kept asking what was next but could

never get an answer. The teacher and Lynn were in agreeance that Paul was making progress

and other strategies needed to be put into place, but the teachers superiors disagreed. A third

challenge for Lynn was that she did not understand the special education program at her childs

school and the lack of involvement and connection with administrators and general education

teachers. Moreover, once Paul reached middle school Lynn says her challenge became Pauls

teacher. The teacher did not focus on academics. The teacher wrote goals and objectives for

Paul that included things that he had mastered in elementary school. The teacher did not

differentiate instruction. Most of all the students in the class had the same IEP goals and

objectives. Also, the teacher did not set high academic or functional expectations for Paul.

Lynn feels that the three years Paul spent in the teachers classroom were a waste of time and

did help Paul.

Lynn says her greatest success with collaboration with school personnel was during

Pauls elementary and high school years. These are the years that she felt Pauls teachers
listened to her. Her input was valued and included in her sons IEP goals and objectives. She

had high expectations and wanted the very best for Paul. The elementary and high school

teachers shared Lynns commitment for setting high academic expectations and provided him

the best and appropriate education.

Lynn offered some advice for school personnel. First, principals need to be more

concerned with special education parents and teachers. She feels that there is a disconnect of

communication between the three. Second, she feels there needs to be more communication

and collaboration between special education and general education teachers. Special

education students need to be included as much as possible with their general education peers.

Third, once a student reaches middle school the transition specialist and special education

personnel need to be clearly explain the transition process for the student. Parents need to

understand what the future will look like for their child. Such as transitioning into high school

and after high school, guardianship, and what services are available to the student and what

services are needed for the student. Lynn feels that school personnel should emphasize to the

parents the differences between the offered services and which ones are important for the

future.

Lynn said that she wished she had more collaboration and communication with school

personnel when Paul was younger. Lynn received lots of support from her family and friends in

regards to Paul. They all set high expectations for him and believed he could learn. She says

she wished she had experienced a better and smoother collaboration with special education

personnel when Paul was younger.

 I have gained insight from this interview. I learned about the some of the challenges

parents with special needs students face. I learned that we as teachers should ask the parent

for their input when implementing strategies in the classroom and when writing IEP goals and

objectives. I learned that some parents also have high expectations for their child. Finally, I

would recommend that teachers continue to improve their effective communication and

collaboration with families. We should work as a team with parents and not just assume that

we alone know what is best for the student.