Week 6- interview

I shadowed my mentor who is also the mother of the child with disabilities that I do habilitation for. She does not get paid to do what she does, nor was it a choice. Her son was diagnosised with autism at 3 years old, and now he will be 7 this year. The challenges she faces as a mother with a child with disabilities are endless. She and her husband have been to various support groups, government funded agencies for children with disabilities, numerous doctors, specialists, therapists, and many other professionals who are available to special needs children. This family has had to really do their research on these individuals and agencies in order to find the best help and support for their child. After speaking with both the mother and father, I have found that they are in need of this extra help the agency I work for offers to them. During the interview they reminded me of how much they appreciate the work I do with their child, and let me know that if it wasn't for the respite and habilitation that are provide by the agency they would never get a break. My services really do help this family and offer the support this family needed with the extra help in taking care of their special needs son.

My mentor found it hard to admit any dislikes in her position as a mother of a child with special needs. After awhile of reassuring her that it didn't make her a bad mother to admit that raising a child with special needs was harder than the average child she openly discussed her weaknesses with her son. She admits to having several nervous breakdowns while home alone or with the children and has recently started taking anti-depressant medication. It was sad to hear her tell me how much she loved her son and how perfect he was yet with one minor detail, he has autism. And the struggle of raising a child with autism is only growing in their case. This family recently found out that he has tested on the lower end of the IQ test and was considered to have a mild to moderate form of mental retardation on top of the autism. This news was devastating to their family and they are still coping with this latest finding. I find it extremely beneficial for my future profession as a social worker with Child Protective Services to listen and experience what this family I intern for goes through on a daily basis. I have now had first hand experience with both in and outside the classroom as well as both in and outside the home of a child with disabilities.

My mentor finds it difficult to separate her personal from her professional life, because this is a different type of situation. This isn't someone who chose to work for this job or is getting paid to take care of this child like I do. She is the mother of this special needs child and is raising him the best she can with the most help she can find. I more than understand now why she needs the extra help at home. She can't even run a simple errand with her son so I stay home with him while the parents take care of things outside the home. I help fix dinner for both children, even though the other child does not have special needs. I help the child with his homework since he is in summer school and we work on his IEP daily. His mother has been doing this for the last 7 years and will ocntinue to do this possibly for the rest of his life. The children I worked for in the high school were either living in a group home or going to move into a group home after they graduate high school. He may not be able to ever live on his own or take care of himself without the help of another person.

My mentor has taken a few college courses but has no college degree. My situation is a little different compared to others, in the sense that my mentor is not a paid employee, she is the mother of the child with disabilities and helps give me a first inside look of what it's like to raise a child with autism. I will use this knowledge and experince with CPS and have a better understanding as to what it's like to raise a child with special needs as well as be more aware of the services offered by the state to the family with a child with disabilities. My mentor models her behavior with a child from the professionals she met within the support groups for parents with children with disabilities. They were given advice and classes on how to work with their child and what types of educational programs work best for their child. When I asked her who she respected the most, I was taken back by her answer. She replied with me and the other individuals who spend their day with her child and help make her day just a little bit easier and to help change his life for the better. She thanked me for the line of work I wanted to go into, and that tghis world needed more people like me who wants to help other people. I was really touched by her response and thought that was a good place to end the interview.