MINUTES OF IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW 1
NVCTXH: Sister H, are you free? Please help me a bit. We will chat for a while. Your information will help my research process. Okay? Sister H: OK, go into the room. I will come in later.
NVCTXH: Yes, you can come in now. Ms. H: I know, crazy.
NVCTXH: You are an intervention teacher for ASD. Could you please tell us about your training major and some outstanding characteristics of ASD that you think are common in ASD today?
Maybe you are interested!
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Managing child care and education activities at the Center for Comprehensive Social Protection and Social Work of Bac Kan province - 16 -
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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Social Work Activities in Supporting People with Mobility Disabilities -
Social work services for men in reducing domestic violence from the practice of Quang Ninh province - 26 -
Theory of Social Work Services and Social Work Services for Migrant Workers in the Non-State Economic Sector
Ms. H: I studied special education at Hanoi Pedagogical University, specializing in educating children with visual impairments, but currently I mainly do early intervention with ASD. In my opinion, some of the outstanding characteristics of ASD that I know are:
+ Stereotyped behavior
+ Difficulty expressing emotions or suppressing emotions
+ Some children are slow to speak
+ Difficulty in social skills and communication skills
+ Pay more attention to details than to the whole.
NVTCXH: Thank you, so what are some of the intervention methods for children with autism that you know today? What methods are you currently using mainly in early intervention for children with autism?
Ms. H: Some of the methods that I know today are: ABA, PESC, DIR, animal therapy, reflex integration... Some of the methods that are being used regularly today are: ABA, TEACH. In my opinion, each child with autism has their own characteristics, so it is not advisable to use only a few separate methods. For me, I often combine TEACH and ABA, and sometimes I also use PECS for some children with speech delay and autism. I mostly use these methods in combination with each other, not just one method separately. And there should also be a choice, I should only choose the goals that I feel are suitable for my child to teach and combine with other methods.
other methods, I do not follow a specific program. Only the preschool education program of the Ministry of Education and Training is the framework that I need to follow every month to review whether the child's development is equivalent or not and what parts are lacking, I will add more there. NVCTXH: Thank you, so how do you evaluate the ability of parents to access and understand the methods that you are currently implementing to intervene with ASD that you are using?
Ms. H: It is very important that parents can access and understand the methods that teachers are implementing, so that they can work with teachers to intervene for their children. However, in my opinion, there are very few parents who truly understand this autism and at the same time find ways to learn to teach their children, but many parents who understand can teach their children better than teachers like us. Like me, most of my autism intervention centers have very few parents who have a certain understanding of autism and very little understanding of the methods. Many families are busy, so communicating with parents is also difficult. Sometimes, even when we communicate, they still do not understand or many of the goals I teach are one thing, but the parents understand something else that they do not know, thinking that I am teaching correctly until I ask again and then I realize that they have misunderstood my goals. Therefore, families who have time to spend with their children are very important in the intervention process.
NVC TXH: I agree with your opinion, but what is your opinion on the role of parents in early intervention with autism?
Ms. H: In my opinion, parents play a very important role in early intervention for ASD because there are many reasons why I think this is true:
- More time interacting with children
- Children have more emotional attachment to family members than to interventionists.
- Children will repeat the skills and lessons learned in class, and practice and experience more about life and current situations. Only current situations will allow children to practice what they have learned.
NVCTXH: Where you work, there is a social worker to play the role of connecting and guiding parents in accessing methods to intervene with children or
No? What do you think about the need for closer connections between families and other intervention units to increase the effectiveness of early intervention for ASD?
Ms. H: Where I work, there is no social worker who specializes in connecting and guiding parents. However, in my opinion, there should be a close connection between families and intervention teachers, intervention facilities so that they can jointly set educational goals that are appropriate to the needs and abilities of children, families, and intervention facilities. In my opinion, having a social worker will increase the effectiveness of family counseling because in our place, counseling for parents is still very spontaneous and there is no specialized force. Counselors are also teachers, so when they encounter parents who do not understand, it is very difficult to change their way of thinking about their children. In addition, regular exchanges will help to exchange information as well as guide intervention methods, guidance measures, or simply exercises that are performed consistently at both families and intervention facilities. This combination plays an important role in making the intervention process for children more effective.
NVCTXH: Do you regularly discuss and guide young parents on methods to help them intervene with their children at home? In your opinion, how important is the role of guiding young parents?
Ms. H: In my place, the need to discuss with parents at the end of class is a working principle so that parents can grasp what their children have learned today and what they have achieved in class, so I always have regular discussions with parents at the end of class. Guiding parents is very important so that parents can work with teachers or coordinate with teachers to guide their children in the best way. And parents are the ones who have more time to bond with children, be with children, so if parents are guided and discussed about methods, ways of guiding... the effectiveness of intervention will be higher.
NVCTXH: So after each month of intervention, how do teachers usually evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention?
Ms. H: Every month, we make a personal education plan for the children, then evaluate the results according to each goal for the children in that plan. If the children achieve it, we will write it as achieved and move on to a new goal. If the children have not achieved it, we will have two directions: one is to review the way the children set goals.
Is it suitable for the child? If it is not suitable, it is necessary to change to choose another suitable goal for the child to intervene next month. If it is not because the goal is not suitable, it is necessary to review the way of communication and teaching as well as consider whether the child's family has been practiced or not? Usually, children who are practiced regularly and their parents teach more at home will achieve faster than children who are only intervened by us but do not practice more at home. Evaluating the child's progress is a mandatory task for teachers to do every month and send it to the family. Doing it regularly helps teachers determine the intervention activities for the child later.
NVCTXH: So how can parents know the effectiveness of their child's intervention?
Ms. H: When printing the plan, we usually have two copies, one for the teacher to keep in the file and the other for the parents to send to the parents at the beginning of each month so that they can easily track their child's goals. At the end of the month, the parents will send the plan back to us so that we can note down the goals that the child has achieved and not achieved on the plan, then give it back to the parents to take home so that the parents also have a file to track their child's progress every month.
NVCTXH: So do you have any measures to call on parents to participate in the intervention process to practice more for their children at home or how to guide parents?
Ms. H: We only discuss with parents after each intervention hour about the intervention content of their child during that day. What the child has achieved and what the child has not achieved needs to be reinforced, but specifically how to do it and what steps to take, we cannot guide parents because each day we only have one hour to intervene and discuss. That time is not enough to do everything. If any parent really wants to know to teach their child at home, they can observe the teacher teaching through the observation slot in each room. Parents will stand outside the room to observe the teacher's interaction and teaching method, then practice with their child at home is up to them.
NVCTXH: Then why don't we let the parents stay in the intervention room to observe? Is that okay?
Ms. H: That depends on each child. Some children can have their parents enter the room because they are used to it and are not distracted by the presence of a third person, but some children have difficulty concentrating and interacting with the teacher if there is a third person. Even more special are the parents. Some children, when they see their parents, cannot study at all and only focus on asking their mother for help and then running back to her... so whether or not they can enter the room depends on each child.
NVCTXH: So can we create a habit to get children used to it? Can we explain to parents to accept that their children will lose focus when they are present, but this needs to be practiced so that gradually the children will get used to and accept the presence of their parents as well as the presence of the interventionist?
Ms. H: I haven't tried this much, but I think if parents are patient with their children, they can do it. We can practice to create a habit when children lose focus when their parents are around. We can practice gradually so that children will get used to it so that they won't lose focus when their parents are in the room. That way, parents will be able to observe and interact with their children more when they have more guidance.
NVCTXH: So, in your opinion, is it necessary to have different measures to guide parents on how to intervene with their children at home? What measures do you think are needed?
Ms. H: In my opinion, parents need to know about intervention measures and skills to play with their children, which is very necessary because parents are the ones who will play with their children more in all situations and at all times. Some measures that parents can learn to implement with their children are: Observing reality, participating in courses, cooperating in intervention hours... I don't have much experience in this, so I can only give a few suggestions that I have been and am still implementing. You can consult with other teachers and experts for more practical suggestions.
NVCTXH: Thank you very much. May I ask you one more question: In your opinion, how does parents' perception affect the intervention process and effectiveness of intervention for ASD? Can you give an example of how the difference in parents' perception affects the effectiveness of intervention for ASD?
Ms. H: Parents' awareness greatly affects the effectiveness of intervention for children. It even affects directly. The most obvious thing I can give is the following example: NVH is a child with average autism. The child's mother is very enthusiastic and dedicated in researching documents as well as registering to attend seminars and training courses for children with autism to be able to help her child and learn with her child. When she took her child for assessment and found out that she had autism, she researched and gave her child individual intervention and combined it with attending an integrated preschool class. With perseverance and learning, combined with the school, the child is studying at an elementary school and participating quite well with her friends. Another parent: LNL The child does not cooperate with his parents and his parents only want him to speak, to speak up without caring about other issues. The child becomes fearful, withdrawn and almost only expects the intervention of the teacher and the parents do not make any other efforts or interventions for the child at home other than feeding, sleeping and going to school. Therefore, the intervention effect for the child is very slow. These two examples show the difference in intervention effectiveness when and without the participation of parents in the intervention and at the same time affirm the role of parents in the early intervention process with children.
NVCTXH: Thank you for answering these questions for me. Thank you very much.
Ms. H: Remember to pay me. NVCTXH: Remember, next time (laughs).
MINUTES OF IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW NO. 5
NVCTXH: I would like you to help me answer a few questions related to TTK to serve my research process. Your help will be of great help to my research.
Mrs. Laurence Fabre-Welmond: No problem, just ask me anything I can.
NVCTXH: I mean I want the role of social workers in the early intervention process for ASD because in Vietnam there is no participation of social workers in the intervention process and if there is, it is very little. In my opinion, the participation of social workers, especially the role of influencing the family, is very important.
Ms. Laurence Fabre-Welmond: In foreign countries, when parents have concerns like my child has symptoms like this, they will go to a social worker, then there will be an arrangement and also a determination of which social worker will be the one to work directly with the child. Then there will be a meeting between the parents and the center, and then there will be a so-called assessment for the child. Intervention will be carried out after the assessment and that assessment shows that this child is behind other children. The role of the social worker at this time may be that they will go to the child's home to see what kind of situation the child is in, whether he is being bullied, whether at home or at school, whether he is being abandoned or not, because in the US there is a child protection force. I see that in Vietnam there is no such force, but in fact, when a child has a problem, the social worker will be the first person to work with the child. The social worker will be tasked with orienting the parents about their child’s cases and at the same time taking a modeling approach which means not giving solutions but sitting down and playing with the child and then guiding the parents on how to raise their child which is parent coaching. Tell the parents that we are only experts in our field and you are the expert on your child and the best expert on your child.
NVCTXH: So please tell us about the importance of parents in early intervention with autism?
Ms. Laurence Fabre-Welmond: Parental involvement is very important. In the US, when intervening with ASD, parents are often involved from start to finish, after the intervention is completed.
At the end of the class, they will have specific homework lists for parents to do and write them down in a specific way so that parents can easily follow. At the same time, there will be specialists who will come directly to the house to guide the parents and the parents will be the first experts of the child and will be attached to the child throughout life, however, there needs to be support for the family so that they will be more ready. Many children with autism do not dare to be sent to integrated preschools by the CM or a nanny all day, many other children are sent to integrated schools or to specialized schools, but whether they go to preschool or stay at home, the CM is the one who spends the most time with their children or, if not, will be the one who takes care of the child instead of the CM. The CM may be busy, but the person who takes care of the child directly every day will be the one who plays an important role so that the child can learn and recognize from the person closest to them. As long as the caregiver knows how to guide the child and has certain skills and techniques, the need to provide direct guidance so that parents can directly participate in intervening with their children is extremely necessary in the intervention process. However, to do this, it is necessary to have the professionalism of the guidance staff and, more importantly, the type of service of that center.
Working with parents should be treated as seriously as working with the child. Teaching a child should be done in partnership with the parents. New issues that their child is facing should be communicated to the parents so that they can be aware of them. And the more daily the updates, the better. Parents should also be made aware that their child is not like other children so that they can be more prepared.
If parents do not participate in supporting their children during the intervention process, we need to find out why the family or parents are like that. We need to understand them and their feelings because there are many families who are sad or have a mentality of not accepting the truth or many families are disappointed and do not want to try. Therefore, intervening with parents is sometimes more important than intervening with children. We are the ones who know the techniques of teaching children, but parents are the ones who will be with children for the rest of their lives and need to mobilize parents or maybe grandparents or direct caregivers for children to participate in the intervention process. Besides those factors, a suitable intervention program is a premise for children to progress both in