Participants and their roles:

Josefina Zamorano: Bilingual General Education Teacher at CPS

Erik Herro: Early Childhood Special Education Teacher

Maria Fernandez: Home-Based Childcare Director

Yelim Lee: Parent of a Child with Autism

Namhee Kim: Doctoral Student at UIC

Yajaira Feregrino: Special Education Paraprofessional at CPS

Question: Describe your experiences as an early childhood stakeholder with children with high-intensity needs.

Answers:

Josefina Zamorano: One challenge is communication, especially with tasks like opening a lunch box. Learning can also be difficult. Parental support is crucial; talking to them about understanding and supporting the child is important.

Erik Herro: I teach in a dual-language school, encountering a broad spectrum of students. One child, who is very autistic but has a hearing problem, requires one-on-one sessions. He can also be aggressive. We work with administration to ensure his needs are met, such as arranging transportation.

Maria Fernandez: For me what has worked is using care and compassion especially when they get aggressive.

Yelim Lee: Functional behavior, analyze things about the student and then, try to, target how to best address the intervention for the certain behavior/safety concern.

Question: How do you think your experience as an early childhood stakeholder has prepared you for working/supporting children with high-intensity needs and multiple disabilities in schools/community settings?

Answer:

Josefina Zamorano: Limited experience with children with high intensity needs but they are very different children with very different needs. The courses that I have taken did help me to strategize.

Erik Herro: What works for one child may not work for another. Trial and error may be necessary, and flexibility to make changes is key. Peer modeling is also essential.

Maria Fernandez: Working so many years with children with special needs, they themselves have shown me how to take care of them and prepare them to go to school.

Question: How does your current school/community setting support students with multiple disabilities and students with high-intensity needs?

Answers:

Yelim Lee: This school district doesn’t have blended classrooms, which I think would be ideal for my child, though perhaps not for everyone.

Yajaira Feregrino: We work with various individuals in schools; for example, Paraprofessional and School Related Personnel (PSRPs) are available resources.

Question: Describe how your current school/community setting considers families who have children with high-intensity needs.

Answers:

Erik Herro: We serve a broad spectrum of families, including those facing socio economic challenges. Some may struggle to provide financial support to their children, but it’s important for families to understand and support their children’s high-intensity needs. However, high absenteeism is an issue.

Namhee Kim: Families may experience emotional or psychological challenges and feel isolated or misunderstood by the school system.

Yajaira Feregrino: As parents, they may sometimes close their minds.

Maria Fernandez: Talking with the families about what they need and what I can provide, gladly I will do it. The challenges they might face is that family members may not help the family in need. For example, if the child has an appointment, no one is there to help. They need neighbors or community members to help while they go to their appointments.

Question: What are the key points we should consider in preparing CHIME scholars and projects?

Answers:

Erik Herro: I think having a strong understanding is important, understanding federal law, and placement procedure.

Josefina Zamorano: Implement different strategies to address social and emotional backgrounds. As a bilingual teacher, understanding their interests and needs is crucial.

Yelim Lee: Understand the needs of children with different disabilities. Schools should provide special education programs, workshops, or teachers specializing in various disabilities.

Maria Fernandez: Teachers need to learn each culture, for example if they are a different race then the student they need to learn the student’s cultures, language, and customs to best help the children. Give them more time to be able to focus on learning what they need to learn