Appendix A
Objectives, Definitions, and Examples of Conjoint Needs Identification Interview
Objective
Social Opening
Main Points
•
Establish a friendly supportive atmosphere.
Examples
• Position chairs in such a way that parents and
teachers are close to each other and can make eye
contact easily.
•
Smile.
• Use nonverbal communication to convey interest
in parents and teachers.
•
Demonstrate interest in the consultees.
•
“How is your new job going, Ms. Gyen?”
• “I thought about you last night when I was
watching your college team play football!”
Open Up
Dialogue
• Establish the attitude that everyone’s
information is vital.
• “I am so glad that you are here! Your knowledge
about your son is so important to us in helping him do
his best in school!”
•
Use inclusive language.
• “Let’s talk about some of the things that we
noticed about Julia’s interactions with other children.”
• “I see we have similar concerns at home and at
school.”
•
Emphasize the expertise of everyone
•
“You know Karla better than anyone, Mr. Olson.
involved.
Your input will be invaluable!”
• “Ms. O’Brien, you have first-hand information on
what triggers Karla’s crying episodes. Your
observations are critical to helping us decide what to
do.”
• Discuss the importance and roles of each
participant (i.e., provide information,
collect/set-up assessment and observations).
• “It will be very helpful for everyone to share their
observations and ideas. This will give us the best
opportunity to help Stanley.”
• “There will be opportunities for each of you to
keep track of what you see and observe. There will
also be some expectations that you will work on
specific plans for Allie once we set them up.
Everyone will have an important role and
responsibility, and that will help Allie meet her goals
most effectively.”
Discuss Child,
Family, and
Teacher Strengths
•
Discuss steps of the meeting.
• “The main things we will be talking about are
listed on this meeting agenda. Feel free to keep this
so you know where we are at in the meeting.”
•
Discuss things that the child does well.
•
“What are some of Jamie’s strengths?”
• “Please share with us some of the things that
Kevin does well.”
•
Discuss likes and dislikes.
•
“What kinds of things does Jose like to do?”
•
• Establish importance of building upon
strengths of all when addressing priorities.
“How does Stacy spend her free time?”
• “Knowing what Pedro’s strengths are will help us
use his talents to build up some of his weaknesses.”
• “Once we understand the kinds of things that
Maria enjoys, we can use those to address our
concerns.”
Discuss Goals
and Desires
• Discuss goals, aspirations, and desires for
the child in the short and long term.
• “In general, what do we hope to see Jamie
accomplish?”
• “Regarding Fran’s friendships, what are some
long-term goals you have for her, as her parent and
teacher?”
Select Needs and
Concerns
• Share information regarding developmental
appropriateness of expectations, if necessary.
• “It is important for Callie to look at books and
begin reading words. At her age, it is also important
to start by repeating or naming objects that she sees in
pictures on the page.”
• Discuss what might interfere with the
child’s learning and development.
• Explore general concerns.
• “What are some concerns that you have about
Andrea’s language?”
• “Describe some of the things that interfere with
Jorge’s performance.”
Select a Priority
• Discuss importance of selecting one
priority.
• “I see you are concerned that Patrice do the best
that she can do in several areas. It will be very
important to narrow in on one specific area as a start.
This will help us make sure that the focus is
manageable, and allow us to evaluate closely how
well Patrice responds to our plan before moving on.”
•
• “Which of these behaviors is causing the most
difficulty for Joey?”
Select a priority.
• “I hear you saying that Zach’s inability to deal
with frustration interferes with his interactions with
peers, and could be a place to start. Is that correct?”
Define the
Priority
• Define the priority in concrete, observable
terms.
• “It will be important for us to define exactly what
we mean by ‘getting into fights with peers.’ Let’s try
to define this using clear and specific examples of
what Elle does when she gets into fights.”
Select a
Focus/Setting
•
• “Having a place or time in mind allows us to
observe and measure exactly what is going on in a
specific and focused way.”
• “This will let us to manage what we are focusing
on without being overwhelmed with all of Jacob’s
difficulties throughout the day. When we find
something that works, we can transition to other times
or places.”
Discuss importance of focus.
• Address where and when the priority
behavior occurs in specific terms.
• “Where or when is Bobby’s talking back to adults
most problematic?”
• “What subject is causing Ellen the most difficulty
in getting her work done?”
•
Determine What
Works and What
Doesn’t
Collect
Information
Select a focus or a place to start
• “Great! We will start by focusing on Patty’s lack
of social interactions during the noon recess.”
• Discuss what has already been tried to
address the concern.
• “I know you have tried certain things to deal with
Jackson’s difficulties identifying sight words. What
have you tried so far?”
• Point out strengths from what has already
worked to be used later in coming up with a
plan.
• “So it sounds like you have figured out that giving
Cammie choices works better than demanding her to
do things your way. That’s a great idea!”
•
Emphasize strengths of consultees
• “You’ve worked really hard on this. I can tell you
care a lot about Josh.”
• Discuss the rationale for collecting
information.
• “It will be very helpful to get a good idea of
exactly how often Eric is wetting his pants. This will
give us an idea of what is occurring now, and allow us
to measure any changes in his behavior once we start
an intervention.”
•
•
Select a specific time, place and procedure.
“During morning circle time, please watch
Franco’s behavior and mark on the masking tape how
often he gets up and runs to other places in the room.
Afterwards, please place the masking tape on the
chart in the row corresponding to the correct day.”
• Provide consultees with charts to record
information.
• “Can you keep track on this chart, and indicate
when Evan yells out?”
• Discuss rationale of watching what happens
before and after the priority behavior, as well as
specific patterns that occur.
• “Please also note what happens before and and
what happens after Jessica cries so we can begin
looking for patterns.”
•
• “It would be really helpful if I could come in and
observe Juanita’s behaviors with peers. What is a
good day and time, when I can see many of the things
we are talking about?”
Establish times for consultant to observe.
Meet Again
• Discuss steps of the next meeting, establish
time and place to meet.
• “At the next meeting we will look at the
information you bring in. That will be very important
for our next steps of understanding possible reasons
the behavior is occurring, and suggest a focus for a
plan to address it.”
Closing
• Summarize what was accomplished at the
meeting, emphasizing consultees’ expertise,
strengths, and how this information will help
the child to be successful.
• “Today we identified a specific area to focus on to
help Austin. We discussed some of his strengths that
can help him be more successful, and how we will
collect information on the concern we share around
his difficulty identifying letters.”
• Exchange phone numbers and e-mail
addresses.
• “I will write down my phone number and email
address. Please contact me right away if you have
any questions. Please also write yours down so
everyone knows how to stay in touch.”
• Inform parents and teachers that they are
free to contact you with questions and concerns
and remind them you will check in to see how
information gathering is going.
• “I’ll call you Wednesday after school to see how
the data collection is going. Please get in touch with
me if you have any questions or concerns. Thank
you!”