My interviewing process has been a bit hectic. I have sent email after email out to everyone that had some sort of knowledge about my topic. Everyone I emailed must have a pretty busy schedule because not one person emailed me back, not even the Disability Help Center on FSU’s campus. So I gave up on trying to interview knowledgeable strangers and began searching for someone with knowledge that was a little closer. After doing some thinking I came up with the idea of interviewing a teacher that worked with disabled kids at my high school. She was the head teacher of the program and was very involved with all the kids. The second person I choose to interview was one of my friends who was the president of the club Best Buddies at my high school. Best Buddies is a program that takes ‘normal’ teens and pairs them up with handicapped teens. The pair go on field trips and do other things together. I have already talked to both of them about my assignment and they are both willing to answer some questions via email so I just sent each of them some questions a few days ago and they have yet to get back to me. I am not sure if they will be able to answer questions that specifically apply to autistic kids but I am sure they will have some good insight and it will be interesting to see the contrasting perspectives from teacher to peer when it comes to working with handicap kids.
Posts
I think it’s always hard to find someone of big influence in the subject that will answer your questions so you have to think of creative ways to get people close to you to answer some. I had the same problems with my interview too. It was very creative to ask a teacher who has worked in disabilities and a student who has worked with them as well. I’m not really sure what you’re topic is pertaining, besides autistic kids but I think talking to anyone who has frequently been around them before will be able to give you insight.
ReplyDeleteI am right there with you and Amanda. It is extremely hard to find a "reliable" source to interview, on top of selecting which would be considered a good or reliable source. Although, I feel that your alternatives are great choices. I also feel that by interviewing both an adult and young adult will give you two different perspectives. These two should be able to give you great insight on what they think and how they feel about stereotypes. Both sound to have background knowledge and won't be a waste of time. I hope they respond, and best of luck!
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem with finding someone to interview. It seemed that everyone was too busy or just didn’t get back to me. I finally decided to go with someone I knew from high school who has helped my many times before. She was actually my little brother’s 3rd grade teacher and my friend’s mom. I think it’s good that you’re asking questions to a peer or to someone who is not necessarily an expert, but helps, provides, and observes children with disabilities every day. I think you will find a new perspective as my interview did for me.
ReplyDelete