On March 23rd, I went with Kyle to meet with a client for an admission meeting and assessment with J.Y.W. I was able to process the experience with Grace later.
J.Y.W.'s father met with us at a Zippy's in Honolulu. J.Y.W. is a recently graduated young man diagnosed with autism. He goes to Secoh and Bayada is being contracted to provide a behavioral plan for him at his day placement.
I felt anxious about the experience. Much of this was self-inflicted. I put pressure on myself that I had to do it right, perhaps because it is similar to my position with early intervention.
Mr. W is a Korean immigrant. He has a very strong accent. Despite my mom being a first generation Chinese woman who also has an accent, I do not alter my speech because I have concerns that she cannot understand me. However, with Mr. W, I was doing this. I was either speaking slowly and enunciating each word, or I was speaking loudly as though he had auditory challenges. This compounded the stress!
Grace helped me to realize that this is a learning experience. It's okay to make mistakes! No one expects me not to. This helped me to realize that there are no expectations of me, but to try my best.
One of the other things I took away from this experience was that I am unfamiliar with the Korean culture. Cultural competency is a vital part of social work practice. As a result, I went in search of a journal article about Korean immigrants to the United States and found an article by You and Rosenkoetter (2014). The article found that Korean to children with disabilities in United States in their study felt that their families became more cohesive following the diagnosis. The mothers felt as though a great deal of the care of their child, including their education was their responsibility. However, their unfamiliarity with the US special education process left them unable to properly provide an adequate education for their children. Many of the mothers struggled with accepting their child's disability They experienced frustration, sadness, and some even felt denial. Many of these mothers desired more assistance from their husbands, but acknowledged that their husbands were able to provide them with emotional support. Other family members, including siblings of the child would step up to help with care taking. For many of these mothers, faith played an important role in their lives. Approximately 70% of Korean immigrants in California were involved with churches. Many of these churches were aimed at providing services to Koreans. Although women with children with disabilities felt as though they were at a lower social and cultural class because of their child's disability, they often felt supported by their church families. They felt as though their child's diagnosis was a means of helping them to learn to be humble. Many had to let go of their expectations they had for their child to be a successful lawyer or doctor. However, the women were able to be more empathetic toward those with disabilities as a result of their experience.
This experience reminded me of the test I took at tolerance.org regarding biases I have had. A bias I discovered I had was in regards to traditional gender roles. In this situation, it seems that Korean women are expected to care for and make decisions regarding their children with little contribution from their husbands. My test results from tolerance.org suggest that I have a propensity to believe the same. However, in the situation with YW the father was the individual with whom we interacted, which deviates from the findings in this article. I admit I was a little curious where the mother was, although I did not ask. It could be because of work or a preference for Mr. W to work with JYW's various workers as there had been issues in the past with services in school.
This article was helpful because it didn't just speak to Korean immigrants, but immigrants in the United States as a whole. For example, the article reported that by 2015 one in three school-aged children will be from immigrant families. Families with children with disabilities, in general, are more likely to have economic, social and marital issues. Because these families may have beliefs that are different than "mainstream" culture, these issues may be compounded. Additionally, English fluency provides another barrier for immigrant families to participate in IEP meetings or doctor's visits. Perspectives from their countries of origin may conflict with those of the United States regarding developmental disabilities. However, a common finding amongst these parents was the transformational experience of having a child with developmental disabilities. May felt it was "God's Will" and some felt it had to do with experiences in previous lives.
This article was helpful in empathizing with some of the challenges that are faced by families that immigrate to the US when they have children with special needs, particularly Korean families. It brought to light factors that I had not considered before, such as how the differences in how their cultures viewed intellectual challenges and how they are perceived in the United States.
All in all, I think that the article will help me to be more empathetic and understand Korean families, although by no means would I consider myself culturally adept.
You, H., & Rosenkoetter, S. E. (2014). Listening to Korean Immigrant Mothers: Meanings of Raising a Child with a Disability. Multiple Voices For Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 14(1), 30-41.
This journal article coincides with 1.5 (using supervision), 2.1 (applying importance of diversity in micro, mezzo, and macro levels), 2.2 (present self as learner & clients as experts of own experiences), and 6.2 (use empathy reflection, and interpersonal skills to effectively engage diverse clients).
J.Y.W.'s father met with us at a Zippy's in Honolulu. J.Y.W. is a recently graduated young man diagnosed with autism. He goes to Secoh and Bayada is being contracted to provide a behavioral plan for him at his day placement.
I felt anxious about the experience. Much of this was self-inflicted. I put pressure on myself that I had to do it right, perhaps because it is similar to my position with early intervention.
Mr. W is a Korean immigrant. He has a very strong accent. Despite my mom being a first generation Chinese woman who also has an accent, I do not alter my speech because I have concerns that she cannot understand me. However, with Mr. W, I was doing this. I was either speaking slowly and enunciating each word, or I was speaking loudly as though he had auditory challenges. This compounded the stress!
Grace helped me to realize that this is a learning experience. It's okay to make mistakes! No one expects me not to. This helped me to realize that there are no expectations of me, but to try my best.
One of the other things I took away from this experience was that I am unfamiliar with the Korean culture. Cultural competency is a vital part of social work practice. As a result, I went in search of a journal article about Korean immigrants to the United States and found an article by You and Rosenkoetter (2014). The article found that Korean to children with disabilities in United States in their study felt that their families became more cohesive following the diagnosis. The mothers felt as though a great deal of the care of their child, including their education was their responsibility. However, their unfamiliarity with the US special education process left them unable to properly provide an adequate education for their children. Many of the mothers struggled with accepting their child's disability They experienced frustration, sadness, and some even felt denial. Many of these mothers desired more assistance from their husbands, but acknowledged that their husbands were able to provide them with emotional support. Other family members, including siblings of the child would step up to help with care taking. For many of these mothers, faith played an important role in their lives. Approximately 70% of Korean immigrants in California were involved with churches. Many of these churches were aimed at providing services to Koreans. Although women with children with disabilities felt as though they were at a lower social and cultural class because of their child's disability, they often felt supported by their church families. They felt as though their child's diagnosis was a means of helping them to learn to be humble. Many had to let go of their expectations they had for their child to be a successful lawyer or doctor. However, the women were able to be more empathetic toward those with disabilities as a result of their experience.
This experience reminded me of the test I took at tolerance.org regarding biases I have had. A bias I discovered I had was in regards to traditional gender roles. In this situation, it seems that Korean women are expected to care for and make decisions regarding their children with little contribution from their husbands. My test results from tolerance.org suggest that I have a propensity to believe the same. However, in the situation with YW the father was the individual with whom we interacted, which deviates from the findings in this article. I admit I was a little curious where the mother was, although I did not ask. It could be because of work or a preference for Mr. W to work with JYW's various workers as there had been issues in the past with services in school.
This article was helpful because it didn't just speak to Korean immigrants, but immigrants in the United States as a whole. For example, the article reported that by 2015 one in three school-aged children will be from immigrant families. Families with children with disabilities, in general, are more likely to have economic, social and marital issues. Because these families may have beliefs that are different than "mainstream" culture, these issues may be compounded. Additionally, English fluency provides another barrier for immigrant families to participate in IEP meetings or doctor's visits. Perspectives from their countries of origin may conflict with those of the United States regarding developmental disabilities. However, a common finding amongst these parents was the transformational experience of having a child with developmental disabilities. May felt it was "God's Will" and some felt it had to do with experiences in previous lives.
This article was helpful in empathizing with some of the challenges that are faced by families that immigrate to the US when they have children with special needs, particularly Korean families. It brought to light factors that I had not considered before, such as how the differences in how their cultures viewed intellectual challenges and how they are perceived in the United States.
All in all, I think that the article will help me to be more empathetic and understand Korean families, although by no means would I consider myself culturally adept.
You, H., & Rosenkoetter, S. E. (2014). Listening to Korean Immigrant Mothers: Meanings of Raising a Child with a Disability. Multiple Voices For Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 14(1), 30-41.
This journal article coincides with 1.5 (using supervision), 2.1 (applying importance of diversity in micro, mezzo, and macro levels), 2.2 (present self as learner & clients as experts of own experiences), and 6.2 (use empathy reflection, and interpersonal skills to effectively engage diverse clients).
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