August 17, 2009

"Family Confidential" interview


Earlier this summer, I did an interview for noted author and educator Annie Fox, for her "Family Confidential" podcast. It was a fun interview, and I've been looking forward to it going live for a while now. It was posted today, for your listening enjoyment.

Podcast for Parents: Advocating for your special needs child

Annie is a fun and very smart interviewer, and I was only moderately mumbly and incoherent. (Update: Okay, I just sat down and listened to it again, and this time, I realized that I WAS sort of mumbly and incoherent much of the time, especially as things got going. Yikes. I could probably use some media training. Anyway...)

My two favorite parts of the interview:

1) I actually cracked myself up a little with this quote, concerning Schuyler and the fact that she seems to share exactly none of my anxiety about the future:
It's like having this little Buddha in the house. "You guys freak out, and whenever you're done, I'd like to watch Spongebob, please. I have no time for your tragedy."

And you know, that hasn't changed. And I suspect when I'm a bitter old man and have all my old man issues, she's still going to be like "Okay, well, call me when you're done and I'll take you to bingo. I have no use for that now."

2) At the end, Schuyler joins in, both on her device and verbally, and it's the best four minutes of the whole thing.

So check it out, and be sure to spend some time on Annie's site. It really is a treasure trove of good information.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great interview. I really appreciated your point about teachers loving their students too much to let them succeed. It's a conversation I've had with far too many paras.

amylia said...

Awesome interview! Time for BINGO!

Annie Fox said...

Rob, I really enjoyed talking with you and Schuyler! You both give great interviews... makes me look good.
In case people are interested, 6 other informative podcast interviews with authors of parenting books are currently available at: http://familyconfidential.com (more to come!)
Happy listening!

Anonymous said...

I thoroughly enjoyed this interview! I don't think you mumbled at all Rob. Annie is a wonderful interviewer, and I think the two of you had a really nice dynamic. And of course, I loved when Schuyler joined in. I was fascinated (and impressed!) by the interplay of her own voice and the BBOW, and just how SEAMLESSLY she meshed her two modes of talking.

Sue

Unknown said...

I think I have to second Sue's comment - is it the magic of editing, or is she really that coordinated in her use of the her AAC device, her voice, and her sign language? Either way, great job to both of you. I like this interview, it seems much more conversational than scripted. It's always nice to hear what both of you have to say.

Anonymous said...

Aww, Schuyler's such a sweet, cheerful girl! It was great to listen to her speak! I loved the interview, and I think I really should get down to ordering your book... I've been wanting to read it since the first time I came across your blog. (Which was quite a while ago...)

Please say hello to Schyuler for me! :)

Eszter, from Budapest, Hungary

MommaNecey said...

What a wonderful interview. I found your blog by searching for kids using a Vantage Lite. (My daughter has had hers less than a week.) Thank you for sharing your family with us. It's really exciting to see (and HEAR!) the possibilities! I can hardly wait to read your book.