Personal Narrative: An Interview With Marquise

I interviewed Pastor Milton Smith, now 46 years old and his wife, Margaret Smith, now 49 years old. Milton and Margaret have been married for 22 years. They married when Milton was 24 and Margaret was 27. They are the parents of three girls - Marquise, age 20, Marginee`, age 18 and Mercedes, age 16. Shortly after they married, Margaret became pregnant. They were blessed with a beautiful 8 lb. baby girl, they named Marquise. Margaret’s pregnancy and delivery was uneventful. Marquise met her developmental milestone on cue. When Marquise reached the age of two, her sister, Marginee` was born. Marginee` was quite different than her older sister, Marquise. When she was born , she appeared a little floppy (weak muscle …show more content…
Bye this time, she was exhibiting other strange behaviors, such as dumping her food onto the floor and eating it from the floor. She also enjoyed playing in ant piles with live red ants. Since she was not showing significant improvement, her parents decided to take her to be seen by the army pediatrician. One of the first questions the military doctor asked the parents, “was it a difficult pregnancy?” The parents explained that there were no real complications during pregnancy other than Marginee` being born two weeks early, by C section. There were no accidents or illnesses in the baby’s early development. Also, there were no known environmental factors out of the ordinary that would cause concern. The doctor performed several tests and assessments which resulted in a diagnosis of a form of autism, known as Asperger’s. Even though, for two years, they knew something was wrong, the diagnosis devastated them and they began to blame each other. Once the blaming stopped, they were able to work together, focusing on what was best for …show more content…
On the other hand, the biggest struggles were receiving special support from the school system. The school system was lax about providing the agreed upon special services. For example, no speech therapy and occupational therapy was provided until special meetings were called and personal feelings were expressed. Also, other programs that were put in place to support children with special needs were lacking resources and/or personnel. There were times when the school system stated they would provide a service but it was later determined that the service was not available. Ultimately, the school system provided the lease support services. Having a child with a disability has affected the family positively by making them more understanding and aware of other children with disabilities. The dad said that having a child with a disability has heightened his awareness to the point where he can identify infants and/or toddlers as having a disability, based on his experience with his