Carlena Lowell

SEI 523 Routines-Based Interview

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Routines-Based Interview
Carlena Lowell
SEI 523
October 27, 2013











Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Routines-Based Interview
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*All names have been changed to maintain confidentiality
Introduction
On a chilly Thursday morning, I sat down with 19-month-old Barts mother Marge
to interview her using the Routines-Based Interview (RBI). Marge and Bart live with
Barts older sister Lisa (5), Marges boyfriend Homer, and Homers four children (ages
17, 15, 13, and 6). From start to finish, I was with Marge and Bart for two hours.
Marges life pretty much rocks right now, so this interview was wonderful, very
positive, yet allowing for us to pull out some concerns along the way. I began the
interview by reviewing what the purpose of the interview was and asking her if she had
any questions. We then dove into some of Marges major concerns, and then on to
descriptions of an average day, various routines, and a bit about weekends. Here I will
transcribe these descriptions as told by Marge. I will share the Satisfaction with Home
Routines Evaluation (SHoRE) and the RBI Implementation Checklists, one completed
by Phyllis (the Primary Service Provider I am closely working with throughout this
practicum) and one completed by myself. I reflected on the checklist in my second
additional activity and on the whole RBI process in my reflective journal, and will include
those reflections at the end of this paper in order to have all of the RBI pieces together
in one paper.




Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Routines-Based Interview
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Major Concerns for Marge Discussed at the Start of the Interview
I began the interview by asking Marge some of her major concerns, this is what she told
me, and the order she told them to me in:
Bart is not yet verbally saying words. The amount of signs he is functionally
using has grown from using more universally to signing eat, drink, all done,
Mickey, and more. Marge is afraid Bart will get so used to signing he will not
feel a need to use verbal words.

Bart will begin daycare on Monday October 28, 2013 for the first time ever. Mom
was recently hired in a new position in a doctors office and her new schedule will
be three full days a week, as opposed to working overnights at a hospital, which
is what she has done since Bart was born. She is extremely nervous and
anxious about Bart attending day care; however, she is in hopes that when Bart
sees other children his age talking, he may be encouraged to talk.

Homers oldest son, Milhouse (17), has difficulty in school and with homework.
Marge reports he is a whiz when it comes to technology; however, finds difficulty
in core academics. He is planning to take the SATs this year.

Bart will sometimes play with chords to electronics and try to stick them in
sockets.


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SEI 523 Routines-Based Interview
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An Average Day, Various Routines, and a Bit about Weekends
Bart usually wakes up in a great mood, although if Marge takes too long to get him out
of his crib he will whine until she enters the room. Sometimes Homer will make and
give Bart a bottle with his medicine in it so that Marge can sleep a bit longer.
Lisa will get up earlier and hang out with Maggie (15) while she gets ready for school;
Maggie often helps Lisa pick out her clothes and will do Lisas hair in the morning.
Homer and the four oldest children leave about the time that Bart is waking up as their
school days begin earlier that Lisas, who is in kindergarten this year.
When Marge goes into get Bart the first thing they do is change Barts diaper. This
proves to be a horrible time of day for Bart and Marge. Bart does not like to lay still
long enough for his diaper to be changed. Marge explains it as trying to change a cat.
At this point, dressing goes similarly to diaper changing.
After getting a clean diaper on, Marge and Bart go downstairs to begin laundry for the
day. Bart enjoys helping Marge with the laundry; he particularly likes to take the laundry
out of the dryer to put in the basket. Marge reports she does several loads of laundry a
day given the amount of people that live in the house. This holds true for dishes as
well. In the meantime, Lisa finishes getting ready for school; she is fairly independent in
the morning.
Once laundry is in, Marge, Bart and Lisa are dressed and Lisas snack for school is
packed, they are off to take Lisa to school. This time of day tends to be a bit
challenging because when Marge tells Bart it is time to take Lisa to school, he would
rather run around the house than leave to take Lisa to school. Marge has learned to
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use certain language to get Bart outside and into the car. Marge would have to drive
Lisa to the end of their dirt road to get on the bus, so she figures it is just as easy to take
her all the way to school, which is about five minutes away.
Lately riding in the car with Bart has been better than it used to be. He rides fairly well
when he has a toy or something else to entertain himself with. On longer car rides,
snacks are helpful. When he was younger, Bart did not like car rides and would get so
upset he would sometimes get to the point of being sick.
When Bart and Marge return from dropping Lisa off at school, Marge lets Bart watch
one to two episodes of Mickey Mouse, his favorite show. While watching Mickey, they
will play on the floor together as well. Bart eats breakfast in his high chair at 9:00 am
every day. Marge stressed throughout the interview that Bart is a schedule baby and
is thrown off when his schedule is not exactly on time, particularly around sleep. Marge
discussed difficulty she has had in the past trying to encourage Bart to eat breakfast, as
he would just as soon skip this important meal. She said she has recently found
cinnamon raisin bread that he loves and will eat for breakfast.
After breakfast, Marge cleans some and has Bart come into the kitchen with her, for fear
of what he will get into if left unattended in the living room. By the time Bart is done with
breakfast, there is a sink full of dishes from everyone else eating breakfast earlier on.
To keep him occupied, Marge often gets Bart to wipe the counters while she is
sweeping. This generally works; however, sometimes he is not interested and it is a
struggle to keep him in the kitchen and happy while she is cleaning up the dishes and
sweeping.
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Mealtimes have become easier for Marge because until very recently Bart had a severe
lactose allergy. He was not able to ingest anything made with any milk product, which
is in a lot of foods Marge has found. It is easier now because she does not have to
carefully watch everything Bart puts in his mouth. They started the transition slowly a
few months ago to see if he is now tolerant of lactose. He seemed to do fine, and now
has a much less strict diet.
After breakfast and clean up, Bart goes down for a nap. This is where Marge explained
further just how much of a schedule baby Bart is. If he lays down in his crib between
10:00 and 10:15 am, spends fifteen minutes or so babbling himself to sleep, and is
asleep before 10:30 am, he will sleep until between 1:00 and 1:30 pm. If he does not
get to sleep before 10:30 am, he will sleep for only 20 minutes. The same is similar for
his night time bed routine, which will be explained later. This is a solid pattern Marge
has observed.
While Bart is napping, Marge will continue with the housework. She will clean up the
living room, finish the dishes, and do more laundry. She waits to vacuum until he wakes
up so the noise from the vacuum doesnt wake him. Marge explains housework in a
household with two adults and six children is never ending; however, she likes it as she
likes organizing and taking care of her house and family. If she finishes the cleaning
and Bart still is not awake, she might sit and watch a TV show with a cup of coffee
some rare down time for Marge.
When Bart wakes from his nap, he and Marge do the difficult diaper changing routine.
She often ends up changing his diaper while he is standing up if the situation allows
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because it is easier than trying to get him to lie down. Until now, Marge has always
bought diapers in bulk at Sams Club because it is cheaper than not. However, she is
considering changing to pull-ups for Bart because she thinks it may make diaper
changing easier. Unfortunately though, pull-ups do not come in bulk packages.
After this, Bart will eat lunch that Marge has prepared prior to him waking up. After
lunch, Marge gets everything ready to go for when she needs to leave to go get the
older kids from school, and then takes Bart outside to play, which he loves. They play
until it is time to get the older kids from school, at which point they do not even need to
go back inside the house, they can just get in the car and go because of Marges prior
packing.
When they get home from getting the older kids from school, the older kids usually get
snacks, but they are old enough to fend for themselves. A few minutes after returning
home with the older kids, Marge leaves to go get Lisa from school. Maggie lives with
Marge and Homer every other week. On the weeks she is there, Bart will stay with her
while Marge goes to get Lisa from school. One the weeks she is not there, Marge takes
Bart with her to go get Lisa. Marge explains this as the hardest part of her day. While
waiting for Lisa to be dismissed from class, Bart will run up and down the hallways; he is
always antsy and will never stay still. Marge said there are other children there the
same age who are sitting nicely with their parents, while she is chasing Bart around.
She has learned to time picking Lisa up just right to diminish any down time Bart has to
run around.
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Sometimes, after getting Lisa from school, Marge, Lisa, and Bart will go out back of the
school to play on the playground. Mom describes as a good time to let the kids run and
get some energy out.
When they arrive back at home, Marge will start preparing dinner. Before doing so, she
will put a movie on for Lisa. Bart will play in the living room with Lisa while mom is
cooking dinner. Lisa is very good about letting Marge know if Bart is doing something
he is not supposed to be doing. Marge noted it is easier to prepare dinner when the
older kids are home to help with Lisa and Bart. Bart will sometimes show interest in
helping Marge make dinner; he likes to sometimes stir biscuit mix or potatoes.
During dinner, a rule in this household is that all phones stay in the other room. Every
night, all the children sit at the table with Marge and Homer when he is home, which is
about half the time. Homer works until 7 pm two nights a week, and until 5 the other
nights, but his job is an hour away from home. While eating dinner, each member of the
family discusses three good things that happened to them that day. When it is Barts
turn, the older children will talk for him. This is Marges favorite time of night.
After everyone is through eating, each kid is responsible for clearing their own plate plus
one other thing from the table. This is an efficient way to start the cleanup process for
Marge. While Marge washes Barts hands and face, Maggie will go up and start Barts
bath water. After his bath time, which always goes fine, Marge will put lavender lotion
on Bart and get him dressed for bed. Bart used to love this time of night; recently
though, he has begun to fight Marge and it is very difficult for her to get lotion on and get
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him dressed. Lisa is independent and will get dressed on her own. They finish at about
the same time and head to the living room.
Marge will sit in the middle of Bart and Lisa on the couch and read them a story. It now
takes a little longer because Lisa is beginning to read sight words, so Marge
encourages her to read the words she knows in the book. After the book, Lisa is able to
watch a little TV while Marge gathers Barts night time necessities: his bottle with his
medicine, his Mickey blanket, and his binky. She then takes him to bed and tucks him
in. It generally takes him 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep. Just like with his nap, if he is
asleep before 7:30 pm, he falls asleep easy and will stay asleep. However, if he falls
asleep after 7:30 pm, he will cry and yell for a couple of hours before finally falling
asleep. After putting Bart to bed, Marge will put Lisa to bed. Once both children are in
bed, Marge will finish doing dishes and other cleaning until Homer gets home from
work.
Marge looks forward to Sundays all week. The day begins with a big family breakfast.
All the kids are to be up and at the table with no phones by 9:00 am. In the afternoon,
Marge and Homer love to watch football. They consider that their time to have fun with
something they really enjoy during the week. They have the older kids do the dishes
and laundry on that day, and Maggie will watch Lisa and Bart closely. They are all
together in the house, but the kids spend time in the game room playing together, while
Marge and Homer and a couple of friends make nachos and wings and watch football in
the living room. After football, Marge and Homer often take the kids outside to play.

Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Routines-Based Interview
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Summary and Prioritization of Marges Concerns
1. Bart starting daycare
2. Taking Bart to school to pick Lisa up
3. Bart not vocalizing
Marge explained the rest of the concerns are manageable and she tries not to stress
about them too much.
Milhouses difficulty with school
Bart playing with chords (the older kids take the socket protectors out and leave
them on the floor, then Bart will pick them up and put them in his mouth)
Bart now being able to open doors, and what he can get into behind said doors
(e.g. Lisas toys with small pieces)
Diaper changing
Dressing
Getting Bart out the door in the morning to get Lisa to school on time
The after bath time when Bart needs to get lotion, a diaper, and dressed in
pajamas
Lack of down time for Marge (although she does enjoy taking care of her house
and family, she does not have much time to herself at all)



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Two Questions
1. When you lie awake at night, what do you worry about?
Marge needed no time to think about the answer to this question; she was quick
to respond with money. She worries about being able to pay bills, due dates of
bills, if a certain check is going to overdraw the checking account, and supporting
an eight person household.
She also worries that her children will not wake up in the morning. She explained
she knows it sounds morbid and awful, but it is something she worries about
because she does not know what she would do without her children.
2. If theres anything youd like to change about your life, what is it?
Marge said if she could change one thing about her life it would be the constant
worry about finances. She would like to be able to get by without worrying and
having the financial burdens swinging over her head.










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Satisfaction with Home Routines Evaluations (SHoRE)

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RBI Checklists

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6.2 RBI Implementation Checklist Reflection
After implementing the RBI, Phyllis and I met to discuss what went well, what went not
so well, and we filled out the checklist together. A few pros of my first RBI
implementation are: the conversation flowed smoothly, it was much easier to identify
concerns than I thought it would be, and my level of comfort as an interviewer. A few
things that could have be done differently: I had to back track because part way through
the interview I realized I was not asking her to rate her level of satisfaction, I asked too
many yes/no questions, and I interjected bits about myself too often. I had forgotten if I
was to use numbers in association with the satisfaction ratings, so I used the terms not
at all satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied, or in between. To prevent things like this
happening in the future, I plan to type up a small cheat sheet of sorts so that if I need a
bit of reminding or prompting in the future, I can quickly glance at that. As far as the
yes/no questions, that is something I have forever struggled with. It was only in my last
few years of teaching preschool did I become proficient in asking the children open
ended questions and limiting my yes/no questions. I must now train myself to do the
same with the adults in the families I work with. The first step is to realize I do it, now I
need to put energy into focusing on using open ended questions. The final con,
interjecting bits about myself too much, happened because I am so comfortable with
this family. I have come to know them fairly well over the past few months. It is my
feeling that I would not interject as many personal details if I were implementing the RBI
with someone I did not know as well. However, now that it has been brought to my
attention, I will make a conscious effort to keep my chatting to a minimum.
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The only component of the checklist that Phyllis and I disagreed on was number 3. She
did not hear me ask if the mother had any questions before we got started, and I am
positive I did ask.
5. +/- Sometimes my attention turned to other conversation.
6. +/-, 12. +/-, & 27. +/- Many of my follow-up questions were yes/no questions.
8. +/-, 9. , & 10. +/- My follow up questions did not necessarily always pertain to these
things. I plan to work on my wording for future RBIs I complete.
14. +/- & 15. +/- For the first part of the interview, I forgot to do this. When I
remembered, I back tracked and did have her rate the routines we already discussed.
19. +/- I could have done this more.
21. I did not do this, it is in my notes to do next time.
23. +/- After the discussion with Phyllis, I realized perhaps I asked too many questions
about other people in the family.













Carlena Lowell
SEI 523 Routines-Based Interview
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Overall Reflection
I completed the Routines-Based Interview (RBI) last Thursday with my family.
Overall, I feel very good about the way in which it went. I am at the point now where I
am comfortable with the family, so I think this implementation of the RBI likely looked
different from what it will when I do it with a family I do not know as well. Although I am
comfortable with the family, I was fairly nervous about completing the interview. I was
nervous that I would forget things and that I would not have enough time to complete it.
I was, however, able to complete it within two hours. I did indeed forget some things,
for example, what follow up questions to ask, which led me to ask too many yes/no
questions, and I forgot to ask about the satisfaction rating of routines (which I corrected
part way through the interview).
There is a lot to this interview, so in the future I would like to write things to
remember, and take it with me in order to quickly and discreetly reference if I get stuck.
On this I will write the order of things, such as *questions, *concerns, *routines, etc., as
well as some of the common RBI questions. By even just writing them out, I think it will
help me in remembering to do and ask these things. In completing the checklist, I
scored myself with 89 points, and Phyllis scored me with 88 points. I feel this is
excellent for my first try at the RBI; however, some of the things I omitted are crucial, for
example, numbers 8, 9, and 10. Therefore, I want to ensure I know how to go about
obtaining this information in future interviews.
I found it incredibly useful to debrief with Phyllis after I was through with the
interview. She was able to bring things to my attention I would not have otherwise
considered. This is one of the checklists we went through item by item together, which I
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found this helpful to my reflection process. I was able to think about each component,
and also get her insight to each one. Before I conduct my next RBI, I will refer back to
this completed checklist in order to remember the items I struggled with so I can work
toward improving them. Although there were things I missed, I am happy with the way
in which my first RBI went. I could have done better on some things, but I was able to
complete it and meet McWilliams goal of 85% or better (albeit only by a point or two!).