ET Parent Interview

General Information

This note, dated 5/20/2025, pertains to Eli Twarek. His mother, Aimee Twarek, is one of his biological parents and legal guardians. The parents are married. Living at home with Eli is his brother Micah, age 9. Recent changes include the deaths of two grandfathers. At home, Eli does chores when asked, seeks permission before going out with friends, enjoys video games, and wears earbuds. Additionally, socks are frequently missing.

Daily Routine

On a typical weeknight, after school, Eli does assigned chores, has a snack if desired, and may have electronics time before extracurricular activities. The family usually has dinner together, followed by sports, a family activity, or other togetherness activities. Eli's bedtime routine starts at 8:30, with lights out at 9:00. Weekends include sporting events, youth groups, and other activities, with downtime for personal relaxation and peer socialization in between. Bedtime remains at 8:30/9:00.

Personal Hygiene and Self-Care

Eli faces challenges in his personal hygiene and self-care routines. He almost never follows a morning routine or manages his own hygiene products and toiletries, and rarely dresses or eats regular meals. He also almost never goes to bed at a reasonable time. Sometimes, he needs reminders to check his hair.

Household Chores and Responsibilities

Eli rarely contributes to personal or household chores. He sometimes takes initiative and completes tasks without reminders, particularly with gentle reminders to mow the lawn. He also rarely learns basic life skills.

Time Management and Organization

Eli sometimes demonstrates school readiness with occasional reminders to ensure he has everything. However, he rarely manages time responsibly or follows a daily/weekly routine or schedule.

Communication and Conflict Resolution

Eli rarely communicates openly and honestly or accepts when told "no" or "stop." He sometimes expresses his needs, listens to others' perspectives, accepts corrective feedback/reprimands, and participates in problem-solving. He rarely uses negotiation and compromise when appropriate. Constructive criticism is hard to accept without feeling he is in trouble.

Independence and Decision-Making

Eli rarely accepts time limits, prioritizes tasks, manages independent/unsupervised time appropriately, seeks guidance or advice from parents/trusted adults, makes choices from options available, accepts consequences for actions, or takes responsibility for decisions. He sometimes makes age-appropriate decisions about daily activities, friendships, and personal interests. He is good at consulting with parents when navigating social situations.

Safety and Risk Management

Eli rarely follows safety rules at home, uses household appliances safely, takes precautions to avoid accidents or injury, or uses technology and the internet safely.

Respect for Others and Property

Eli is sometimes mindful of personal space and boundaries, takes care of shared spaces and property, and cleans up after himself. However, he rarely avoids behaviors that could cause damage or injury. He has trouble with spatial awareness and is working on picking up in shared spaces at home.

Triggering Situations

Challenging behavior often arises when Eli is asked to suddenly stop a preferred activity, when given directions with too many managed words, or when he believes he can use an object better than another in an activity.

Strengths/Improved Areas

Eli is growing in maturity when reminded that an activity is over and is showing more responsibility with school work before chores and free time without being argumentative.

Observed Behaviors

Observed behaviors at home include a poor attitude, verbal disrespect and aggression, physical disrespect, and invading personal space without permission.

Response to Problem Behavior

Typical responses to problem behavior include giving a non-verbal hint, verbally correcting or prompting, reminding him of what is appropriate, taking away an activity or free time, and taking away a privilege. He loses his phone if he is a sassy teenager.

Effective/Ineffective Interventions

The most effective interventions are the "look" and "excuse me, do you want to try that again?" The least effective intervention is talking a lot.

Reasons for Challenging Behavior

Challenging behavior often occurs in situations where Eli may be embarrassed or trying to "save face," when he is unsure of what to do or what is expected, in overstimulating situations, or when he wants to gain or maintain access to something. Sometimes, he may not realize a situation is too overwhelming until it is, due to feeling shame about being different.

Goals

The goals for Eli at home are for him to be a functional part of society and to make a difference in the world, no matter how small. His best qualities include being kind, generous, compassionate, helpful, honest, smart, creative, funny, and thoughtful.

Social Activities

Eli spends time with friends outside of school and is involved in hang-outs, parties, clubs, sports, religious youth organizations, gaming, and outdoor activities. His most preferred activities are clubs, gaming, youth group, and Boy Scouts. Other preferred interests include Rubix cubes and D&D.

Motivators

Eli is motivated by tangible rewards, food/drink rewards, and one-on-one time with an adult, which is the most meaningful motivator.

Social Skills

Eli has a social skills rating of 2 and a satisfaction with social opportunities of 3. His best quality in social situations is his ability to find a way to make a connection within a group by linking a common interest. A skill to improve is creating long-lasting relationships.

Health

Eli's physical health is good, with predictable sleep patterns (rated 5) and activity level (rated 4). There are no changes in eating habits or mood. He has current medical diagnoses of ADHD, generalized anxiety, and a mood disorder. There are no concerns about his physical health. He had evaluations outside of school in July 2020 and has not had additional outside evaluations since the last school reevaluation. He is currently accessing medication management and individual counseling/therapy, and the caregivers are very satisfied with these services and do not anticipate changes. Eli is currently on medications and has not received in-patient care.

School Performance

There are concerns about Eli's school performance, specifically his ELA catching up grade level. Academic goals include continuing to work towards grade level, and behavioral/social goals include making lasting friendships.