“It’s definitely a world you don’t want to enter, but
when you’re there you learn to love it and capture
small moments of what your child does,” Miller
said. “It’s kind of like you’re in a secret society
when you’re a parent of a kid with special needs,
and until you are in it you don’t understand it.”
Miller counts herself lucky to be part of that society.
Olivia was eventually discharged from the hospital
and after a process involving meetings with social
workers and hearings with a judge, the 9-month-old
came home to Miller on Jan. 13, 2005 – commonly
celebrated as “gotcha day” (official adoption did not
happen until 2006).
Olivia, who has Down’s Syndrome, recovered from
heart surgery and is now a spunky and energetic
10-year-old. She is athletic and uses a healthy dose
of stubbornness and determination to keep up with
her peers. Her latest mission has been learning to
ride a scooter like her cousins. Not being able to
master it was driving Olivia nuts, her mother says.
This past spring she finally got it. Now, she’s doing
tricks.
“I love watching every milestone she’s hit,” Miller
said. “Watching life through her eyes, it’s so much
fun.”
Turning passion into a career
Miller, who graduated from Lafayette High School
and has a bachelor’s degree in recreational therapy,
did not find her calling until a friend told her about
developmental intervention and Kentucky’s First
Steps program. She researched available schools
and chose the UK College of Education Department
of Early Childhood, Special Education and
Rehabilitation Counseling, where she completed
a master’s in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood
Education. She also has a teaching certificate from
the University of Louisville as a teacher of the
visually impaired.
“I was finally in a field where I knew it was
something I was interested in and would walk away
from the program being able to enjoy my career,”
Miller said. “The professors are a strength of the
program. The education college at UK is top-notch
in the nation, they are right on it with research.
And, they’re a family.”
Miller worked as a graduate assistant and got a
first-hand glimpse at what professors do in addition
to teaching courses. Her faculty mentors in the
program included Drs. Jennifer Grisham-Brown,
Lee Ann Jung, Katherine McCormick and Charlotte
Manno.
“They want to see good teachers being produced
so they put their hearts into it,” Miller says. “They
have a love for children with special needs just as
much as I do and they want to see those children
being served, and so they are going to educate these
students coming through to the best of their ability.”
Interested in working with young children?
The Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education program prepares students for a variety of
careers working with families and young children, birth through 5 years, including those with
disabilities. Graduates of the program are prepared for a number of teaching, research and
administration careers in settings such as preschool, kindergarten, early intervention (First Steps),
childcare, research programs, state and local government agencies, hospitals (as child and family
life specialists), and other private or publicly-funded programs such as Head Start, Early Start and
the Kentucky’s HANDS Program.
The College of Education also offers a Teacher Preparation Program in Visual Impairments.
Both campus and distance education options are available. Prospective students interested in
becoming a Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) should contact Dr. Donna Lee at (859) 257-1520
or [email protected].
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