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The document outlines the importance of collaboration between educators and families of children with special needs, emphasizing the roles and rights of parents in their child's education. It discusses strategies for effective communication and support, as well as the emotional stages parents may experience upon learning about their child's special needs. Additionally, it highlights the role of multidisciplinary teams in developing individualized education plans for children with special needs.

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J.A Sion
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12 views

lesson-4-written-report

The document outlines the importance of collaboration between educators and families of children with special needs, emphasizing the roles and rights of parents in their child's education. It discusses strategies for effective communication and support, as well as the emotional stages parents may experience upon learning about their child's special needs. Additionally, it highlights the role of multidisciplinary teams in developing individualized education plans for children with special needs.

Uploaded by

J.A Sion
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Working with Families and Professionals

Objectives:

 Identify the roles and rights of parents in the learning of the children in special education.
 Discuss the practices and approaches that encourages parent involvement.
 Value the importance of parental involvement in the education of special children
Introduction
Establishing meaningful relationships with families is a critical part of your work, and your
communication is especially important when working with families with special needs. In this lesson,
you will learn the ways in which you can play a significant role in supporting families of children with
special needs. You will learn recommendations for effective collaboration with families and other
professionals and begin to understand the additional roles and responsibilities placed on many
families of children with special needs.
Strategies in Working with Families of Children with Special Needs
Understand family life
• Appreciating and respecting the extra work it takes for families to care for and educate
children with special needs is important. At the age of 3 months, Ella began a weekly schedule of six
hours of physical, speech, developmental, music, and occupational therapies. She engaged in oral
motor exercises three times daily.

Learn about the disability


• As an educator, you may be familiar with a particular disability diagnosis, such as Down
syndrome, but there is wide variation in its manifestations among children. Therefore, it is crucial to
learn as much as you can about the individual child.

Communicate frequently with families


• As is true with families of all children, ongoing two-way communication between teachers
and families is key in working successfully with families of children with disabilities.
• You can arrange a meeting with the child’s parents prior to the child’s start in your program
or school. To get to know each other, find out as much as possible about the child and the family’s
goals for their child’s learning and development, and tell parents how you design your program to
meet individual children’s needs.
• Provide a simple questionnaire for the family to specify important information about the
child’s likes, dislikes, personality traits, skills, special health needs or medications, and emergency
contacts.
• Continue to stay in regular contact through formal and informal conferences, phone calls,
notes, and e-mails. Keep a record of all communication with family members, including dates and
the content of the communication.
• Do not hesitate to ask the parents questions or request advice about learning or behavior
issues that arise during the day and if they have experienced similar incidents at home. For example,
after working cooperatively with a family, a kindergarten teacher determined that the reason their
daughter refused to come inside at the end of recess was because the ringing bell on the school wall
was painful to hear, due to her sensory integration disorder. After the class lined up in a different
location away from the bell, the child willingly joined her class in line.
Approaches and Practices Working with Families of Children with Special Needs
 Recognizing the family as a constant in the child’s life; caregivers and service systems may
come and go
 Facilitating collaboration between families and professionals
 Honoring and respecting family diversity in all dimensions (cultural, racial, ethnic, linguistic,
spiritual, and socioeconomic)
 Recognizing family strengths and the different approaches that families may use to cope
 Sharing unbiased and honest information with family members on an ongoing basis
 Encouraging family-to-family support and networking
 Acknowledging and incorporating the developmental needs of the child and other family
members into your practice
 Designing and implementing services that are accessible, culturally and linguistically
respectful and responsive, flexible, and based on family-identified needs.

How does Parents Deal with Stress


Stages of Grief in Learning your Child has Special Needs
Stage 1: Denial
• Denial is the worst stage for a child with special needs. Early intervention is critical and if a
parent is unwilling to believe they have a child with special needs crucial time is lost. Some parents
never get out of this stage and the only one that loses is that poor child. It is a parent’s job to be
their child’s advocate and that can’t happen until they come to terms with the disability.
Stage 2: Anger
• Once in the second stage, the parents recognize that denial cannot continue. In this stage
the child starts getting the crucial help they need but often times the parents alienate themselves
from their friends, family and often times each other. During this stage there are many stresses on
the marriage and sometimes this anger will lead to divorce. The parents need to get past this anger
while creating a strong support network. If the parents stick together often times their bond will
become stronger and the marriage will flourish.
Stage 3: Bargaining
• The third stage involves the hope that the parents can somehow cure their child. Usually,
this involves prayer to a higher power, “Just let my child be like other children and I will do whatever
you want”. What the parents need to learn is the joys of being special. Every child has unique
abilities and skills. Through therapies, practice and trial and error you will find what makes your child
special. My son has a bigger heart then anyone I have ever met and continues to amaze me with his
generosity every day. Denial Shock Grief
Stage 4: Depression
• During the fourth stage, the parents start to blame themselves. They think they did
something to cause their child to have a disability. Instead of blaming the world and each other they
blame themselves. Trying to cheer someone up in this stage is very hard. Common sense is thrown
out the window. The individual needs to realize on their own that they are not to blame.
Stage 5: Acceptance
• In this last stage, parents can start to dream again. They buckle down and do the hard work
it takes to raise a special needs child but now they also see the beauty in it. They see their child as
they are and not defined by their preconceived ideas. This child has talents and abilities far beyond
what they ever imagined. While they might struggle at social interaction or sports they might
flourish somewhere else. My son’s brain works in pictures and has become my personal navigation
system in the car. He directs me through the city with an ease I still don’t have myself. He also has
become a great swimmer. While he was not able to keep up in traditional team sports in the water
he has the advantage. Also, unlike many of life’s losses raising a child with special needs is an
ongoing commitment. It would not be unusual to run through these stages more than once as life
happens!! This doesn’t mean you are a horrible parent it means you are a human being.

The Multidisciplinary Team

• As a special education teacher, you'll often find yourself working with multidisciplinary
teams, which involve members with a variety of specialties key to identifying and meeting the needs
of students with physical disabilities or other health impairments.

• Once it has been determined that a child has special needs and is eligible for individualized
early intervention or special education services, the multidisciplinary team needs to write a plan
outlining these services. The plan outlines individualized goals (which should be tied to the
assessment results and parent concerns), the amount of time the child or student is to be educated
with typically developing peers, and more. For children from birth to three years of age, these plans
are called Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs)’

References:

Working With Families of Children With Special Needs | VLS. (2020). Virtual Lab School (VLS).
https://www.virtuallabschool.org/school-age/family-engagement/lesson-4

THE FIVE STAGES, or DABDA. (2020). Parkinson’s Resource Organization.


https://parkinsonsresource.org/news/articles/the-five-stages-popular-acronym-dabda/

Bradley, S. (2020). What to do when your family doesn’t accept your kid’s special needs. Retrieved
from https://www.todaysparent.com/family/special-needs/what-to-do-when-your-family-doesnt-
accept-your-kids-special-needs/

DepEd Order No. 53 (2008). Maximization of Trained Teachers and Administrators in Special
Education. Department of Education.

Educational Placements for Students with Disabilities (2020). Retrieved at


https://www.navigatelifetexas.org/en/education-schools/educational-placements-for-students-
with-disabilities

Ferry, M. (2011). Accommodations and Modifications in Special Education. Available @


https://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2011/12/15/accommodations-and-modifications-in-special-
education/. Retrieved on July 15, 2020.
Heward, W. L. (2000). Exceptional children: An introduction to special education (6th edition).
Pearson Education, p. 49-55. Upper Saddle River, NJ.

IDEA Parent Guide (2006). Procedural Safety Notice. National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc., p.
20-23. Park Avenue South, Suite 1401, NY.

Inciong, T. (2007). Expanding Access to Education and Other Opportunities for People with Mental
Retardation. Available @ http://www.jldd.jp/gtid/acmr_18/pdf/4.pdf.Retreived on July 16, 2020

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