Family Support, Resources, and Involvement inSpecial Education

By Nancy Reisner & Britni Chabot

Seattle Pacific UniversityMay 31, 2012

What does Family Involvement Look Like to You?

Definition of Issues Family centered practice

currently lacks a solid foundation in research based methods.

Currently, data collection related to the effectiveness of Family Centered practice is a “work in progress”.

“Despite the almost universal recommendation for a family-centered approach, implementation has been a challenge due to factors such as leadership, training, attitudes, and lack of resources.” (Gooding, Blaine, Franck, Howse, & Berns, 2011)

Key Points Family Involvement

What will it look like in your practice?

What are the benefits?

How do you measure success of family involvement?/data?

How Can You Implement Family-Centered Practices?

Know the resources available to you, your students and their families

Communicate Collaborate Be Flexible Understand and

respect diversity and values

Set goals

What are the goals of Family-Centered Practice?

Build relationships with families Parents will know and understand

their rights Be able to communicate their

child’s needs Help their child develop and learn Support families as well as

students Quality of life(Bailey, D. What is the Future of Family Outcomes and Family-Centered Services?, 2011).

Activity Pair up Identify one teacher

Special Ed, one teacher General Education

Collaborate to determine what your “family centered practices” will include

Share ideas with the group

Education Impact Today Philosophically

sound but there is a lack of data to establish “best practice”.

Teachers need

researched based methods to implement.

Desired Outcomes Understand their child’s

strengths, abilities, and special needs.

Know their rights and advocate effectively for their children

Help their child develop and learn

Have support systems Access desired services,

programs and activities.(Bailey, et al., 2006)

Activity Meet with your

partner Identify data

collection methods you will use to measure the effectiveness of your plan.

Share your ideas with the group

Educational Impact in Future “Family outcomes will not

be a part of any national accountability effort in the near future until research clearly shows that such outcomes ultimately will benefit children.” (Bailey, et al., 2006)

We must include data collection and use of “best practice” based on research to build on what currently exists.

FAMILY RESOURCES http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Parents/wa

parent.h tml Washington State Resources for Parents of Children

and Youth with Disabilities, University of Washington. http://www.wapave.org/ PAVE: Partnerships for Action

Voices for Empowerment disAbilityNavigator.org http://

www.virginianavigator.org/dn/helpful-coverage-tips-for-parents-of-special-needs-children/article-24235.aspx

National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/info_services/family-centered-practice.html

References 

Bailey, D. B., Raspa, M., & Fox, L. (2011). What is the Future of Family Outcomes in Family-Centered Services? Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 216 - 223.

Bailey, D. R., Bruder, M., Hebbeler, K., Carta, J., Defosset, M., Greenwood, C., et al. (2006). Recommended Outcomes for Families of Young Children with Disabilities. Journal of Early intervention, 227 - 251.

Espe-Sherwindt, M. (2008). Family-Centered Practice: Collaboration, Competency, and Evidence. Support for Learning, 136-143.

Gooding, J. S., Blaine, L. G., Franck, L. S., Howse, J. L., & Berns, S. D. (2011). Family support and family-centered care in the neonatal intensive care unit: Orgins, advances, impact. Seminars in Perinatology, 35, 20-28.

King, S. e. (2004). Family-Centered Service for Children with Cerebral Palsy and Their Families: A Review of the Literature. Seminars in Pediatric Neurology, 78-86.

McCray-Sorrells, A., Reith, H. J., & Sindelar, P. T. (2004). Critical Issues in Special Education. Boston: Pearson Education.

Raspa, M., Bailey, D. R., Olmsted, M. G., Nelson, R., Robinson, N., Simpson, M., et al. (2010). Measuring Family Outcomes Early Intervention: Findings from a Large-Scale Assessment. Exceptional Children, 496-510.

Scarborough, A., Spiker, D., Mallik, S., Hebbeler, K., Bailey Jr., D. B., & Simeonsson, R. J. (2004). A National Look at Children and Families Entering Early Intervention. Exceptional Children, 469.

The Division of Children and Family Services. (2012, 05 10). Washington State Divison of Children and Family Services Family-Centered Practice Model. Retrieved 05 10, 2012, from Washington State Department of Social and Health Servces: http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/ca/FCPModel.pdf