Partnership with Families

The Exceptional Child: Inclusion in Early Childhood Education;K. Eileen Allen, Glynnis E. Cowdery; 2015

Chapter 9

• Family involvement is required when working with children with special needs• Caregivers must develop cultural competence (p. 217)• The majority of children with disabilities attend public schools since

federal law requires education of all children• A family-centered approach in early childhood special education

programs allows families a role in “planning, implementing, and evaluating” their child’s program

Movement from Generalized expectations of professionals

Individual priorities from family’s perspectives

Becoming culturally competent• “Provide classroom activities, materials, and curricula that

acknowledge and respect the different ethnicities that are represented in the classroom and community” (p. 217)

or• “knowing, respecting, appreciating, and honoring the diversity of

cultures in early childhood settings” (Katz, 2014)

• How do we ensure we can relate to families and children whose cultures may be very different from our own?

What are Families?• No longer mom, dad, 2.2 kids, a cat and a dog!• How to define families? No matter how they are defined, what is our

responsibility to them?

• All families have the right to partner in special education services for their children – It’s their right and it’s the law!

Skills and Strategies• Know your families – learn more about their cultures• Use interpreters• Recognize cultural responses that may not be comfortable with

collaborative and family-centered model• Realize that at risk families may pose additional challenges; their own

school experiences may not have been positive• Recognize the unique challenges facing families of children with

disabilities.

Considerations“Welcome to Holland” by Emily Perl Kingsley

You may have heard this before. Read this from the perspective of a parent of a child with special needs.What mixed feelings do you have? Worries? Concerns? Fears? Joys?There are many heart warming poems and stories about parents who have children with special needs being such wonderful people and especially chosen to have “special” children. How realistic are those? For which parents? All? Some? Few?

Working through grief• As child care professionals, we can never assume that parents “don’t

care” if they don’t respond as we think they should• Many parents must work through many feelings, very similar to those

associated with working through grief identified by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory• Children are influenced by the family, community, time, and societal

systems into which they are born.• The more supportive each of those influences is, the more unlimited a

child’s developmental prospects.• Families feel more empowered when the societal system they belong

in is more supportive.• Laws for early intervention are designed to help families meet their

needs and the needs of their child with special needs.

Parent Participation• They are experts on their child• They know their culture, values, and beliefs they want transmitted to

their children• Their participation helps consistency of delivery of services• Parents have various levels of participation only they can determine

for themselves

Teacher Responsibilities• Communicate with parents• Informal exchanges• Intentional exchanges• Meetings and conferences

• Maintain confidentiality• Welcome parents• Provide resources• Solicit feedback