Family Collaboration in Special Education

From the first day a child is born, parents are there to nurture their child, to support them as they grow and develop. There is a lot to learn about raising a child under normal circumstances, but when a child has special needs parents must learn this whole new language of medical and special education terms (Overton, 2005). Parents enter this new world where navigating for the best interest of their child is riddled with challenges and obstacles that they need to somehow overcome. This is especially true when parents are dealing with the special education program in their child’s school.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires parental involvement in the education of children with disabilities (Smith, Hilton, Murdick, & Gartin, 2005). The IDEA also guarantees civil rights to children with disabilities and encourages parents to act as an advocate for their child. This seems like it would encourage school professionals and parents to work close together in obtaining the best services needed for the child. Unfortunately it often leads to a struggle in balancing legislation, interpretation and understanding of the law, and a breakdown of communication (Yell, Shriner, & Katsiyannis, 2006). Parents often feel they have no voice in the educational system, which limits productive interaction between the parents and school personnel, and potentially has a negative impact on the student.

Collaboration between school and family is necessary to successfully create a positive, enriched, learning environment for the student. There are a few ways that parents can achieve this: positive support of school participation including homework, communicating with the school on a regular basis, volunteering in the school, a...

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... Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Smith, T. E. C., Hilton, A., Murdick, N. L., & Gartin, B. C. (2005). Families and children with special needs: Professional and family partnerships. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Yell, M. L., Shriner, J. G., & Katsiyannis, A., (2006). Individuals with disabilities education improvement act of 2004 and IDEA regulations of 2006: Implications for educators, administrators, and teacher trainers. Focus on Exceptional Children, 39, 1-24.