Emotions Associated With Being The Parent Of A Child With Special Needs

Describe the range of emotions associated with being the parent of a child with special needs. Select two emotional states and describe how you as a teacher would you work with a parent experiencing these emotions.

According to the Iris module, there are many ranges of emotions the parent of a child with a special need goes through. Some of these emotions include “loss of their hopes and dreams for their child” (Iris Center for Training Enhancements, 2008). Families will even go through emotional states such as, denial, guilt, anger, depression, anxiety, and fear (Iris Center for Training Enhancements, 2008). These ranges may not occur in order, however, “they can repeat themselves when a family’s child experiences-or should be experiencing key milestone or transitions (Iris Center for Training Enhancements, 2008).

The teacher’s role is crucial to a family who has a child with a disability. The Iris module brings out that the “most important role is to be supportive” (Iris Center for Training Enhancements, 2008). Teacher can support families by, “accepting families, understanding that each family is unique in how they deal with their child’s disability, building on the strengths of the family, and helping them to become more empowered to help themselves (Iris Center for Training Enhancements, 2008).

Two emotions that I choose are depression and anxiety. I would focus on the benefits that the emotions could bring instead of the negatives. The module comments that a person who is exhibiting anxiety may use the “energy created by the state of anxiety may help the person focus his or her energy in order to make the necessary change” (Iris Center for Training Enhancements, 2008). I would help the parent(s) focus thei...

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... to be supportive as a teacher is imperative because as teachers we are with the students a lot through out the day.

As I reflect on what I have learned in this module, it is important to consider how I will apply the material. I believe it is essential to practice what I have learned in order to apply it. Applying the material starts today. One way I can start today is by recognizing the families that I have direct contact with as “individual members, and the unique circumstances that the families present to professions” (Turnbull et al., 2015, p. 4). This is done by spending “a significant amount of time establishing genuine relationships with families” (p. 15). Spending a lot of time with families is a “rare commodity for many professions” (p.15), however, it a way to show the “willingness to establish personal familiarity as the basis for trust” (p.15).