When a parent first finds out that their child has some sort of disability, it isn’t easy for them to first accept that there is something wrong with their child. Once the parents learn more about their child condition and get the help that they and their child need it can make things a little easier for them. There are so many professionalism options that are available to help the family create a stronger bond between all of them and also work at a team for each other.
When Mr. Derstrom found out about his son’s Johnathan’s condition he quickly became somewhat depressed, overwhelmed and a little embarrassed. An example of this is Mr. Dertstrom went to the library to do some research and was nervous that someone was watching him and would
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ask questions. I think it is a good and bad idea for parents to do research about a condition. The good part about it is that parents can learn more about the condition and what to do, but the bad part is they might read too much into it and mentally break down and lose their confidence in raising their child with a condition. Mr. Derstrom compared his son Johnathan to his older son Chad. He compared them by their physical development and he thought that Johnathan wasn’t capable of doing certain things. Parents that have a child with a disability or condition should not compare them to other children; they should raise the child as if there is nothing wrong so the child can live a normal life as possible. Some of the pitfalls that should be avoided when talking to Mr.Derstrom would be; to not compare Johnathan to other children. Mr. Derstrom seemed to be a little sensitive when he and his wife had to tell their family about Johnathan because he wasn’t sure how they were going to react. So I would say to avoid talking about Johnathan’s condition because he had a hard time verbalizing his thoughts and feelings. The Derstrom family first found out about Johnathan’s condition they were blaming themselves, they were afraid to tell their parents and family because they weren’t sure how everyone was going to react. Their family was accepting of Johnathan’s condition and I think this was a relief to the parents. The Derstrom family wasn’t sure how Johnathan’s first day of school would go especially since he is a special child. They were nervous of all the things that would go wrong. As Johnathan was walking out the door school with his backpack on his back, his dad realized how much he has grown and is growing. Once they saw how well Johnathan’s first day went they were even more relieved and I think they felt more confident about helping Johnathan with his condition. It seems to be a great relief knowing that Johnathan can be successful with the help from his parents and his teachers, and the fact that he fits right in at his new middle school. I think this is a great confident booster for his parents knowing that his son is going to fit in with the other students and receive the help and support he needs from his teachers. The first list is “best practice”, Mrs.
Turdy allowed the children to explore with different textures, smells, bright colors and sensory experiences. Johnathan was treated as an individual and not left out because he was different and helped him develop his skills. Mr. Derstrom and his wife met with the administrators at his new school and they allowed Johnathan to visit his new school without his parents. This way he was able to know where everything was and meet his teachers on his own. The purpose of this was to help Johnathan overcome the challenge of a different school with different surroundings. The parents seemed to have formed a great relationship with the principal at Johnathan’s new …show more content…
school. The second list is “bad practice”; Mrs. Turdy tried diagnosing Johnathan will autistic tendencies. Mr.Derstrom and his wife had to learn the “language” the teachers and specialist were speaking at the first staff meeting instead of making it more understandable for the parents. They felt excluded at the meeting because they didn’t understand what was being talked about. The best practice that teachers and other professionals should use to assist this family is to show them acceptance and welcoming of the child.
The teacher first develop a relationship with the family should talk to the parents at least a couple times a week to show the family that they are there for them, and so everyone is on the same page. This way Johnathan is keeping the same routine at home and his parents are able to work with him at home. The teacher should show the parents what their child’s day insists of so they know what activities their child will be doing throughout the day. When the parents are at a meeting they should feel included and understand what is being talked about when it comes to their
son. I feel that of the eight parental roles, Mr. Derstrom has undertaken the role of parents as educational decision makers. I think that Mr. Derstrom will be more motivated to help Johnathan will his education since he has learned a lot about Johnathan’s condition. According to the author, “IDEA was revolutionary when it was enacted because it granted and still grants parents not family members generally but parents a right to participate with educators in making decisions about their child (Turnball, pg. 124.).” This goes back to when the Derstrom’s had meeting with the teachers and administrators, and during the meetings the Derstrom’s had no idea what was being talked about because it was a different language to them. It is important for them to understand what is being talked about so they can speak their mind and be a part of making the best decisions for their son. Also, they can work as a team with the other teachers and professionals so Johnathan is getting the help and support he needs so he can be successful.
Just as Johnny’s courage shines through so does his fast maturity from child to adult. His childhood was stolen away from him by his illness but instead of sulking he pulls himself together. He takes every difficulty in stride, and gets through them. Even when he is feeling down he hides it for he does not want anyone else to feel his pain. Being a seventeen year old boy he wants to do the things all other seventeen year old boys do.
Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and
In this scenario, Margaret is a newly hired medical assistant for this very busy medical practice. Margaret had good intentions with wanting to leave a good impression. However, she should have thought more about patient care and her ability to perform a procedure on her own. Fortunately, even though the office seemed to need the extra help. Margaret being a new hire and having not much time with blood draws, or the way that the office is run. Should have consulted with one of the experienced staff members of RN’s, Medical assistants and seven providers. She should have also asked about their policy and the procedures that the practice uses.
As a parent, learning that your child has developmental disabilities can be a life altering moment in time and can cause a devastating chain reaction of events. These events have the potential to change family priorities and structure, hurt relationships, deplete financial savings and stability, and emotionally drain everyone intimately involved with you and your child. How do you find human services programs, agencies, or advocates, whose primary job is to help you provide everything your child needs? It certainly can be an overwhelming barrier, but it's the first step in giving you, your child, and your family a plan of action, goals, success, good mental health and bringing everyone back together.
This article was very interesting and there are a few key points that stand out. The author explained that it is important to be an advocate for your child by learning as much as you can about the disability that they have. Also, she mentioned that if a parent keeps on living in denial about the illness or disability, that this will never help the child or the parent. I also found it interesting when she spoke about support within the family as well as outside the family. Lastly, I thought it was important for her to mention the strain that a family with a disabled child will incur.
Occupational therapist do not just work with the patient to help them overcome their disability to perform the appropriate way in their occupations, but need the full support of the family and environment of the patient. They work with children to help them achieve their developmental milestones as well as their parents and surrounding adults to facilitate to the child’s learning and development. The most crucial part of the child’s rehabilitation is the family’s support and involvement because even when the best program is provided, if there is no cooperation with the family, there will be no progress (Lady Suarez).
Always need time to communicate with the parents either formal or informal so we can build trust and be cultural sensitive. We can also provide parents with support and education with whatever the child’s needs might be. For the children we help them understand the language and reasoning skills. Math and numbers can be taught is so many ways through play that the children won’t get stressed. Nature and science when we provide them with things that are naturally in their surroundings they get a chance to investigate. Promote acceptance of diversity and do things to help all the children learn something new and interact with different activities when sharing their
Effective partnerships between families and school emerge from a mutual trust, respect and understanding of each other’s values and goals. By maintaining such partnerships, we create a healthy environment for children to develop. All families have something unique to offer and educators need to recognize this and make the most of it by incorporating all families into the school community.
At this center, the teachers have the tools to assess each child and the parents are interested in knowing the strengths and supports their child needs. The article Understanding Families, states that there should be “opportunities for families to discuss their beliefs about their children, what they want for their children, and how they support their children’s development” (Christian, 7). As conferences occur every 6 months, parents also communicate with the school and teachers via email and during drop off and pick up times. Another great example of parent communication is in the article Building Bridges from School to Home.
This is when we need to step up and help the parent and the child so they don’t fall through the cracks of the education system. We need to increase parent involvement in each child education. Increasing parent involvement, begins with education the parents. Parents don’t realize or know how to get involved with their child’s education. There are many ways families can be involved in the education process. The parent is the child’s most valuable teacher for their whole life. The most benefit this will bring to the families is confidence. Teachers need to help the parents know that they can assist in their child’s education and can help them at home. There are workshops and training to help families get involved. The key is to offer incentives to the training to help increase the parent’s attendance, Communication is the one key with the parents. In today’s socially they are many ways to stay in contact with parents because of technology by email, text, or social media. Invite parent to come to the classroom and volunteer and see firsthand what a day look like for their child in the classroom. Have different events that will increase parents interest and eventually great participation. Another idea could be to send home activities that encourages family involvement. This can be activity that have the parents engage with each other and can be short and dynamic. The
Professionalism is defined as one's conduct at work. The quality of professionalism is not restricted to those in occupations with high level of education or high earnings. Any worker regardless of their level of education or occupation should demonstrate a high level of this trait (About.com, 2013). Acting professionally at workplace makes others think of you as reliable, respectful, and competent.
Raising a child with a disability may have some difficulties and challenges but it will have a lot of rewards; just as having a normal child. A parent want their child to live a normal fulfilling life as any other normal child. This life style will take extra patience, time and adaptive equipment and a special person to do it. When accepting that your child has a disability it is good to get all the literature on that type of disability. This will help you understand your child’s disability. A parent involvement is needed to find support groups, so they can get some insight on things someone from the support group has done to get certain things accomplished.
A lot of children have two main educators in their life; their parents and their teachers. Parents are their first educators, the majority of what a child learns in the first few years of their life is taught by their parents. It is only when the child starts to attend an early years setting that they start to learn from another educator. Both parents and teachers continue being a major influence on their children's learning all throughout school and for the rest of their lives. The parents and the child's school both have important roles to play in the child's education and should therefore work together as a team. Parents can get involved in many different ways such as; getting involved with the school itself by helping in the classroom or supervising lunch and break times, or for those parents who work in the day and cannot find the time to help at the school they can get involved by; reading to their child at home, assisting with homework and other learning activities, teaching them songs or nursery rhymes and letting them help with everyday tasks like cooking, baking and chores. This can be categorised as: Involvement of parents in the school life or involvement of parents in supporting the individual child at home.
A child with a mental or physical disability may not be able to think, work, play, and function like other children of the same age. Someone working in the special needs career will be able to assist these children to function in their everyday lives and to meet goals to encourage them to thrive. In order for someone to work with special needs children, they need to understand the factors involved in a child’s improvement, have a heart for helping others, and be properly educated and trained.
In the reading it brings up how most parents are only contacted by the school when it is something bad. This is not how it should be. Teachers should be sending home good news notes to the parents praising the students for their hard work in the class. Schools also need to be welcoming to the families and provide workshops to assist in the parent’s knowledge to allow them to help their children with their schoolwork. Having the parents involved and aware of the things that are going on in the classroom and the school are great ways to build that relationship and to enhance the student’s academic achievement and