知道

Families of Young Children with Special Needs

Preschoolers with special needs are members of our communities, programs, and families and it is our responsibility to provide high-quality, inclusive support for these children and their families. While these families often experience additional situations and stressors, they have hopes, dreams, and concerns for their children just like other families. You can positively impact families with a preschooler with special needs by empowering them with knowledge, empathizing with their feelings, and collaborating with other support professionals in their lives.

与特殊需求的儿童家庭合作

Establishing meaningful relationships with families is a critical part of your work, and your communication is especially important when working with families with preschoolers with special needs. Some preschool children will enter your program with known special needs, and other families will learn that their child has a disability or is delayed while enrolled in your program. Families with eligible preschool-age children may receive special education services and have an individualized education program (IEP). Others may only receive support from a medical center, and some families will be involved with multiple systems of support. Regardless, families can be overwhelmed by what feels like a constant flow of suggestions and appointments to help their children learn and develop. These families may need more help supporting their children and may turn to you, or others in your program, for assistance with connecting to services or agencies outside of your program. It may be helpful to form relationships with outside agencies so you, or trainers and administrators in your program, have up-to-date information on how to make a referral and the types of services offered. Positive interactions with families and other professionals can decrease families’ stress and improve their well-being.

Families with preschoolers with special needs may go through various evaluation processes and may ask you to complete questionnaires or provide input at the request of a doctor, specialist, or teacher. Other professionals rely on this input, especially when they have limited amounts of time with children compared to program staff who often spend many hours each week caring for, educating, and observing children. This information can be used to determine if a child has a specific condition, support the child outcomes summary (COS) process, determine eligibility for specific services, and develop goals for an individualized education program (IEP). You, or a trainer or administrator from your program, may be asked to participate in an IEP review, a time when the team of professionals and families come together to assess progress, create new outcomes, and determine needed services. Preschool children with IEPs may attend your program and their local education agency (LEA). Services on an IEP may only be provided at the LEA, or interventionists and related services personnel may “push in” and provide services within your program. Regardless of how special education services are delivered, working with professionals from outside agencies helps things run smoothly for families and ensures that all of the professionals and caregivers in a child’s life are communicating. This lessens family stress by reducing the need for primary caregivers to act as the in-between messenger of important information.

有效实践

建立良好的人际关系的第一步ith families of children with special needs is to spend time discovering their wishes and concerns for their children and to learn about the meaningful activities they participate in at home. Maintaining this communication throughout a child’s time in your program is essential. Ask questions to learn about strategies that work at home and consider using them in your classroom. Through your interactions you can build trust so both you and families feel comfortable sharing children’s strengths and if there are concerns (Sandall, Hemmeter, Smith, & MCLean, 2005). Before communicating concerns with families, it may be helpful to discuss with a coach, trainer, or administrator your plan to share this information using family-centered practice. Be prepared for families to react in a variety of ways, and know how you can offer support if they choose to take specific steps or access other agencies and resources. For families already receiving support from other professionals, ongoing communication with both families and professionals is critical to maintain consistency between program and home environments. When all the caregivers and professionals in a child’s life are consistently using effective strategies to promote development and outcomes, children are more likely to benefit and learn new skills.

In your collaboration with families, acknowledge and respect their strengths and unique background, while realizing their ability to make decisions that are right for them (Hanson & Lynch, 2004). This means that when family wishes and decisions are different from what you would recommend, you will respond to the family’s decisions with respect. Ultimately, meaningful communication and relationship-building will enrich the process for both yourself and families.

Take a look at the following guidelines that reflect family-centered practice. You may remember some of these from Lesson 1. Then, think about which of these you can use in your work with families of children with special needs (Turnbull, Turbiville, & Turnbull, 2000):

• Recognizing the family as a constant in the child’s life; caregivers and service systems may come and go
• 促进家庭和专业人士之间的合作
• Honoring and respecting family diversity in all dimensions (cultural, racial, ethnic, linguistic, spiritual, and socioeconomic)
• 认识家庭优势和家庭可能用于应对的不同方法
• 以持续的基础与家庭成员分享无偏见和诚实的信息
• Encouraging family-to-family support and networking
• 承认并将孩子和其他家庭成员的发展需求纳入您的练习
• Designing and implementing services that are accessible, culturally and linguistically respectful and responsive, flexible, and based on family-identified needs

看

与特殊需求的儿童家庭合作

做

There are many ways you can demonstrate respect and consideration for families of children with special needs in your classroom. Consider the following:

• Acknowledge that families know their child best and ask them questions about services or resources that may be helpful to you.
• 建立家庭和学校之间的持续沟通。通信期刊是维持沟通的好方法。这些通常与孩子一起送回家并返回第二天。教师可以共享值得注意的观察或活动，家庭可以响应这些或分享自己的新闻或反思。虽然通信期刊可以与教室中所有儿童的家庭一起使用，但它们可以是建立具有特殊需求的儿童的家庭和学校环境一致的尤其有价值的工具。
• 将儿童的书籍纳入课堂图书馆，反映了对多种能力和差异的考虑。
• 邀请家庭谈论他们的孩子special needs. For example, a family member may come in your classroom and talk about their child’s use of adaptive equipment (e.g., braces, wheelchair, or a communication device). The family member may explain the use of equipment, which can help children and other families understand aspects of their life. This also promotes acceptance of differences.
• Be a team player! Work collaboratively with families and other professionals who may be involved in the delivery of services to children with special needs.

如果出现分歧或误解,consider the following:

• 提醒自己，您的角色是支持家庭的希望和梦想。
• Be patient. Dealing with a child with special needs may be challenging at times, and family members need time to navigate this experience at their own pace.
• Avoid making judgments for families and their children.
• Consider difficult times as opportunities to build trust between yourself and families.
• Question your assumptions about working with families of children with special needs and urge other professionals you know to do the same.
• Talk with your trainer, supervisor, or coach when in doubt about any aspect of your work with families.

Family Members Share Perspectives