Know

家庭of School-Age Children with Special Needs

具有特殊需求的学龄儿童是我们的社区，计划和家庭的成员，我们有责任在他们的同行接受之前提供同样的丰富和课外护理。虽然具有特殊需求的儿童的家庭经常遇到其他情况和压力，但他们希望，梦想和担心他们的孩子就像其他家庭一样。您可以积极影响学龄儿童的家庭，通过了解他们的知识，同情他们的感受，并与他们的生活中其他支持专业人员合作。

Working with Families of Children with Special Needs

Establishing meaningful relationships with families is a critical part of your work, and your communication is especially important when working with families with school-age children with special needs. While many families with school-age children are familiar with their child’s learning needs and the types of support available, they can still be overwhelmed by what feels like a constant flow of suggestions and appointments to help their children learn and develop. Families’ and children’s needs evolve as children with special needs grow older, and families 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 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.

家庭with school-age children with special needs may be collaborating with a variety of other support professionals such as intervention specialists (i.e. special education teachers), related services personnel, and behavior analysts. Families may access support and services for school-age children through schools, medical facilities, and community organizations. Children who receive special education through their school will have an individualized education program (IEP.). You, or someone in your program, may be asked to collaborate with other professionals to create consistency between the support children receive at home, in school, and in before- and after-school care. Working with professionals from outside agencies and programs helps things run smoothly for families and ensures that all 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.

建立与具有特殊需求的儿童家庭建立强有力的关系的第一步是花时间发现他们的孩子的愿望和疑虑，并了解他们在家参加的有意义的活动。询问家庭有助于输入他们的孩子如何支持他们的孩子，特别是对于具有特殊需求的儿童。通过您的互动，您可以建立信任，所以您和家庭都感到舒适地分享儿童的优势和担忧。在与家庭的疑虑进行沟通之前，与教练，培训师或管理员讨论您的计划可能有助于使用家庭为中心的实践分享此信息。为家庭准备以各种方式进行互动，并知道他们如何支持如何遵守特定步骤或访问其他机构和资源。与家庭的持续沟通和生活中的支持性专业人士在花费时间之间的各种环境之间产生一致性。

In your collaboration with families acknowledge and respect their strengths and unique background, while realizing their ability to make the decisions that are right for them. 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:

• 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
• Sharing unbiased and honest information with family members on an ongoing basis
• 鼓励家庭到家庭的支持和网络
• Acknowledging and incorporating the developmental needs of the child and other family members into your practice
• 设计和实施可访问，文化和语目上尊重和响应，灵活，并基于家庭确定的需求

See

做

您有很多方法可以展示在您的计划中具有特殊需求的儿童家庭的尊重和考虑。考虑以下：

• Acknowledge that families know their child best and ask them questions about services or resources that may be helpful to you.
• Establish ongoing communication between home and the school-age program. Communication journals are a great way to maintain communication. These are usually sent home with the child and returned the next day. Staff can share noteworthy observations or events, and families can respond to those or share their own news or reflections. Journals can be an especially valuable tool in establishing consistency between home and school-age program environments for children with special needs.
• Incorporate children’s books in your program library that reflect consideration of multiple abilities and differences.
• 如果他们觉得舒服，邀请孩子分享他们的残疾。例如，孩子可能会觉得与您或一些关于她使用自适应设备的朋友（例如，牙套，轮椅或通信设备）感到舒服。这也促进了接受差异。
• 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.

If disagreements or miscommunication arise, consider the following:

• Remind yourself that your role is to support families’ hopes and dreams for their child.
• 要有耐心。提高有特殊需求的孩子有时可能具有挑战性，家庭成员需要时间以自己的节奏导航这一经验。
• Avoid making judgments for families and their children.
• 考虑困难时期作为建立自己和家庭之间的信任的机会。
• Question your assumptions about working with families of children with special needs and urge other professionals you know to do the same.
• 与您的培训师，主管或教练谈论与家庭一起工作的任何方面，与您的培训师，主管或教练交谈。