Assignment Details
Collaborating with Families
One way for teachers to support families is to try to understand what it would be like to raise a child with a disability. Imagine yourself as the parent in one of the three scenarios below:
· Your eight-year-old child was recently evaluated for a learning disability. This is your first child and you had no anxiety about his development until his new third-grade teacher voiced her concern about his difficulty with reading. Soon the results of the evaluation come back, and you are informed that your child has a learning disability in reading. In addition, the school states that it would like to evaluate him further for attention deficit disorder.
· Your 14-month-old daughter is not meeting the expected developmental milestones. Her pediatrician evaluates her based on your concerns and refers you to an orthopedic specialist, who diagnoses your daughter with cerebral palsy. You are told that this condition will likely affect her mobility skills, language development, and, possibly, cognitive abilities.
· Recently, your two-year-old son has stopped communicating and has begun exhibiting some self-injurious behaviors (e.g., biting himself, banging his head into things). Watching the Oprah show one afternoon, you hear a guest describe the characteristics of young children who have autism. You recognize the same characteristics in your son and call your pediatrician to schedule a visit. Your fears are confirmed after this visit and subsequent visits with specialists for assessments.
Select one of the scenarios above and reflect on the following questions:
1. What do you think your immediate reaction would be?
2. What sense of loss might you experience?
3. How do you think your current friends and family would respond when you told them the news?
4. How do you think your life might change?
5. Do you think your dreams for your child would change after learning of the disability? Explain.
6. What would you want teachers to do to help you and your child?
Attachments
Special_Needs_Parenting_in_the_Age_of_Pandemic_-_Human_Parts
