I have chosen to advocate for educating parents who have children with special needs. Far to often I find that parents have a variety of reasons for not wanting their child referred to Local Education Agencies for evaluations. I also find that parents who do follow through with the evaluations do not know what to expect when they attend an Individualized Education Program meeting. In my advocacy plan I created a Power Point that I plan to present to parents at parent meetings as well as to give them a handout of all of the slides, which will include all of the resources I used. My goal is to educate parents so that their children do not fall through the "cracks" when they enter Kindergarten. In my county we are having a difficult time getting school levies passed and as a result of this teachers are being laid off. I fear that the affects of this will mean larger class sizes and less time for teachers to help children who are struggling academically. I believe that if we can help children early, they will be successful as they progress through their school years.
My question for my colleagues is anyone else experiencing these same difficulties with parents in their center? If so how do you help them learn about the early intervention process?
The resources and information that I am seeking is ideas on how I can help further educate parents about the importance of early intervention.
A resource that I have found to be helpful is Teaching.Com (2012). Special education: The assessment process. Retrieved from http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/2015-special-education-the-assessment-process
I also find the NAEYC website, Message in a Backpack to be extremely helpful in providing parents with various educational handouts that are written in both the English and Spanish language. This website can be viewed at http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/backpack
Deborah,
ReplyDeleteI love your action plan. I have found over the years that parents just don't know where to go or what steps to take when their child is diagnosed with a development delay or spectrum disorder. The are lost and confused throughout the entire process. I discovered this site:
www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/edpicks.jhtml
and there is information on what steps parents can take and informs them of their rights througout the process of seeking help in their child's education.
Good luck with your presentation!
Laura Orabi
EDU0412
Deborah,
ReplyDeleteYou have chosen what I believe is a very important topic to advocate for. I also have encountered parents that have taken too long to listen to assessments about their child or just do not want to do anything about it and I feel that what they need is to be offered more knowledge, resources and support so that the parents know what their child is going through and know what to do. I really think that the earlier the intervention, the child benefit more from. At our center we could also use more information and advocates. We have information that we give to parents that we feel should take their child to be assessed, and basically that is it. I think that is something that I will bring up at my center as well.
Your information throughout this course has enlightened me and I know that you will give a great and resourceful presentation. Keep advocating and standing tall for what you believe in. Good Luck!
Deborah,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for your support during this quarter. It has helped me a great deal to read your blog responses to my plan to eliminate childhood obesity within my community. I appreciate your kind words and you supportive pep talks! Thank again. Good luck in all you do!
Laura Orabi EDU-412
Hi Deborah, Thank you for reassuring me of how important my topic is. The fact that many classrooms now have 25 to 30 students just seems overwhelming for one teacher to handle on their own,especially with a percentage of them being special needs. I do believe that once parents hear how early intervention will benefit their child and make life a little more manageable, they will agree with having it. Thanks for your encouraging words and all the great things you have written about. I have enjoyed reading about your topic as well. Good luck with everything! Maria LoBue :-)
ReplyDelete