Homework: Ideas and Challenges When Working with Families
Often, families of children with special needs are concerned about their child, particularly if they are beginning the IFSP or IEP process. Read through two of the three resources that explain how to support and partner with families:
i. ELL's in Early Childhood Education: Recruiting Immigrant Families
ii. Involving Immigrant Parents of Students with Disabilities
iii. 68 Involvement Ideas That Really Work
Choose three ideas or concepts from each of the two resources (six ideas altogether) you feel are most important when partnering with families and you are most eager to try. Then do the following:
i. State the idea (and cite which article it came from)
ii. Explain why this idea is important to utilize in the classroom.
iii. Give an example of how this could be used in your classroom (do not use the examples mentioned in the articles)
Next, respond to this scenario:
Four-year-old Shaniqua and her family have joined your program this year. She has just been diagnosed with autism and has exhibited sensory processing issues and social issues (she does not verbalize to other children) within the classroom during the month she has been in your room. Each member of her family is at different points in the process of reacting to the diagnosis. Some of them are interested in learning more and some want Shaniqua to be tested further. Others are asking if she will grow out of this when she enters Kindergarten. As the classroom's head teacher, you want to be as helpful to the family as possible to ensure success during this year in your program.
Using the resources you read and any others you may find online, address each of the family member's concerns:
i. Find a family-friendly resource or website that you can give to the family giving evidence-based information about Shaniqua's condition. Explain why this resource is helpful and give the website. Cite two things from the resource that you might highlight for the family.
ii. Find a local family support group to recommend to the family and explain why a support group may be helpful. Consider and explain which family member may be interested in a support group and why you think this would be helpful for them.
iii. Find a local resource for the family where they can get more information about autism and explain how you give this to the family and when.
iv. Finally, find two resources explaining evidence-based practices to use in order to help address the social issues and sensory issues within the classroom that you could also give to the family to try implementing at home.
Explain 3 activities you could use both in the classroom and at home. Explain what issues each would address and why these activities are helpful to Shaniqua. Be sure to cite the websites you used to find the evidence-based practice.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
i) The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
ii) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
iii) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.