Working With Challenging Parents Of Students With Special Needs

Move beyond conflict to true collaboration with difficult parents of children with special needs by understanding their perspectives and using appropriate methods to address their concerns!

Little Ethiopia of the Pacific Northwest tells the story of the Ethiopian community in Seattle. The community began with approximately two dozen college students who came to the city during the Ethiopian revolution of 1974. These sojourning students earned college and university degrees, but were unable to return home to use them to modernize the developing nation. These stranded students became pioneers who built a micro-community in inner-city Seattle. Providing background with an analysis of Seattle's geographic, demographic, social, and economic challenges, this volume studies the students who became asylum seekers; their falls in position, power, prestige; and the income of these elite and non-elite settlers. The authors analyze examples of those who became entrepreneurs and the ingenuity and determination they employed to start successful businesses. The authors examine the challenges imposed on them by a school system that assigned their children to grade levels according to age rather than knowledge. They explore how the American welfare system worked in practice and explain how and why Ethiopians die young in Seattle. This fascinating study will be of interest to sociologists, ethnographers, and regional analysts.

For preservice students taking special education courses as well as inservice educators seeking professional development. An engaging discussion of the legal, ethical, practical, and cultural considerations of working with families of special needs children. With a strong focus on the families of special needs children, this first edition text provides students with both the information to understand the challenges and needs of these families as well as the skills and strategies required of educators working with such families. Containing a thorough discussion of the common legal and ethical concerns surrounding children with special needs and their families, this book also emphasizes the many individual differences among families. With that in mind, the authors focus on diversity in families with special needs children, cultural considerations, age, and communication with special needs families. In addition, a distinctive final chapter called "A Family's Voice," gives students the special opportunity to hear about the unique thoughts and experiences of a large selection of family members of children with special needs.

This user-friendly book presents research-based best practices for serving families of children with special needs from birth to age 6. Expert contributors demonstrate how early intervention and early childhood special education can effectively address a wide range of family concerns, which in turn optimizes children's development and learning. Tightly edited, the volume offers indispensable tools for assessing families; identifying and capitalizing on their strengths; providing information, support, and coaching; collaborating with parents and teachers to address children's functional needs in the context of everyday routines; and coordinating care. Over a dozen reproducible checklists and forms help professionals immediately implement the techniques and strategies described.

This comprehensive, pedagogically rich guide aims to help teachers entering the rewarding field of special education become highly successful and competent. The authors’ thirty-plus years of experience interacting with teachers and learning their needs endows them with a deep understanding of important issues teachers encounter, as well as their concerns about employing the best teaching methods. The book’s well-structured, easy-to-follow sections are devoted to developing collaborative relationships, preparing individualized educational programs, writing lesson plans, selecting instructional and behavioral techniques, and understanding the teacher evaluation methods in current use today. Guidance is also provided for self-reflection and formulating future goals. Each chapter contains numerous vignettes, rubrics, templates, strategies, and stimulating activities.

Bridge the communication gap with parents of children with special needs! The author provides 25 ready-to-use techniques for involving parents in the education of their children. General and special education teachers in Grades PreK–12 can use these strategies to reach the parents of students with a wide range of learning needs. This teacher-friendly resource provides sample materials and tips for: Using letters, telephone, email, newsletters, and progress reports to communicate with parents Conducting parent conferences and in-person meetings Connecting parents with resources Helping parents teach their children at home Dealing with home/school conflicts Preparing a parent involvement action plan

Over 2 Million Positive Discipline Books Sold! A Positive Approach To Helping Children With Special Needs Realize Their Potential Every child deserves to lead a happy and fulfilling life. For parents and teachers of children with special needs, helping their child to not only negotiate daily challenges, but to live fulfilling, meaningful lives, can be the most difficult challenge they will face. Over the years, millions of parents and teachers have come to trust Jane Nelsen’s classic Positive Discipline series for its consistent, commonsense approach to childrearing. Now, the bestselling series addresses the specific challenges that parents and teachers of children with special needs face, and offers them straightforward advice for supporting them in positive ways. In these pages are practical solutions to challenges such as: Learning to look beyond diagnostic labels ● Believing in each child's potential regardless of his/her stage of development ● Helping children integrate socially and interact with their peers ● Coping with the frustration that inevitably occurs when a child is being difficult ● Strengthening a child’s sense of belonging and significance ● And Many More! Use this book to answer such questions as: • How do you accommodate a disability, while still teaching a child to try their best? • How do you help a child cope with anger they may have trouble expressing, especially when that anger may on some level be justified? • How do you teach a child who may struggle with seemingly straight forward tasks to contribute to the world around them in a way that will be meaningful to them? “If you are raising or teaching a child with special needs, this book is a must-read. As the mother of a child with autism, my hopes and dreams for my son were no different than those of other parents. I wanted a parenting approach that helped my child grow up to be self confident, happy, and prepared for success in relationships, work, and life. I also needed practical, effective methods for addressing the significant, challenging behaviors I faced on a daily basis. Finally, in this amazing book, I found both….Thank you, thank you, thank you to the authors of this groundbreaking book.” - Rachel Fink Parks, MS, PCC

Written by a teacher for teachers, this engaging book provides more than 100 practical strategies for students with learning disabilities, along with guidance on accommodations and assessment.