Working With Parents Of Children With Special Educational Needs

Includes CD-Rom `This very timely book...aims to support practitioners to work in partnership with parents, particularly those parents whose children have special or additional needs...It very clearly sets out the principles, legislative framework and processes which are essential knowledge for all SENCOs and managers in early years settings′ - Early Years Update `The book has a positive approach to all aspects of working with parents and children...It′s a book you can easily dip in and out of and is written in plain English...There aren′t many textbooks I can read from cover to cover but this is one - I found it really interesting and enlightening. Score - 10 out of ten′ - National Childminding Association `In short, this book provides almost everything you need in order to work successfully with parents′ - Early Years Educator Are you looking for advice on how to work successfully with parents? Every practitioner knows that it is vitally important to work well with parents and make the relationship a positive and productive one, to ensure the best support for the child with special educational needs. This book offers clear strategies for ways to forge successful and lasting relationships with parents. It includes: - advice on working together with parents to improve the child′s learning - strategies for communicating effectively with parents - help for the pre-school SENCO, showing how they can lead the process - tips for building successful links with other related professionals - activities and case studies - a CD Rom with checklists and useful photocopiable material. This book is ideal for all those working with the 0 to 5 age range, such as pre-school practitioners, nursery managers, advisory teachers, SENCOs, Inclusion Officers and Child Care and Education students and tutors. Chris Dukes and Maggie Smith are both Area SENCOs who work closely with pre-school SENCOs and Managers on a daily basis.

Every practitioner knows that is it vitally important to work well with parents and make the relationship a positive and productive one, to ensure the best support for the child with special educational needs. This book offers clear strategies for ways to forge successful and lasting relationships with parents.

Recent legislation - the 1981 and 1993 Education Acts - have emphasized the need for parents to work as partners with professionals in the assessment of children's special educational needs. This book explores that notion of partnership and subjects it to critical scrutiny. It describes the assessment process from both the parental and professional standpoints, looking in particular at the parent-professional relationship and the barriers that might inhibit effective partnerships between parents and professionals. The child's viewpoint is equally important, and later chapters examine children's own accounts of the assessment process.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

′This book would be excellent for anyone thinking of taking on the role of home/support worker or someone already in this post who would like to refresh their ideas and views. The book would also be of interest to those who want further insight into the complex role of the home/support worker′ - Nasen′s Special ′This book uses case studies across a range of ages to give practical advice on best practice when working with children and their parents in conjunction with other professionals....[T]he book contains much value to both class teachers and headteachers′ - Headteacher Update ′This realistic and wide-ranging book supports the work of a growing number of school-based support staff′ - Extended Schools Update ′This book helpfully covers the broad range of issues that home-school workers are likely to negotiate on a day to day basis. They give a realistic account of the challenges of working with parents from a school context, outlining a range of approaches, interventions, case studies and information to help practitioners provide effective support.′ - Jo Hook, Transition Information Sessions (TIS) Consultant - Family and Parenting Institute With the opening of Children′s Centres and the implementation of the Every Child Matters agenda, multi-agency working is now a reality. This book will provide advice and guidance on successful strategies to employ when working with parents and interdisciplinary staff. Using case studies to illustrate best practice across a range of age groups, the book looks at strategies for dealing with the effects of the following issues on children: o domestic violence o bereavement and loss o learning difficulties and special educational needs o neglect and poverty o anger and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties o addictions within the family. There is advice on working directly with children and examples are cited from children from 0 to 19. This book is an essential read for all those involved in the education and care of children.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Fully up to date with the SEND Code of Practice this book explores all the key contemporary issues relevant to supporting children with special needs in an early years context. Combining theory with practice, it demonstrates how to ensure children’s individual needs are at the heart of early years provision. Key topics covered include: The history and current climate of SEN provision Working with Parents Models of special needs provision Leadership and inclusion Professional ethics Multi-agency working Early intervention International perspectives This core textbook is an essential read for early years students at all levels, and early years practitioners who wish to gain a greater understanding of the core issues affecting special needs provision.