Special Education 23: Effective Communication

Facilitation Plan
August 22, 2014
I. Topic

Unit IV: Families with Special Needs

Roles of Parents Involvement in Special Education.
Special Problems of Parents of Children with Special Needs (CSWN).
Effective ways to Communicate with Parents of CSWN.

II. Objectives

Demonstrate the Roles of Parents Involvement in Special Education.

Make a comparison on Special Problems of Parents of Children with Special
Needs (CSWN).
Analyze effective ways to communicate with parents of CSWN.

III. Materials

Markers
Cartolina
Manila paper
Masking tape
Chalk

IV. Procedures
A.

B.

Preparatory Stage
1. Parents are their childrens best advocates. Parents know their children
better than anyone else. That is why parents are so important when a
child needs special education.
2. On learning that their child may have a disability, most parents react in
ways that have been shared by all parents before them who have also
been faced with this disappointment and this enormous challenge.
3. One of the most beneficial aspects of teaching is building positive
relationships with parents. Effective parent and teacher communication is
essential for a teacher to be successful.
Learning Stage
1. Activity
The title for this activity will be Guess The Statement.
Mechanics:
1. The class will be divided in to 2 groups.

2. There will be 5 sets of intervening words given to the students.

3. Each group will make a straight line. The last person in the line will be the
one to guess on what these intervening words imply. After guessing the
answer, the last person will then pass/whisper it on the person before him/her
until it reaches to the first person in line.
4. The first person will then be the one to write the correct answer on the
board.
5. The first group to get three (3) points will be declared as winner.
2. Analysis
Based on the activity, what idea did you derive from it in relation to our
discussion?
3. Abstraction
What role does a parent play in his/her child's education?
-

Parents are their childrens best advocates. Parents know their

children better than anyone else. That is why parents are so important
when a child needs special education. As a parent, you must give
permission to the school to evaluate your child for special education
services under the IDEA. You must also give your permission before
the school can provide any special education services to your child.
You have a right to be involved in the team that meets to write the
"Evaluation Team Report" after your child is evaluated. You have a
right to request an Independent Evaluation if you disagree with the
evaluation the school does.

Problems encountered by parents of children with special needs

-

On learning that their child may have a disability, most parents react in
ways that have been shared by all parents before them who have also
been faced with this disappointment and this enormous challenge. The
challenges/problems that parents mostly encountered are first is the
denial- this cannot b happening to me, to my child, to my family. With
this, another challenge which denial merges is the anger which may be
directed towards the medical personnel who were providing the
information regarding on the childs situation. This can be triggered by
the feelings of grief about the situation. Also, fear is another immediate
response. Asking the questions, What will going to happen to my child
when he will turn 5 years old, 12 or older? Will he learn? Will he go to
college? with this, another problems also arises, and this is guilt.
Asking the questions, Did I do something to happen this?, Am I being
punished for doing this? Then, here comes the problem of
powerlessness, disappointment and rejection.
-

 Effective ways to communicate with parents of CWSN

-

One of the most beneficial aspects of teaching is building positive

relationships with parents. Effective parent and teacher communication
is essential for a teacher to be successful. A good relationship between
parents and teacher is invaluable towards maximizing the time that the
teacher has with that student. Parents of students with special needs
have been actively involved with teachers and administrators in their
children's education for more than 30 years, as the diversity of needs
has been recognized and Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)
have been developed to meet them.
What Administrators Can Do
Teachers and parents need support from schools and the community
to help children with special needs reach their full potential. Schools
can be both a clearinghouse for information and a place where parents
can gather to support one another.

What Teachers Can Do

- The relationship between teachers and parents with special needs is
defined by specific programs with specific guidelines that are too
detailed to summarize in this article. In addition to these guidelines,
some general advice is available for teachers, including the following
points:
Make it clear to parents that you accept them as advocates who
have an intense desire to make life better for their children.
Provide parents with information about support groups, special
services in the school and the community, and family-to-family
groups.
Offer to give parents referrals to helpful groups.
Encourage parents to organize support systems, pairing families
who will complement each other for school activities Discuss a
child's special talents with parents and use that positive
approach as a bridge to discuss other issues.
4. Application
For the application, the students will answer the following essay
questions in a crosswise yellow paper.
1. What do parents play in their childs success in education? How
important are these?
2. Given the problems/challenges encountered by parents, how will
you going to deal with or address with these problems as a SpEd
teacher?

Criteria:
Content- 10 points
Clarity- 5 points
Organization- 5 points
20 points

V. Sources
http://www.familyvoices.org/admin/work_caring/files/nd20.pdf
http://teaching.about.com/od/pd/a/Parent-And-Teacher-Communication.htm
http://www.ohiolegalservices.org/public/legal_problem/students-schools/specialeducation/parent2019s-role-in-the-special-education-process/qandact_view
http://www.zerotothree.org/early-care-education/family-friend-neighbor-care/effectivecommunication-with-parents.html

Reporters:
Bandiola, Dave Von Fair
Grado, Jennifer
Jurolan, Joselle Jae
Tulen, Honey Jean
Verano, Meiajoy Nia