Continuing in my series on Children with Disabilities: A Dance that Matters, I am going to reflect on Chapter 2. While chapter 1 one offers a look at a dance and how people interact, Chapter 2 is like a play. I get the sense the author wants the reader to see each interaction between the parents and the professional as independent scenes of an ongoing production.
Reading through Chapter 2, I begin to see that each side shares a lot of the same concerns and apprehensions. Each trying to hide from the other what is going on, as to avoid showing fear or weakness. From the parents perspective, they not only have to put on a brave face for the professional but also their child whom they have a deep amount of concerns for. This adds a great deal of stress from the self-doubt that the parents have because of the lack understanding and inability to help their child without going to a professional. For the professional, the brave face is to reinforce to outsiders that they are knowledgeable in the area. The professional also has a great deal of fear, because they want to be sensitive to the needs of the family but this is after all an awkward time for them. The ideas portion after each scene is great as it really puts into perspective what is going on. In many ways, these are really rules or guidelines that should be in place but not really taught. I would venture to say, that one of the downfalls of our society being so digital today, is that we are losing our abilities to interact with each other on a personal basis. We are losing our understanding of how to communicate our needs and build that personal relationship with a service provider. Below are my reflections to the two case studies presented in Chapter 2.
My Reflection on Sam. "As you read the Story of Sam, What feelings did you experience? What do you hope to remember and use as you build a partnership?"
I think one of the issues that we face as professionals in education is that when we address parents in the role of parents we take time to digest and review the data we collect before we discuss what that data with the parents. This is something that parents can find very frustrating. I can understand why. If we take our child to the Dr. because of medical issue, we start working on a treatment immediately. If our child gets a surgery, we wait for the Dr. to come out and talk to us about that surgery and how it went. Something is done immediately. We aren't left to wait and wonder the results. I think that the challenge here for many is between physical issues that we can see, and neurological issues we cannot. What I hope to remember is how to open up a dialogue with parents that treats them as a partner in their son's education.
My Reflection on Rachel. "As you read the Story of Rachel, What feelings did you experience? What do you hope to remember and use as you build a partnership?"
Unlike Sam, Rachel's parents are familiar with the school and the people working in it. I think that you also have a situation here where the parents have dealt with issues of being parents before and are more seasoned to address the issues they are facing. I feel for the parents in both the cases of Sam and Rachel, as it is heartbreaking for any parent to deal with these issues. I think in this case, the parents are wanting to make sure that their daughter gets the best services in the least restrictive environment. I also think that they want to protect her from the negative aspects of being labeled as being a special needs student, as that term holds a stigma that can stigmatize young people among their peers, and the peers of their siblings. What I hope to remember from this case, is that we are not just dealing with the individual, but we need to address the concerns of the entire family.
AUTHORS NOTE TO READERS:
The posts in this series are for credit in my Masters Program at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
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