As educators, you interact daily not only with your students but with their families as well. The type of relationships you form will help set the stage for optimal learning and growth, especially when a family is going through or has gone through the process of receiving a diagnosis of a learning disability for their child. Establishing an effective strength-based partnership allows you to help families navigate through what can be a very overwhelming time. This collaboration leads to co-operation and support that can make a real difference to how children see themselves as learners and engage in the learning process. Many students with learning disabilities (LDs) are not aware of their individual learning needs or of a possible diagnosis and the behaviour associated because of this lack of knowledge can have a severe impact on their academic and social skills. It is important for both parents and educators to work collaboratively to bridge the gap between home and school to create a positive school climate.

1. www.findingsolutions.ca

2. As a result of this workshop, participants will
be able to:
1. Identify the three C’s of an effective partnership
2. Define collaboration
3. List tools and strategies to support partnerships

3. COLLABORATE

4. STEP ONE- CONNECT
 A. Building Rapport
 B. Understanding Stages of Adjustment
 C. Cultural Awareness and Family Dynamics

5. STEP ONE- CONNECT
 A. Building Rapport
◦ “Assessment of students with special education needs is a
continuous, cyclical process that begins and ends with the
classroom teacher(s)”
◦ Understanding that parents are experts on their children
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/policy/os/onschools_2017e.pdf

6. STEP ONE- CONNECT
 A. Building Rapport
◦ Ask questions:
 find out about your student
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/policy/os/onschools_2017e.pdf

7. From: How to
Explain a
Diagnosis to a
Child: An
Interactive
Resource Guide
for Parents and
Professionals,
Arnold &
McLeod, 2017

8. STEP ONE- CONNECT
 A. Building Rapport
◦ Ask questions:
 Find out about the family
◦ Use empathic statements and give compliments
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/policy/os/onschools_2017e.pdf

9. STEP ONE- CONNECT
 B. Understanding Stages of Adjustment
◦ Educators should be aware of the stages through which
parents often pass when coping with the fact that their
child has a disability
◦ Stages may include: denial, anger, bargaining, depression,
an acceptance
http://www.ldonline.org/article/5937

10. STEP ONE- CONNECT
 C. Cultural Awareness and Family Dynamics
◦ It is important to remember that some behaviours are
culturally based and that this can add to
communication difficulties when a situation is
emotionally charged
◦ Consider parent's working hours, marital status,
medical concerns and other factors that may influence
the home-life of the student

11. STEP TWO- COMMUNICATE
 A. Report on Positives
 B. Share Objective Observations
 C. Communication log/format
 D. Identify Roles and Responsibilities
 E. Asking Questions- Finding Out About The
Family’s Experience

12. STEP TWO- COMMUNICATE
 A. Report on Positives
◦ Communicate the positives periodically
◦ Be welcoming and thank parents for their involvement
◦ Begin every meeting/correspondence with a positive
◦ Include the student’s perspective

13. STEP TWO- COMMUNICATE
 B. Share Objective Observations
◦ An operational definition describes the behaviour in
terms of what you see and or hear the student doing
◦ Define the target behaviors in ways that they are
clearly defined and measurable
◦ It should never be a subjective explanation, an
interpretation, or a judgment based on the student

14. STEP TWO- COMMUNICATE
 C. Communication log/format
◦ It’s a form of regular communication that is helpful
to both environments
◦ It should be tailored to meet the individual’s needs
and goals
◦ A form of data collection
◦ An aid for IEP, growth plans, safety plans,
behaviour plans etc.

15. STEP TWO- COMMUNICATE
 D. Identify Roles and Responsibilities
◦ Provide information to families on the resources available
to the student (e.g., Resource teacher, SLPs, Educational
Assistants, Social Workers, etc.)
◦ Ask family about services/resources they are already
receiving (e.g., Behaviour Therapists, Psychologist, etc.)
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/guide/resource/iepresguid.pdf

16. STEP TWO- COMMUNICATE
 E. Asking Questions- Finding Out About The
Family’s Experience
◦ Ask explorative questions about behaviour at home. If
they use any systems or have used systems in the past?
What worked, what didn’t work? Why?
◦ Depending on the answers to the above questions- you
might attempt to implement some systems and create
necessary supports (e.g., growth plan, safety plan, etc.)

17. STEP THREE-COLLOBORATE
 A. Identify a shared purpose/need/goal
 B. Review of data
 C. Establish a team approach
 D. Asking questions – seek to understand

18. What it is NOT? What it is?
 It is NOT simply
working with
someone else.
 Collaboration refers
to HOW people work
together.
Geneva Centre For Autism, Online Applied Behaviour Analysis Certificate Course for Educators

19. STEP THREE-COLLOBORATE
 A. Identify a shared purpose/need/goal
1. Discover a need
2. Identify the need
3. Generate and explore possible solutions
4. Review and prioritize solutions
5. Develop a plan
6. Evaluate plan effectiveness
Friend and Bursuck, 2012, and Adapted from Shared Solutions, 2007, p. 35

20. STEP THREE-COLLOBORATE
◦ True collaboration exists only when all participants in a
shared activity feel their contributions are valued and
the goal is clear,…there is shared decision making, and
everyone senses they are a respected member of the
group.
Friend and Bursuck, 2012

21. STEP THREE-COLLOBORATE
 B. Review of data
◦ Provides objective information
◦ Reduces the guesswork
◦ Determines the significance of behaviour change
◦ Effective source of feedback
◦ Support a student’s need for more or less resources

22. STEP THREE-COLLOBORATE
 C. Establish a team approach
◦ Send out a draft agenda
◦ Identify minute taker, time keeper and facilitator
◦ Avoid the “Blame game”
◦ Review roles, responsibilities and expectations
◦ Establish an action plan
◦ Involve the student when possible

23. STEP THREE-COLLOBORATE
 D. Asking questions
◦ Explore perspectives from all team members
◦ Helps to brainstorm solutions and ideas
◦ Opportunity to discuss difficult topics or issues
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Steven Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, 1989

24.  When schools and home work collaboratively to
bridge the gap they are creating a positive school
climate
 This strength-based partnership between
educators and families sends the message to the
student that all parties are working together
towards their success
 Throughout the process, it is essential to involve
the student when possible

25. “ A positive school climate, and collaboration is an
essential link to raising student achievement”
Carter, 2002(Geneva Centre For Autism, Online Applied Behaviour Analysis Certificate Course for
Educators)

26.  Ministry of Children and Youth Services
 LDAO- Individual Chapters
 LD@School
 LD@Home
 Geneva Centre for Autism- free online trainings
 “Essential for some, good for all”

27.  Arnold and McLeod, How to Explain a Diagnosis to a
Child: An Interactive Resource Guide for Parents and
Professionals, 2017
 Friend and Bursuck, Including Students with Special
Needs: A Practical Guide for Classroom Teachers (6th
Edition), 2012
 Geneva Centre For Autism, Online Applied Behaviour
Analysis Certificate Course for Educators
 Steven Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, 1989

28.  http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/Questi
ons_and_Answers_Parents_English.pdf
 http://www.ldonline.org/article/5937
 http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/shared
.pdf
 http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/policy/os/onschools_
2017e.pdf
 http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/policy/os/onschools_
2017e.pdf
 https://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/
 http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/guide/
resource/iepresguid.pdf
 http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/shared
.pdf