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Raising children with disabilities
- 1. Raising Children withDisabilities Carlos Quijada EDSP 432 Summer 2014
- 2. -SCOTT HAMILTON The OnlyDisability In Life Is A Bad Attitude.
- 3. 12.1% • The percentageof non-institutionalized, male or female, all ages, all races, regardless of ethnicity, with all education levels in the United States who reported a disability in 2012. - American Community Service
- 4. Select types ofDisabilities • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) • Blindness, Visual Impairment, Hearing Loss • Developmental Delay • Down Syndrome • Emotional Disturbance • Learning Disabilities | Includes dyslexia, dyscalcula, and dysgraphia. • Rare Disorders
- 6. “to ensure equalityof opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.”
- 7. Your child isa person first, always • Disability does not define your child’s selfhood, any more than the color of his or her eyes does. • Individuality grows from the rich soil of personality, experience, health, education, upbringing, and more. • Know this for fact, and see it unfold in real time, as your child grows and matures. • Having a disability is part of the mix, but so are your child’s strengths, humor, talents, and interests. -National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
- 8. Don’t let thelabels get you down • We humans like to have a name for things—and that includes disabilities. These can seem like labels sometimes, limiting and impersonal. • It’s not uncommon for parents to resist having a label hung on their son or daughter. • Use the label when it’s convenient or helpful. Forget the label the rest of the time. Your child’s the same person, either way. He or she hasn’t changed one bit, label or no label. -National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
- 9. Disability does notmean that your child cannot learn or be educated with peers without disabilities. • It is preferred that students being educated together in the regular classroom. • Everyone learns differently. • Your child can learn, will learn. It’s the job of special education to adapt instruction to fit your child’s learning needs. -National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
- 10. You know yourchild best.
- 11. Common Reactions • Denial- “This cannot be happening to me, to my child, to our family.” • Anger - Early on, anger is so intense that it touches almost anyone, because it is triggered by the feelings of grief and inexplicable loss that one does not know how to explain or deal with. You Are Not Alone, by Patricia McGill Smith
- 12. Common Reactions • Fear- People often fear the unknown more than they fear the known. • Guilt - “Did I do something to cause this? Am I being punished for something I have done? Did I take care of myself when I was pregnant? Guilt feelings may also be manifested in spiritual and religious interpretations of blame and punishment. You Are Not Alone, by Patricia McGill Smith
- 13. Common Reactions • Confusion- Not fully understanding what is happening and what will happen, confusion reveals itself in sleeplessness, inability to make decisions, and mental overload. • Powerlessness – Unable to change what is happening is very difficult to accept. You Are Not Alone, by Patricia McGill Smith
- 14. Common Reactions • Disappointment– Knowing that a child is not perfect poses a threat to many parents’ egos and a challenge to their value system. • Rejection – Can be directed toward the child or toward the medical personnel or toward other family members. You Are Not Alone, by Patricia McGill Smith
- 15. On Death andDisability: Reframing Educators' Perceptions of Parental Response to Disability, by Keith Allred
- 16. You’re not alone. •Disability being part of the human experience, it’s safe to say that many parents are where you are today, or have been where you are– searching for answers. -National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
- 17. Family Resources • ProfessionalAlliances/Partnerships • Family-Centered Practices: – Recognize parents or primary caregivers as experts on their child. – Acknowledge the family as the ultimate decision maker for their child and family. – View the family as the constant in the child’s life and the service providers and system in their family as transitory. – Respect and work to support family priorities, goals for service, and extent of involvement. – Value trusting, collaborative relationships between parents and professionals. – Work to ensure culturally competent services. – Include a focus on capacity building within the family. Understanding Families, by Marci Hanson & Eleanor Lynch
- 18. Positive Impacts ofChildren with Disabilities • Source of Joy and Happiness – Pleasure in the achievement of their children. • Increased sense of purpose and priorities – Simplification and prioritization of life • Expanded personal and social networks and community involvement – Families and organizations linked together The Positive Impact of Children with an Intellectual Disability on the Family (1998), by Tim Stainton
- 19. Positive Impacts ofChildren with Disabilities • Source of increased spirituality • Source of family unity • Source of tolerance and understanding • Source of personal growth and strength • Positive impact on others The Positive Impact of Children with an Intellectual Disability on the Family (1998), by Tim Stainton
- 20. External Resources • NationalDissemination Center for Children with Disabilities - http://nichcy.org/ • The Center for Parent Information and Resources - http://www.parentcenterhub.org/ • Pacer Center – A financial resource for parents of children with disabilities - http://www.pacer.org/publications/possibilities/ • National Center for Learning Disabilities - http://www.ncld.org/