After reading our textbook, I've learned that it is all about the support the families with children with disabilities are receiving that assists the families in coping with stress, building their knowledge, and raising their child. It almost seems as if the child will not become successful if the child is not receiving support from their parents. In my Kindergarten practicum, a student my mentor teacher had the previous year came to visit her classroom. This student was diagnosed with mild Autism. During our lunch, my mentor teacher began discussing with me how during the year she had that, they began noticing characteristics of Autism. When discussing with fellow staff, they began thinking about developing an IEP, therefore it was up to her to begin getting the child's parents involved. To her, she said this was the toughest thing she's ever had to do in her teaching career. The parent didn't want to hear that her child had Autism, she didn't want to believe anything was wrong with her child. As a teacher, how do you tell a parent that you are seeing beginning characteristics of Autism? This is something I began thinking about because this is something that one day I may have to do as an educator. I found a very interesting article that discusses this very same issue.
http://www.disability-resource.com/Autism/how-do-i-tell-someone-their-child-has-autism.html
Although parents may suspect there is something developmentally wrong with their child, it may be something very hard for a parent to accept. This article talks about how it is very important that one voices their concerns to the parents even though it may cause the parents to be upset. The earlier the disability is diagnosed, the better, so the child can start receiving the accommodations they need in order to learn and be successful. It also talks about how it is important to build one's as much knowledge as one can about the disability. What if the parents are not involved with their child? What if they want to avoid that their child has a disability and want to brush it off?
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI agree, it would be so hard as a teacher to tell a parent that their child has autism. As a student teacher, it is great to learn and see how IEP's and in general how teachers help other children learn and grow successfully. Getting advice and observing our mentors are both great ways to learn how they deal with certain situations. Your article was also very interesting in deal with situations like these. The questions you posed are also very true and insightful. It would be great to ask parents of any child to see what they think they would do if this situation came into their life and how they will handle it.
Jessa