Throughout this I have been working at a center called The Mary Jo Oldham Center for Child Study in Harrisburg IL. I am working with toddler aged children. Some of the children in the classroom have special needs and some don’t. I have enjoyed working with these children. I chose this group because this is the group I work with everyday. The toddler ages were from 15 months to 30 months. This group sure does keep the teachers busy. The children were energetic and so much fun. I guess you never know what there going to say.
For my research I have been looking into information about special education. These days it seems special education is becoming more popular than ever. For this observation I communicated with my director. In the center we are here to help our children get the best care as possible. Throughout the center we work together to set up programs and assessments for special needs children. Our center is always open for the therapists to come in and work with the children. We allow rooms for the therapists to work with the children. After talking with the director about my topics she allowed me to sit in with a therapist and a child. I found this very interesting. During this time she observed the child. They are there to basically see what side affects of the child and to set goals to help the child.
During this time I interacted with the teachers and director asking ways in which they worked with the children and there special needs. The teachers and director work with the families to provide the best quality care for there children. They said the hardest thin when working with these children were trying to get parents involved. As professionals you would think they would want to be involved to help there children. Assessment is very important when working with special education children. These children need to be assessed to see where they are and to see there improvements over time. I look forward to continue working with these children and staff.
Megan
ReplyDeleteDo you think that some parents do not want to be involved because they are going through the process of accepting what is wrong with the child?
Building strong partnerships with each child and family when they first join your class can help the family to view you as a professional. This in turn will help the fmaily to view you as a professional and look to you for advice and resources when needed. They may also be more apt to share information from home when you use assessment tools that provide feedback and communication tools for the family to use.
ReplyDeleteIt can be difficult for some parents to accept that their child may have a developmental problem. Sometimes they seem it as a failure on their part or something they did "wrong" as a parent. Supplying the applicable resources available to the family in these cases will be imperative to help build those partnerships
Posted by Kimberly Feigel
That is a very tough age even of a typical developing child but for children with special needs even more so. It is very hard for an educator when you have the children's best interest at heart and try as you might you cannot get the parent to become involved. Sometimes it is because they are still in denial of what is happening with their child and if they were to become involved then they would have to acknowledge the fact and then unfortunately there is the fact that some parents, be it of special needs or typical developing children, just don't have the time for their children and will not be involved no matter the reason. It's sad but true.
ReplyDelete