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One child – many professionals
A parent and a professional care for their children

Parents have to work with a whole range of professionals. On average, disabled children have contact with at least ten different professions and over the course of a year attend at least 20 appointments at clinics.

The parental point of view
A parent and a professional care for their children

Have you ever wondered how it feels to be the parent of a child with complex needs?


Parents often know more about their own children than the professionals that their children see. Professionals usually have particular areas of expertise, while parents are expert on the minutiae of their child's behaviour, such as their feeding or sleeping patterns or what they like and/or dislike.


The relationship between parents and professionals works best when they work together to improve the quality of a child's life.

The child's point of view

In this clip Harvey talks about his school and some of the people who work there.

  • Which professionals does he mention?
  • What are the roles of these different professionals?
  • How could Harvey's family work with professionals to improve Harvey's quality of life?
  • Poster Image

Harvey mentions the:

  • Teacher of the deaf
  • School nurse, and
  • Physiotherapist.

The most important factor in improving quality of life for pupils is effective communication between home and school. Shared aims help to ensure that the child is supported appropriately at home and at school to become independent as possible.


You can learn more about this in module 4.1 'Working with other Professionals'.