Parents have told us that good, honest and open communication
is one of the important components of building confidence and good relationships.
Face-to-face communication with parents, treating them as equal partners
with expertise in their children's needs, is crucial to establishing and sustaining
confidence.
Lamb, 2009
Listen to Jade's mother describing the difficulties she has experienced regarding communication with others.
Watch these two videos of a review meeting for Sophia, a girl on a split placement. Here both mainstream and special school providers reflect on how best to communicate with each other.
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Sophia's review 13:38 -
Sophia's review 21:11
Consider how you communicate with parents and professionals. Can it be improved?
As a baby begins to grow and develop, families watch the changes and are excited
about each new development. They are often the first to notice that their new family
member might not be meeting their developmental milestones and are not developing
at the same rate as their siblings or the babies of friends.
Following this they often seek advice and support from primary care professionals
such as GPs and health visitors. This can then result in further referrals to specialist
child health services for assessments and investigations.
In the first audio clip Emma's mother, Ruth, talks about finding out that Emma had a disability.
In the second audio clip Harvey's father, Simon, looks back to when his twins were born.
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Emma's mother2:14 -
Harvey's father1:32
Identify the possible issues and concerns that a family may have when developmental milestones are not reached and advice is sought from primary care professionals.
The booklet below was developed in collaboration with parents of young children
with disabilities, and reflects what they say it is useful to know. It can be very
frustrating when a child is referred backwards and forwards between different specialists
for more tests and there is still no clear answer to the question 'What's happening
and why?'
Think of a child you are teaching who you suspect has no current diagnosis. How will you approach the family to discuss this?
Jade has FAS. In this audio clip Jade talks about her interests and music therapy. She also talks about how she feels very unsupported during her school day.
How well does your school support children with SEN? Can it be improved?
In these two audio clips Jade's mother, Alison, talks about her concerns about Jade in the early years, Jade's diagnosis of FAS and its implications.
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Jade's mother 11:12 -
Jade's mother 21:02
The sibling relationship is often the longest and most enduring relationship of
the family, substantially longer than that of the parent-child relationship.
While the parents are often the primary care-givers in a family, siblings frequently
take on secondary roles with varied levels of responsibility often including care
and advocacy, roles which some will maintain into adulthood.
Listen to the four short audio recordings on the next slide which describe siblings'
relationships with their brother or sister with severe and complex learning difficulties.
What are their feelings towards their brother or sister?
What impact has their brother or sister had on their lives – benefits and disadvantages?
For more information on the role of siblings also see the module Talking to Families,
Listening to Families.
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Emma and her sister2:45 -
Marley and Luke 11:02 -
Marley and Luke 21:10 -
Harvey and Lydia1:32
Carpenter, B. (2011) Academies resources 2.0. Partnership with families 9.7. The
Schools Network: London.
Trute B. and Hiebert-Murphy D. (2002) Family adjustment to childhood developmental disability: A measure of parent appraisal of family impacts. Journal of Paediatric Psychology 27, (3) 271-280.