Communicating with parents is a key role for teachers to foster relationships that will support student learning. This essay and discussion article focuses on a range of strategies teachers can use to promote effective communication with parents of children with special needs. The increasing prevalence of students with disabilities in our schools…

"Engaging Parents in Productive Partnerships" is an easy-to-read presentation of suggestions on how educators and service providers can effectively collaborate with parents including specific recommendations for individualized education programs (IEPs) for students who receive special education and related services. The skillful…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 mandates parental involvement during Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Several factors including previous IEP experiences, level of ongoing communication between parents and education professionals, or existence of social and cultural capital resources can impact…

Transition planning officially begins between the ages of 14 and 16 for most students with an IEP. However, the process is lifelong. Job Exploration Counseling, or Career counseling/guidance includes a wide variety of activities which help students explore career options and opportunities available. Job exploring options are intended to foster…

Semi-structured interviews using Cognitive Interview method techniques were conducted with nine Culturally and Linguistically Diverse parents of students with disabilities in this exploratory study. Parents recalled experiences asking questions and making advocacy statements at Individualized Education Program meetings. Four major findings were…

Evaluated was the Summer Pre-Placement Program for Severely Multihandicapped Blind Children, designed to provide individualized programs for improving the performance of 16 children (4-11 years old) in the following areas--communication skills, vision training, psychomotor and perceptual training, social development, ambulation, self-dependence,…

Summarized are the proceedings of a conference on the education of severely and profoundly handicapped children and youth. Following a welcome address by J. Kierstead are entries with the following titles and authors: "Basic Components of Instructional Programs--Theory into Practice" (L. Brown, et al.); "The Criterion of Ultimate…

The paper presents an overview of the methods used in a class for autistic children (ages 4-11 years) and reports on a longitudinal case study of an autistic 11 year-old girl. Autistic characteristics, such as poor eye contact and insensitivity to pain, are outlined. The author explains that the program emphasized teaching basic communication…

Fourteen author-contributed papers from a series of 1978 workshops focus on educational strategies for deaf-blind and severely handicapped students. Four papers ("The Child-Centered Educational Process for Deaf-Blind Children" by L. Frank; "Issues in Assessment" by R. Condon; "Assessing Multihandicapped Visually Impaired Children" by J. Jones; and…

This information sheet discusses the eligibility of students with both auditory and visual impairments for special education services, and the development of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). It describes the preparation necessary before the IEP team meeting and parent participation during the meeting. The process of developing an IEP is…

Five papers from a 1979 conference designed to bring practitioners' results of current research and development in special education are presented. The first paper describes the importance of the prepared environment for mainstreaming handicapped children and reviews four areas of consideration: orientation, adaptation, boundaries, and design of…

Many parents and educators have questions before individualized education program (IEP) meetings. However, barriers to effective family/school partnership continue to exist, despite widespread consensus regarding the merits of a family-centered approach to providing services and supports, decades of research documenting positive outcomes from…

This practicum study was designed to improve the communication and social skills of 43 students (ages 14-22) with developmental disabilities by involving families in at-home treatment activities that reinforced and enhanced in-school and community-based speech/language therapy and by increasing attendance of parents at school meetings and…

This paper discusses the importance of teachers and parents of students with learning disabilities working together to ensure that students' educational programs are appropriate and address their specific needs. It provides guidelines aimed at fostering positive teacher-parent relationships by discussing recent legislative mandates and current…

This manual is the fourth in a set of training manuals for Head Start staff. It contains descriptions of workshop modules on the topics of (1) language development in children, (2) creativity in children, (3) the Individualized Education Program (IEP), (4) building self-esteem in families, (5) family development, (6) effective communication, and…