Value the Voice of the Experts: Parents!

How often do we seek "expert" advice or an "expert" opinion on something we are unfamiliar with or lack the skills to accomplish? We seek the opinion of a doctor when trying to determine the source of an unfamiliar pain or illness. We consult an "expert" to repair a leaky basement, repair a car, or fix a computer. We seek advice from teachers or help from tutors if our children are struggling with a certain subject.

While we look to experts to assist in problem resolution, we also seek expert advice to obtain goals. For instance, we may hire a personal trainer to reach a fitness goal or a life coach to achieve a personal goal. Sometimes, we seek an expert to learn something new and fun such as scuba diving or skiing. At times, I have sought the "expertise" of my son's computer skills when accessing social media sites.

What exactly is an expert?

Expert: a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or high degree of skill in a particular area. Having, involving, or displaying special skill or knowledge derived from training or experience.

Given all this acknowledgement of "experts", why are parents often NOT recognized for their "expertise", particularly regarding children with special needs?

Valuing the voice of parents as "experts" is essential to the positive growth and development of children, especially children with special needs. Parents need to be consulted, included, heard, valued, and respected in all aspects of their child's development-especially in areas that involve collaboration, such as inclusive education.

Collaboration is key! Collaboration means to work together in achieving a common goal or objective.

Inclusive Education involves collaboration between parents, the child, educational staff, and other professionals who offer expertise that contribute to the child's success.

Parents must be directly involved in development of the I.E.P.

Communication is crucial! Educational staff need to keep parents informed during implementation and monitoring of the I.E.P. in the event concerns arise so everyone can make suggestions and modifications can be implemented to ensure the child's progress. While parents respect and value the input of the educational staff and other experts, we ask that they respect and value our input as well.

It is not enought to say our expertise is valued, it must be demonstrated!

Concern/Conflict Resolution- This is one of the most important areas in which parents' expertise should be consulted by school staff. Most often, experts are consulted to resolve problems or concerns in our daily life, school concerns/conflicts should not be considered any different. Parents provide valuable insight and knowledge about their children that is extremely beneficial to resolution of concerns. Parents' skill and expertise is particularly helpful when interpreting behavior, especially when children are non-verbal and may have limited communication skills. Parents become experts at interpreting body language, facial expressions, noises, gestures, etc to determine our child's needs, feelings, and desires. As parents, we have firsthand knowledge of many things that may trigger certain behaviors, therefore, we can offer suggestions to avoid these situations. If it is a new behavior or concern, we should explore and address it together. When educational staff, parents, and other caregivers are addressing goals together, this helps ensure the child's success.

The beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions made by educational staff impact a child's participation in school and their opportunities to learn. Failure to recognize, value and respect the voice of parents will negatively impact a child's development and inhibit their ability to reach their full potential.

Collabortion means sharing the work, sharing the responsibility, and sharing the success together!

Value the Voice of the Experts: Parents!