My Personal Advocacy Journey for Blog 3 to provide suggested
support group information to parents
My inspiration for my advocacy plan
came from parents that had many question about where other families get
services for their child that was diagnosed with delays. I suggested they talk
to their child’s pediatrician for advice and referrals. Parents would ask me
about other families who had special needs children. These parents seemed
frustrated and overwhelmed with questions that I could not provide the answer. Due to the confidential records I could not
give them information they were asking. I can give them a suggested list of providers
and support groups in our area. I am excited to plan a parent meeting and to
give them my paper. I will offer parents and guest refreshments as they talk
about the concerns they have with their child and I can share information on my
paper.
My challenges are to encourage
parents to attend the meeting and to share my information with the whole group.
Many of our parents work or they are not interested in staying for the meeting
to be involved.
I might be able to overcome my
challenge for parent’s attendance at the meeting by having the meeting at 8:30
in the morning after drop off time or at 2:00 in the evening before pick up
time. In the past we have planed our meetings at 9:00 in the morning but Head
Start moved our time for children to be here by 8:30 instead of 9:00. These strategies
will improve my Advocacy Plan and the attendance for my parents at the meeting.
The anxieties I will face is
speaking to parents, special needs guest, family advocate, and my supervisor in
a parent meeting. I can hold a conversation with each one but to share my
information for 10-20 minutes in a group for that length of time will be a
challenge.
All of my colleagues have great
advocacy plans and we have the strength through our past classes to build a
terrific Advocacy Plan. I ask my colleagues to share with me what they would
put in a paper and post it on their parent board about suggested service
providers and support groups in their area.
The quote that inspires me is by Benjamin Franklin “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Children learn best by the hands on approach to learning. As a advocate for children with special needs Forest Witcraft was quoted saying, “A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I live in how much money I had in the bank…but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child.” My gold is to make a difference in the life of a child. If I can give my parents a list of suggested resources of service providers and support groups it will make a difference in the life of a child with special needs.
ReplyDeleteI think your advocacy plan sounds great and sometimes just connecting parents who are going through the same thing can be a real blessing to families. To be able to talk to a parent that knows what it is like to experience a very public and very loud melt down with a child can make a parent feel like they are not alone or a bad parent. It is a valuable resource to have a parent that understands what you are going through! Best of luck with your presentation
ReplyDeleteThanks Jodi, I want to feel connected to my parents. Sometimes we judge children with out finding out why a behavior is happening. A family could be going through stress with the loss of a job, and other family health issues. We need to provide them support and them we care.
ReplyDeleteGreat plan! I think that parents like that need as much support as possible. It is a tough time in their lives and the more help that they can get the better that they will feel. I would also suggest that you find groups that parents meet and talk to each other about there child's needs. For example, if a child is diagnosed with autism, find a place where the families meet and talk to each other about what they are going through. These are great support systems and it gives the children a chance to meet other children like themselves. Keep you the great work and good luck throughout your adventure.
ReplyDeleteI think your plan is great. many families does not know where to go to get the extra resources they need. some families are aware that their children need additional services but do not know how to address it or were to go. what you planning to do is very valuable parents needs a support system who can guide them an provide the right information.
ReplyDeleteHi Gail,
ReplyDeleteI was reading through your blog and I think your advocacy plan to develop a support group for parents and resources for securing services is a great idea. I think when parents are seeking out information that is a good thing. Many times parents may be in denial but at the same token, it is very difficult to deal with the fact that there may be something wrong with your child.
I agree it is hard to get parents to attend functions but i think you are on the right track by trying to catch them in the morning.
I am having some challenges with families in the sense that many parents are not rally recognizing childhood obesity as a concern. Some parents that I have spoken with have stated that their child is big boned, they take after their father or grandmother and they will out grow it once they have their growth spurt. Unfortunately this is not always the case.
Do you have any suggestions or approaches I can try to engage with parents in a different way. They are very respectful when i speak with them but it does like a topic that interests them.
Many of the family support I have spoken with tell me that children who have IHP's or individual health plans for being obese, parents are refusing to sign off on them. I don't understand why they will not accept any assistance.
Any suggestions would be helpful. It would help myself and the family support staff as well. We need to reach these families.