Adversary or Ally?
Help for Teachers of Students with Disabilities to Navigate Parent Partnerships
Bethany Chase, DSW, LSW, CESP
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Welcome!
While working with parents is a part of the job, few teachers of students with disabilities* have gotten education, professional development, or mentorship in parent support strategies. This website is here to help. You can:
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Explore what can make navigating parent partnerships so challenging for teachers
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Pull back the curtain and hear from parents of children with disabilities about their lives and parenting experiences
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Explore a full suite of resources to help teachers create and maintain positive parent partnerships
Note: In this website, I refer to primary caregivers as “parents,” which is inclusive of any person who is the child’s legal guardian and is consequently authorized to make educational decisions on the child’s behalf.
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The Problem . . .
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When parents have a seat at the table, it helps kids academically, emotionally, and socially.
But when it comes to working with parents, you may feel:
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Unprepared
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Unsupported
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Uncomfortable​
Overall, you probably believe parent involvement is important.
But, you may also have experienced parent work as:
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Emotionally draining
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Time consuming
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Stressful​
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And while some partnerships are easy, you likely have experienced others that were....
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​​​Demanding​
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Unrealistic
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Hostile
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Overly involved
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Lacking in interest
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Insulting
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Adversarial
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When partnerships are rocky, the conflict is experienced on both sides of the parent and teacher relationship. It may looks something like this...
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If you are a teacher of students with disabilities, know that you are not alone if you struggle with challenging parent partnerships. But you are in the right place.
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As a former school-based professional, I know how valuable and limited your time is. That's why I put together this one-stop resource for help.
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Grab a coffee, get comfortable, and let's get started. ​
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*Curious why I am not saying "special education" teacher? Check out this great article about the evolution of language to talk about disability here.