Adversary or Ally?
Help for Teachers of Students with Disabilities to Navigate Parent Partnerships
Bethany Chase, DSW, LSW, CESP
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.
The Problem . . .
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​
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
When partnerships are rocky, the conflict is experienced on both sides of the parent and teacher relationship. It may looks something like this...
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.