Chapter Three

Empowerment

Empowerment

• Identifying one’s most important needs and preferences and then taking steps to satisfy them.

• The ability to get what one wants and needs• Depends on the context • Collective empowerment-empowerment of self

and others• Professionals should work to enable families to be

empowered

Empowerment Framework

• Family resources – families are motivated and have knowledge/skills

• Professional resources – professionals are motivated and have knowledge/skills

• Educational context resources – schools and professionals take advantage of opportunities for partnerships and undertake obligations for reliable alliances

Coping Process

• Involves not denial but a vigorous determination to get the most and the best out of whatever is now possible (Cousins, 1989)

• Cope comes from an old French word meaning to strike (a blow) and I still feel like coping the next well-meaning person who says it to me. (Boyce, 1992)

Five Components of Motivation

1. Self-efficacy

2. Perceived control --internal or external locus

3. Great expectations

4. Energy

5. Persistence in pursing goals

Life Management Skills

• Passive appraisal – setting aside worries about a problem

• Reframing – changing the way one thinks about a situation in order to emphasize positive rather than negative aspects

• Spiritual support – deriving comfort and guidance from one’s spiritual beliefs

• Social support – receiving practical and emotional assistance from friends and family

• Professional support –reaching out to specialists with expertise related to issues

Opportunities for Partnerships

• Communicating among reliable allies• Attending to families’ basic needs• Referring and evaluating for special education• Individualizing for appropriate education• Extending learning in the home and community• Attending and volunteering at school• Advocating for systems improvement

Collaboration

• The dynamic process of families and professionals equally sharing their resources (motivation and knowledge/skills) in order to make decisions jointly.

Collective Empowerment

• Synergy

• Creation of renewable resources

• Increased participant satisfaction

Synergy

• Involves combined actions

• Occurs only when at least two people act in concert with each other in mutually compatible ways and for mutually compatible purposes

Creation of New and Renewable Resources

Impacted by belief systems:• Some believe that resources are scarce• Erroneous assumption that if a parent gains power,

educator will lose power• Assumption there is a fixed amount of power

(prevailing perspective in Western cultures)• Some non-Western cultures regard resources as

abundant rather than limited

Increased Satisfaction

Outcome of Collective Empowerment

• Less Frustration and sense that needs can be met at present and are capable of being meet in the future

• Related to having a group of allies on whom one can rely, to aid in problem-solving and making hopes come to fruition

Chapter Four

Building Reliable Alliances

Communicating Positively

Nonverbal Communication Skills

Verbal Communication Skills

Influencing Skills

Group Communication

Using Communication Skills in Difficult Situations

ListeningInvolves:

-- A complex psychological procedure involving interpreting and understanding the significance of sensory experience

“Listen” comes from:

-- hlystan (hearing)

-- hlosnian (wait in suspense)

Listening is

-- A combination of hearing what the other person says and a suspenseful waiting

-- Intense psychological involvement with others

Developing the Listening Environment

1. Acknowledge parents and family members as collaborators and active participants.

2. Strive to achieve relationship parity with parents and family members.

3. Strive to understand the parents’ frame of reference.

Developing the Listening Environment

4. Be prepared

5. Arrange a private, professional setting for the

conference.

6. Arrange for appropriate furniture.

7. Identify anxiety-reduction measures.

8. Maintain a natural demeanor in the conference.

9. Use eye contact.

10. Be sensitive to the emotions of parents.

Specific Listening Techniques

1. Clarifying statements

2. Restating content

3. Reflecting affect

4. Silence

5. Summarizing

Active Listening Skills

1. Attending skills

a. A posture of involvement

b. Appropriate body motion

c. Eye contact

d. Nondistracting environment

Active Listening Skills

2. Following skills

a. Ice breakers/Door openers

b. Minimal encourages

c. Infrequent questions

d. Attentive silence

Active Listening Skills

3. Reflecting skills

a. Paraphrasing

b. Reflecting feelings

c. Reflecting meanings

d. Summative reflections

Cultural Awareness

Be sensitive to possible differences in regard to

• Time –promptness and allocationNonverbals • Space –acceptable closeness/distance• Eye contact• Silence & turn-takingVerbals• Language

Appropriate Language

Avoid:

• Saying “defect” --”disability” is preferred

• Generalizing, “Kids like this….”

• Referring to child/family as a “case”

• Using abbreviations, such as MR, BD, LD...

• Using confusing terminology

Check in for understanding

Use “People First” Language• A child with a disability should be referred to as

a person first, rather than his/her shortcomings-- “Child with a learning disability” not “LD child”

-- Required in APA style

• A child has a disability and should not be referred to as being a disability-- “Child has ADHD” not “child is ADHD”

• Call people what they want to be called-- Exceptions to people first

• Deaf community, blind and individual preferences

Labels

Identification of the disability or a label:

• Allows child to receive services

• Facilitates communication among professionals

• IDEA permits children to receive services with a classification of developmental delay up to age nine

• Some states require disability label earlier

Active Listening ActivityWith a partner, take turns playing the role of parent and

educator. Use active listening skills and appropriate, people first language:

1. Teacher: You suspect that a 5 y.o. might have ADHD, with adverse effects on academic achievement, and are seeking parental permission to have the child evaluated

Parent: You think that your child is rather active but are reluctant to permit an evaluation because you don’t want your child labeled or put on medication

2. Teacher: You suspect that a 2 y.o. has an attachment disorder that is severely impacting the child’s behavior

Parent: You are not familiar with attachment disorders

Diagnostic Criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

• A. Either (1) or (2): (1) inattention: six (or more) of the following symptoms of inattention have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level: (a) often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities (b) often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities (c) often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly (d) often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish school work, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions) (e) often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities (f) often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework) (g) often loses things necessary for tasks or activities (e.g., toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools) (h) is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli (i) is often forgetful in daily activities 

• (2) hyperactivity-impulsivity: six (or more) of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level:Hyperactivity (a) often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat (b) often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected (c) often runs about or climbs excessively in situations in which it is inappropriate (in adolescents or adults, may be limited to subjective feelings of restlessness) (d) often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly (e) is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor" (f) often talks excessively

Impulsivity(g) often blurts out answers before questions have been completed (h) often has difficulty awaiting turn (i) often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games) 

• B. Some hyperactive-impulsive or inattentive symptoms that caused impairment were present before age 7 years. • C. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings (e.g., at school [or work] and at home). • D. There must be clear evidence of clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning. • E. The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder and are not

better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorders, or a Personality Disorder). • Types: 

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Combined Type: if both Criteria A1 and A2 are met for the past 6 months Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Inattentive Type: if Criterion A1 is met but Criterion A2 is not met for the past 6 monthsAttention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type: if Criterion A2 is met but Criterion A1 is not met for the past 6 months Coding note: For individuals (especially adolescents and adults) who currently have symptoms that no longer meet full criteria, "In Partial Remission" should be specified.

Diagnostic Criteria for Reactive Attachment Disorder of Infancy or Early Childhood

• A. Markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate social relatedness in most contexts, beginning before age 5 years, as evidenced by either (1) or (2):(1) persistent failure to initiate or respond in a developmentally appropriate fashion to most social interactions, as manifest by excessively inhibited, hypervigilant, or highly ambivalent and contradictory responses (e.g., the child may respond to caregivers with a mixture of approach, avoidance, and resistance to comforting, or may exhibit frozen watchfulness) (2) diffuse attachments as manifest by indiscriminate sociability with marked inability to exhibit appropriate selective attachments (e.g., excessive familiarity with relative strangers or lack of selectivity in choice of attachment figures) 

• B. The disturbance in Criterion A is not accounted for solely by developmental delay (as in Mental Retardation) and does not meet criteria for a Pervasive Developmental Disorder. 

• C. Pathogenic care as evidenced by at least one of the following: (1) persistent disregard of the child's basic emotional needs for comfort, stimulation, and affection (2) persistent disregard of the child's basic physical needs (3) repeated changes of primary caregiver that prevent formation of stable attachments (e.g., frequent changes in foster care) 

• D. There is a presumption that the care in Criterion C is responsible for the disturbed behavior in Criterion A (e.g., the disturbances in Criterion A began following the pathogenic care in Criterion C). 

• Types: Inhibited Type: if Criterion A1 predominates in the clinical presentation Disinhibited Type: if Criterion A2 predominates in the clinical presentation

Team Decision-Making

• As either a general ed or special ed teacher, you may be asked to assess the child and contribute to the team’s determination of the child’s eligibility for specialized services

• Do not diagnose the child on your own and do not prescribe medication!