TEAMING UP FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Teaming up for a Brighter Future
by Amelia Green
Home & Classroom Vol 8
For many families and school districts, a New Year can mean many things; a new school year in September with new opportunities for learning and growth, or it might be the New Year in January or February when re-evaluations are conducted and meetings are set up to discuss progress and goal-setting. So how do you, as a team member, step up and show up to make sure the needs of your little person are met to ensure the bright future they deserve?
If you have a child in your program or home with special needs, you might be part of that child’s multidisciplinary team. This team, which includes the child’s family, works together to advocate for and attain a common goal; what is best for the individual child. The term “multi-disciplinary” means combining the knowledge of a group of individuals in varying fields of study or experience. When we look to serve a child with a disability, no matter the diagnosis, there is almost always a need for expertise in different areas of health and development in order to meet the child’s specific need.
For most children, there is a team to support their growing and development, a network of nuclear family, friends, extended family, neighbors, teachers, and even acquaintances. For children with disabilities or special needs, additional team members, many with specialties, are necessary to help the child reach their potential. Some of the specialists who may be part of a multi-disciplinary team may include a physical therapist, occupational therapist, a speech therapist, and a special educator.
A physical therapist helps improve a child’s range of motion, strength, flexibility and movement patterns in order to help them to move their body to the best of their ability. An occupational therapist helps children acquire or strengthen the skills needed to perform the activities (occupations) of daily life which include fine-motor skills, visual-perceptual skills, cognitive or thinking skills and sensory-processing problems.
Speech therapists help children with communication challenges, both in how they understand communication and how they speak, and can even assist with oral motor concerns such as chewing and swallowing difficulties, articulation, and auditory processing. A special educator creates appropriate curriculum and activities, as well as monitors a child’s academic, social, and behavioral development.
Another important team member is the Chair Person of the Committee for Preschool Special Education for children 3-5 years old or Special Education for children aged 5-21. The role of this person is to help the team come to a consensus on decisions, including setting goals and the level of involvement of other team members such as therapists. The chairperson is also expected to be knowledgeable about programs and services available to be sure that the needs of the child are met. The last team member to be highlighted is the one who usually holds the team together and knows the child best – the family. While the family may not hold a degree in a specialty subject, they have spent the most time with the child and have watched them progress and develop.
When working within a multi-disciplinary team, it is of the utmost importance that every voice is heard and every opinion respected. This team has the power to work together to support vast growth and change for a child, regardless of their diagnosis. Keeping steady, open and positive communication is a great way of keeping the team united. If one does not yet exist, consider starting an email chain of all the team members. This is a great way to share important information such as illness or updates as well as pictures, stories and anecdotes to help everyone get to know the child and their abilities more.
It is important to always consider our perspective and come from a strength-based approach when looking at the future for children with disabilities. A strength-based approach in early education is a collaborative and solutions-focused way of working that encourages team members to consistently draw on their knowledge of a child’s skills, capabilities, and dispositions to learning. When setting goals for an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) or Individualized Education Plan (IEP) it is important to consider the strengths and abilities of the child and set goals that build off of these.
For children with disabilities there are often needs in numerous areas and it can be easy to just discuss problems and lose sight of the skills and strengths a child may have in other areas. By using a strength-based approach, we are mindful that learning is dynamic, complex, and holistic, and that children demonstrate their learning in different ways. It is important to start with what is present, not what is missing, and highlight what works for the child. A golden rule to remember when assisting a child with disabilities is that the problem is the problem – the child is not the problem.
In order for a team to be successful in advocating, meeting, and advancing children’s needs the entire team needs to be as healthy as possible, as individuals and as a unit. When you support children with disabilities it is very easy to become so focused on their needs that you may lose sight of your own body’s signals. For personal and team health and effectiveness it is important that both self-care and community care are regular practice.
“When you support children with disabilities it is very easy to become so focused on their needs that you may lose sight of your own body’s signals. For personal and team health and effectiveness it is important that both self-care and community care are regular practice. ”
Self-care is a term that we hear used in reference to any number of activities. To fully engage in self-care, there are many layers to consider: making healthy lifestyle choices that feel good to you, self-recognition of symptoms and recognizing if you need support outside of yourself, self-monitoring for signs of deterioration as well as growth and improvement, and self-management which involves treating symptoms and finding tools to help with self-advocacy and regulation. The term community care refers to members of a community or group caring for each other. When we have team members who are committed to leveraging their privilege, power, resources and expertise to provide care to benefit and better other team members we have a healthier community complied of healthier individuals. Sometimes community care is as simple of asking “What do you need and how can I help?”
By being conscious of our contributions to caring for our team we can cultivate togetherness and teamwork and better support the needs of the child. Think of each team member as a cup – if one cup is empty it cannot possibly pour into another. Self-care and community care together can leave cups overflowing and ready to give to others and then we can fill the built up, reinforced cups of children with disabilities and guarantee the brightest future possible.