Family Reflection

Improved Essays
What I’ve learned about families whose children have special needs The most valuable information I’ve taken away from this course is to stop feeding into my fears and just asks the questions. Taking the risk to ask the families whose children have special needs will open the pathway to many opportunities: bridging the families relationship with the school, creating an open dialog between both parties, and knowing what resources the families or students may need. This semester I came to realize that my upbringings will affect how I work with students and their families, if I don’t make a change now. Growing up with traditional Hmong parents, I was taught to not ask questions because it could offend others. Since then, I’ve already kept things …show more content…
I know it wont be easy because this was how I was raised, but because I do want to become a school counselor and help others, I have to do it. It’s going to take some times, but interviewing my good friend for the family case study was already a huge step. Another thing I struggle with is wanting to put aside certain things, such as family concerns because I want to put most if not all of my focus and attention on helping the student be successful. However, after reading the textbook and listening to the lectures in class, I’ve become more aware that although it is my job to help and protect the students, I must also help their families. It’s important to build relationship with the families so that I can further help their child because it takes more than one person to make a difference. According to Fiedler, Simpson, and Clark (2006), “parents and family members of persons with disabilities need to know that the individuals who are educating their children and with whom they are working will faithfully make decisions that have students’ and family members’ interests in the forefront (p. …show more content…
Fiedler, Simpson, and Clark (2006) state, “parents of children with disabilities often judge themselves very harshly (p. 144)”. After participating in a group counseling for the counseling program, I was able to understand the importance of connecting with others, so being able to referral families whose children have special needs to connect with other families can be beneficial. Fiedler, Simpson, and Clark (2006) also state, “schools and communities to have a shared responsibility to help parents and families address their need for emotional and psychological supports, counseling, and related assistance (p.

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