Speech And Language Therapist - Special Academic Support

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According to Aistear (2009, p7) partnership involves parents, families and practitioners working together to benefit children (ref). Collaboration then, is the highest level of working. When we collaborate together we accomplish a common goal which is the holistic development of a child (MIC, 2019). For this assignment I am going to be referring to Epstein framework for collaboration and more specifically her element on collaborating with the community. As I have a child with non-verbal skills in my service, I have been faced with challenges working with his parents and his speech and language therapist. I am going to discuss these challenges and the strategies I have used to overcome them.

Joyce Epstein developed a framework for partnering with parents. She identifies six ways that parents can get involved in their childrens education. By using this framework educators can develop partnership programmes to ensure a common goal which is the holistic development of the child. (MIC, 2019). The six ways parents can get involved are; parenting, communication, volunteering, learning at home, decision making and collaboration with the community. (MIC, 2019). Epsteins framework provides strategies for each type of involvement as well as the challenges that they may face. Element six of the framework is about collaboration with community. The aim of this element is to identify and integrate resources and services from the community to strengthen the learning in a service (Graham, 2017).

As an INCO in my service, my aim is to enhance the inclusion of all children including those with additional needs. Oisin is a child in my service who has strong non-verbal communication skills. Element six plays a crucial role here in regards to my role as INCO. Oisin has recently been meeting with a Speech and Language Therapist. Liaising with them has now become especially important and together we want to develop strategies to support Oisins participation and to ensure Oisin and his family feel supported (MIC 2018). I want to keep in contact with Oisins parents to see how the sessions are going and to give advice and guidance on this journey. I would like us to work together to identify Oisins needs and to ensure all relevant information is passed on with the parents consent.

I have been trying to arrange a meeting with Oisins parents to discuss Oisins participation in our service. When Oisin is dropped off to our service it is often by his parents who are in a rush off to work. However, when he is collected it is by a babysitter and as a result it can often be very challenging to find the time to talk to his parents. Both of them work full-time and trying to arrange a meeting has proven difficult. I want to meet with his parents to communicate openly with them and encourage them to become passionate about his learning (MIC, 2019). As his parents are often in a rush they have no time for a meeting or a quick chat, they appear to have little knowledge or awareness on how important their participation is in his education (MIC, 2019).

To try and achieve the best for Oisin and ensuring his interests are at the centre of all decision making, I am trying to arrange another meeting with his parents to discuss Oisin. This time, I am going to offer his parents a variety of times and days to meet and then find out which suits them best. If this option doesnt work, I can offer before and after work times to ensure the meeting goes ahead. I feel open communication is best to form positive relationships with his parents. I want them to feel supported and let them know we are here to listen to any concerns they may have. I want them to feel comfortable to come and talk to us and let them know we want the best for Oisin. Once we settle on a time, I want to reassure them about the meeting and inform them that they are the expert on their child (MIC, 2019). By collaborating with them and letting them know what is going on, I can get their consent to share information on Oisin with the Speech and Language Therapist. This will allow us to formulate the best plan to meet Oisins needs and aid us in completing an Individual Access and Inclusion Plan.

Oisin has begun visits to the Speech and Language Therapist recently. We have been receiving some information from his parents about how the sessions are going, but unfortunately we have not spoken to the Speech and Language Therapist ourselves. We want to know how things are going and if there is anything we can do to help; however we are finding communication with the therapist very challenging. We want to gain all the information we can on Oisin in order to complete and Individual Access and Inclusion Plan. We have tried to phone the therapist but as she is very busy we have not received a return phone call as of yet.

Communication involves giving, receiving and making sense of information (Aistear, 2009). If educators and professionals alike do not work in collaboration, effective communication is difficult to participate in (RCSLT, 2016). To try and improve our communication skills with the Speech and language Therapist, I want to try and arrange a face-to-face meeting. I would like to try and arrange a time that bests suits them and invite them into our service. Here, I would like them to observe Oisin and then talk about our concerns we have. From there I would like to formulate a plan based on Oisins needs. I want to reiterate the importance of this meeting to the Speech and Language Therapist, as we want the best for Oisin and that is completing and access and Inclusion plan.

I understand that the Therapist is very busy and this meeting may take some time to happen. So while we have been building links between the family and community I have recently been told about a Hanen course being offered in our local resource centre (MIC, 2019). As I want to keep on top of Oisins needs I would like to take part in this course. This way I will have access to expert advice, find support and be able to develop some strategies for working with Oisin while we are waiting for some feedback from the Speech and language Therapist.

To conclude it is evident that I am going to have some challenges in my role as an INCO. The best way to overcome these challenges to have a variety of strategies available and be able to tackle whatever is thrown at me. It is very important to be able to keep in regular contact with childrens parent and also to liaise with whoever will be working with any children in our service as together we can gather all the information we need to provide the best care and service for their children.

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