CHAPTER 2
NINA ZUNA, ANN TURNBULL, & RUD TURNBULL
FOSTERING FAMILY–PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
Chapter Summary
Historically, family–professional partnerships have not been as positive and productive as they could have been.
IDEA has established ground rules for both educational professionals and parents in their interactions with each
other. Associated with each of the six major principles of the law—zero reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation,
appropriate education programs, least restrictive environment, parent and student participation in shared decision
making, and due process—are requirements for family–professional partnerships.
IDEA alone does not ensure collaboration among parents and professionals. Parents and educators alike must
work within the guidelines to develop partnerships to meet families’ individual needs and preferences. The preferred
educational roles of the parents and other family members vary across families. Likewise, the level of involvement
sought by different family members fluctuates.
Professionals must be encouraged to view students within the broader context of family life. A family systems
perspective recognizes the true complexity of families and offers a framework for understanding the characteristics,
interactions, functions, and life-cycle issues of families.
The challenge is exciting. Providing individuals who have severe disabilities with the academic, social, emotional,
and vocational skills necessary to meaningfully participate in society is a complex task. It requires innovative efforts
by families and professionals working toward shared goals. The possibilities are boundless, and the benefits for
persons with disabilities are unlimited if all parties apply their energies and imaginations in a partnership of
progress.
Case Studies
The Campbell Family, an African-American Family
Loretta Campbell is determined that her son Jamal, 13, will be included in all school activities with his classmates
who do not have disabilities. Her determination, however, encounters obstacles. “It has not always been easy to
make this happen; I guess you could say that it has been more of a learning process over the past 10 years.” Hard
going? Yes. Late-night e-mails and frequent telephone calls to Jamal’s teachers prove how hard it is.
Transition exacerbates the challenge. Jamal has just entered middle school; the relative protectiveness of
elementary school and its curriculum are things of the past. At a time when nearly all students are acutely selfconscious and socially sensitive, Jamal’s autism and intellectual disability inhibit his ability to establish friendships
easily. But this has not stopped him from being curious about the many items that his peers possess, particularly
items related to the Dallas Cowboys football team, a given because the Campbell family used to live in Dallas.
However, they recently moved to Arlington, Texas, to be closer to family after Jamal’s father left the household.
Has Ms. Campbell’s insistence on inclusion been worth the effort? Yes. Clearly, Jamal enjoys the routine of going to
school, and, with the support of his peers, he has just mastered finding his way to all six of his classes in his middle
school. He spends 80% of his day in general education classrooms and the remaining 20% in a resource room with
other special education students to complete unfinished assignments and to develop self-management skills.
Ms. Campbell didn’t want to send all the e-mails and make all the telephone calls. She had to. Jamal’s teachers in
elementary school and his new teachers in middle school were concerned about the academic challenges that
middle school would present for Jamal. Many of them urged her to consider having Jamal spend the majority of his
time in a resource room and then reassess his readiness for full inclusion at a later date. Although Ms. Campbell felt
that Jamal could be successful in the new middle school and in general education classes, she, too, shared those
concerns. Jamal would be in a new school, with a new routine, and instead of being in one classroom all day, he
would have to transition to six classrooms throughout the day. She also knew that Jamal had difficulty with
transitions, was slow to establish friendships, and exhibited behavioral problems when faced with increased
academic demands. However, she remembered how successful he had been the past 2 years in a fully inclusive
elementary school when he had peer mentors who had similar interests. Ms. Campbell trusted her instincts and the
evidence of Jamal’s elementary school progress and advocated for Jamal’s inclusion in all aspects of middle school.
Nine months have passed and Jamal’s success has exceeded everyone’s expectations. While on spring break, Jamal
indicated that he would rather be at school than at home! Ms. Campbell is pleased with the progress that Jamal has
made and is justifiably satisfied with her advocacy for his inclusion.
But she’s worn out. “This is hard work; I am tired both physically and emotionally from convincing teachers to do
what I feel is right for my son. I don’t think that they understand everything my family has gone through in addition
to my long work hours and caring for three children as a single mom. To tell you the truth, I am not sure that I will
be able to keep up this level of advocacy for the future transitions that lie ahead for Jamal. I am also very concerned
about Jamal’s life after high school. I want him to have the same opportunities that he has now, but I just can’t think
that far into the future right now. Planning 1 year in advance is as much as I can handle at this moment.”
Just what has her family “gone through”? Ms. Campbell’s father battled liver cancer for a year and died during
Jamal’s last year in elementary school; grieving and advocacy are not exactly compatible—each sapped her energy
and neither allowed much room for the other. Ms. Campbell has two other children, Shelia, 17, and Donnell, 15.
Also, Jamal’s father left the household when Jamal was only 7 years old. Ms. Campbell doesn’t talk about it much,
but says that it was for the best. She now relies on her mother, Sandra (or Ma Ma Sandy as her grandchildren
affectionately call her), and close friends for emotional and practical support. Indeed, this past year has been quite
challenging for the Campbell family; however, with the support of friends and extended family, they are managing.
The passing of the children’s maternal grandfather has caused increased stress and sadness for Ms. Campbell. The
older children, while sad, are coping; however, Jamal is demonstrating increased behavioral challenges as he
struggles to understand the passing of his grandfather. Ms. Campbell’s mother remains stoic, but is beginning to
show signs of depression, mourning the loss of her husband.
The Gonzalez Family, an Hispanic-American Family
Coming to America! Those three words tell the life stories of nearly everyone in this country. Almost all of us are
immigrants, some of us more recent than others. These three words—“Coming to America”—certainly tell the story
of the Gonzalez family.
Coming to America meant economic opportunity for the family. Manuel came here from Mexico, leaving his
wife Lucille and two children, Isabella, 7, and Maria, 6, behind. Here, he worked as a migrant farmer until he
became a citizen. His citizenship assured, he sought more permanent work and now has a job with a company that
builds new homes in Wichita, Kansas. With citizenship and a good job in hand, Manuel brought Lucille, Isabella,
and Maria to Wichita. Why Wichita? Because Lucille’s sister, brother-in-law, and niece live there and they
encouraged Lucille and Manuel to join them. At last, the family is together again. At least most of the family is
together. Manuel’s and Lucille’s brothers and sisters still live in Mexico. “We aren’t entirely a family until all of us
are in one place, together,” laments Manuel. Will they be able to come to America? “They want to, but immigration
is hard, especially now that there’s a recession.”
Coming to America also meant educational opportunity, especially for Isabella. She had insufficient oxygen
when she was born and was diagnosed at birth as having cerebral palsy. She later acquired two other diagnoses:
epilepsy and severe intellectual disability.
Although some general education programs and schools for children without disabilities in Mexico are
beginning to accommodate children with disabilities, they are mostly for children with more mild disabilities.
Isabella was rejected for admission to a regular school; its faculty regarded her disability as being too significant
for them to address. Instead, she received most of her services from a specialized school and from medical
personnel. After arriving in Wichita 2 years ago, Isabella has attended an early childhood Life Skills classroom for
children, K–3. In Mexico, she had always attended school in a segregated setting; there, very few staff knew how to
provide individualized teaching to address her cerebral palsy and learning issues. Here, education is different.
Isabella uses a wheelchair; has limited speech, with mostly words that only the Gonzalez family understands;
and has frequent seizures. Isabella loves to be around other children and attends several classes (e.g., music, art,
P.E.) with her peers without disabilities, but Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez wish that there were more opportunities for her
to be included in school; they understand that it is important for her teachers to emphasize academic training for all
students, but they want more social opportunities for their daughter. They have asked themselves, why don’t the
teachers recognize that Isabella enjoys being with children who don’t have disabilities? Why can’t the teachers help
Isabella develop more of her social skills? And why do they leave it up to Mrs. Gonzalez to make sure that Isabella
has opportunities to be with children without disabilities in her neighborhood and church?
Coming to America meant even more than employment and educational opportunities. It meant adjusting to a
new culture, a new language, and a new lexicon of school terminology. In their native culture, Mr. and Mrs.
Gonzalez had learned to defer to educators. Here, deference is not so much the norm; partnership and advocacy
are. In Mexico, Spanish was the common language; here, English is. In Mexico, the school terminology was
different from what it is here; there’s “special-education speak,” as Mr. Gonzalez put it—and he speaks English
better than Lucille, having been here longer.
But language remains a barrier, especially now that Isabella is beginning to have more frequent seizures. On a
daily basis she has petit mal seizures (i.e., frequent eye blinks and mouth tremors) that last only a few seconds. Mr.
and Mrs. Gonzalez worry about whether Isabella’s teachers even notice these slight and frequently repeated
seizures, much less appreciate the toll that they take on her body. At other times, she has grand mal seizures that are
so severe that her whole body trembles and she gets caught in the straps of her wheelchair. Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez
are concerned that the school is not properly addressing her needs or, worse yet, no one will see her when the big
seizures occur. Speaking in Spanish, Mrs. Gonzalez explains the challenge: “There is not a translator every time I
just want to pick up the phone and talk to her teacher or tell her on Monday morning how her weekend had been.
We always have to schedule for a translator.”
Chapter Activities
Suggested Activity: A Tale of Two Families
The Angelino Family
The Angelino family has five children and a sixth is on the way. The children are ages 14 (girl), 12 (boy), 10 (girl), 7
(boy), and 6 (girl). They all attend a nearby parochial school. Mr. Angelino owns a butcher shop that had been his
father’s and that was begun by his grandfather, who emigrated from Italy in 1904. The butcher shop at one time had
upstairs living quarters for the family, but about 10 years ago the family moved into a large, Victorian-style house
about a block away.
Mr. Angelino’s youngest brother once came back from college with ideas about expanding the business and
marketing the family’s secret recipe for Italian sausage, but Mr. Angelino (the oldest son) decided against it because
it would take too much time away from the family. He is fond of saying, “We ain’t rich, but we got a roof over our
heads, food in our bellies, and each other. What more could we want?” This youngest brother is the only one in the
family with a college education, and he is also the only one who scandalized the family by marrying a non-Catholic.
Mr. Angelino uses his little brother as an example of the detrimental effects of “too much education.”
Both Mr. and Mrs. Angelino come from large families; most of their brothers and sisters still live in the “Little
Italy” section of this large eastern city. All grandparents are dead, with the exception of Mrs. Angelino’s mother
(Mama). Mama lives in the home with them and is very frail. One of Mrs. Angelino’s brothers or sisters is sure to
stop by nearly every day, bringing children, flowers, or food, for a visit with Mama. They often take Mama for rides
or to their homes for short visits, depending on her health, and help with her basic care.
Life with the Angelinos can be described as a kind of happy chaos. Kids are always running in and out of the
butcher shop, where the older brothers and male cousins are often assigned small tasks in return for a piece of salami
or some other treat. The old house is always full of children—siblings and cousins—from teenagers to toddlers.
Children are pretty much indulged until they reach age 9 or 10, at which time they are expected to begin taking
responsibility, which is divided strictly along traditional gender-role lines. Child care, cooking, and cleaning are
accomplished by the women—older sisters or cousins, aunts, or mothers. Evening meals are a social event. There is
nearly always at least one extended family member or friend at the table, and everyone talks about the events of the
day, sometimes all at once, except when Mr. Angelino has something to say, at which point everyone stops to listen.
Mr. Angelino is obviously a very affectionate father, but he expects his word to be obeyed. Bedtimes, rules about
talking at the table, curfews, and other rules are strictly enforced. This situation is beginning to cause conflict with
the oldest daughter, who wants to date and spend more time with her friends from school. Mrs. Angelino is often
sympathetic to her children’s requests, but her husband has the final say.
All in all, life in the Angelino home is warm, close, and harmonious. Mrs. Angelino, as she approaches her
eighth month of pregnancy with this last “surprise” child, shares her contentment with her priest: “I don’t know what
I have done to deserve so many blessings from the Good Lord.”
The McNeil Family
Mr. and Mrs. McNeil have been married for 2 years, and she is expecting their first child. Mr. McNeil is the
youngest partner in a prestigious law firm in a midwestern city. Everyone considers him upwardly mobile and thinks
that it is phenomenal that he achieved a partnership only 3 years out of law school. Mrs. McNeil has a degree in
interior design. She worked full time for a while for a decorating firm in another city. After she married, Mrs.
McNeil moved to this city, where she has a part-time, on-call job with an exclusive architectural firm. She has
ambitions of starting her own business.
Mr. McNeil is an only child. His parents live on the East Coast. They are both successful in business—his father
is a banker and his mother is a real estate broker. They have always demanded perfection from their son, and he
seems to have lived up to their expectations. Mrs. McNeil has one younger sister. Her parents live on the West
Coast. They are both professionals; her father is a college professor and her mother is a social worker. Mrs.
McNeil’s family has always been very close. She calls her parents about once a week, and the family occasionally
has conference calls with the parents and the two siblings to decide some important issue or to relay some big news.
Mrs. McNeil’s parents place no demands on her except that she be true to herself. They often tell her how proud
they are of her accomplishments.
Both sets of parents are experiencing grandparenthood for the first time with Mrs. McNeil’s pregnancy. They
are thrilled. It sometimes seems to the McNeils that their parents vie with each other over the gifts that they give
them. The McNeils refuse the more extravagant gifts to make the point that they are indeed making it on their own,
and they have discussed some strategies for disengaging themselves from so much contact with their parents.
The McNeils’ avant-garde apartment is the scene of much entertaining with his law firm colleagues and her
artistic friends and decorating clients. Although their social spheres overlap somewhat, each has separate groups of
friends and pursues individual interests. They call this “giving each other space,” and they consider it to be an
important strength in their marriage. The McNeils believe strongly in supporting each other’s careers and in sharing
family responsibilities; they divide cooking and cleaning in a flexible manner, according to whoever has the time.
They are also attending Lamaze classes together and are looking forward to sharing childbirth.
Exercise
The babies who Mrs. Angelino and Mrs. McNeil are expecting will have severe cognitive and physical disabilities.
1.
Use the family systems framework to predict the preferences, strengths, and needs of both families in terms of
characteristics, interaction, function, and life cycle.
2.
The Angelinos and the McNeils have different cultural values. How would you characterize the cultural values
of each family? How do you think these cultural values influence what they consider to be appropriate selfdetermination for each of the parents (mother and father), as well as for their children with and without a
disability? (Assume that the McNeils will have more children, who do not have a disability.)
3. Given their views on appropriate levels of self-determination, identify two ways that you might work with each
family in addressing self-determination within a culturally responsive framework.
Test Bank
Short Answer Questions
1.
What is the essential conflict between the Campbell family and Jamal’s teachers?
2.
What are the essential aspects of the Gonzalez family?
3.
What factor most impedes the Campbell family and Jamal’s teachers from being partners with each other?
4.
What factor most impedes the Gonzalez family and Isabella’s teachers from being partners with each other?
5.
What roles should educators play to advance a child’s inclusion?
6.
Distinguish Part B and Part C of IDEA from each other.
7.
Justify the requirement that a parent be a member of the team developing the child’s IEP.
8.
Explain why a school may not decide on the child’s placement until it has evaluated the child and
developed an individualized education program for the child.
True/False Questions
1.
The cost of Part B special education is borne entirely by the state and local educational agencies but the
cost of Part C early intervention is borne entirely by the child’s parents.
2.
A school must consider and may use only positive behavior intervention in responding to a child’s behavior
for which the child is disciplined.
3.
A public school must not only use a variety of tools and strategies to evaluate a child, and must assure that
those tools and strategies are not biased because of cultural reasons, schools also are required to notify a
parent and secure the parent’s consent to any evaluation nor is the school required to provide the parent an
opportunity to participate in the evaluation or receive a copy of the evaluation document.
4.
The principle of the least restrictive environment imposes on the school an absolute duty to integrate the
child into the general education curriculum.
5.
On the whole and for most families, the disability of a family member has a negative impact.
Multiple Choice Questions
1.
What is the earliest age a child may benefit from IDEA?
(a) Age 3
(b) Age 6
(c) Birth
(d) 12 months
2.
The team that develops an individualized education program for the child must provide for transition
services to plan for the child’s life after high school by the time the child turns:
(a) 12
(b) 14
(c) 16
(d) 18
3.
The team that develops the individualized family service plan for the child must provide for preschool
transition services:
(a) Before age 3
(b) After the child turns 3
(c) When the child turns 5
(d) Either a or b
4.
Siblings generally have the following reactions to the disability of their brother or sister
(a) Largely positive
(b) Largely negative
(c) Combined positive and negative
(d) Benign
5.
Which of the following is the most important element of parenting support when a family has a child with a
disability and other children who do not have disabilities:
(a) Access to specialized care for the child
(b) Access to sibling support networks
(c) Access to information, advice, and resources about the disability
(d) Access to financial support
Essay Questions
1. Define “family systems theory” and relate the definition to your own family.
2. Why is it useful for educators to take a family systems theory approach when involving parents in their child’s
evaluation and IEP meetings and what is the best way for educators to understand a family’s system?
3. List the two family functions with which educators are most concerned and state why educators are concerned
about each and what they may do with respect to each.
Test Bank Answers
Short Answers:
1. The conflict involves difference in aspirations and expectations for Jamal. IDEA declares that one of the two
barriers impeding the more effective education of children such as Jamal is the existence of low expectations by
educators.
2. They are the family’s culture (deference to educators), language (Spanish), strengths (perseverance and
ambition), and ambition (for each member to be educated and employed). IDEA requires educators to take into
account the family’s native language and to invite families to be fully participating members of various school-based
teams that serve the child’s educational needs.
3. Her need to constantly advocate for Jamal and the educators’ apparent willingness to settle for less than Mrs.
Campbell wants for him.
4. The family’s culture of deferring to teachers and thus the teachers’ ability to be the real decision makers, without
the family’s full participation.
5. Help families understand why inclusion is important for the child’s development and ultimate out-of-school life.
Know how to apply instruction, assessment, communication, leadership, and record-keeping to ensure successful
delivery of inclusive practices. Engage in collaborative teaming and teaching, curricular and instructional
modifications, acquisition and use of assistive technology, application of positive behavioral support, and use of
personal supports.
6. Part B provides for the education of children ages 6 to 21.
Part C provides for the education of infants/toddlers, birth to three.
Part C also provides that, at the state’s discretion and with the consent of the child’s parents, the child may receive
Part C services until the child completes pre-school and is 6 years old.
7. The parent has knowledge about the child that may benefit the team (just as the parent has knowledge that may
benefit the evaluation process), and the parent can more readily hold the IEP team accountable for developing a
program that benefits the child by being on the team than by not being on it.
8. Because placement is based on data from the evaluation and is subsumed (trumped) by the child’s right to an
appropriate education, which the team must determine in the IEP. The team decides the appropriate placement
based upon the IEP. The educational program drives placement; the placement does not drive the educational
program.
True/False Question Answers:
1. False. False, because Part C allows for a sliding scale charge against the parents and thus does not provide for the
entire cost of early intervention services.
2. False: a school is required only to consider positive behavior intervention; it may use other interventions or
positive and other together.
3. True: The school must notify, get consent, and involve the parent in evaluation.
4. False: The principle is a presumption in favor of integration but the presumption may be set aside and rebutted if
the child’s integration will not benefit the child. The principle of appropriate education trumps the principle of the
least restrictive environment and allows the school to place the child in less integrated setting along a continuum of
alternative settings.
5. False: There is evidence that a family member’s disability also contributes positively to the family and thus
negates some of the negative impact of the disability.
Multiple Choice Question Answers:
1. C
2. C
3. A
4. C
5. C
Essay Question Answers:
1. The theory is that families are systems; whatever affects one family member affects all. A reader should relate
the theory to his/her family by discussing the contexts, roles, and interactions affecting the family, and then by
linking these four elements of family systems theory to his/her family:
•
Family characteristics
•
Family interaction
•
Family functions
•
Family life cycle
2. Because doing so will make the IEP more useful for the child and the family alike. Parents need to understand
why educators do what they do so, if they can and want to, they may follow through at home, bringing the
educators’ teaching/intervention into the home. To best understand a family’s system, educators should listen to the
family’s story. By listening to families’ stories, educators can learn what makes families unique (e.g., family
characteristics), what families’ joys and challenges are (i.e., current stressors and where they came from/where they
are headed), the impact of daily functions on families’ lives and families’ priorities/needs now and for the future
(i.e., life cycle perspective). Understanding families through a systems approach lays the foundation for an
authentic partnership to develop between educators and families.
3. Economic functions are a concern to educators because the child with a disability may need services or devices
that schools do not provide and because those services are expensive. Often a family’s inability to secure services
and devices impedes the child’s development. Educators may refer families to community resources that assist by
providing disability benefits, family subsidies and benefits, or government entitlements.
Socialization functions are a concern to educators because a child with a disability may have limited friendships.
The absence of those friendships can affect the child’s behaviors and communication. Educators may assist families
by creating or referring families to “peer buddy” programs.