Case Study: Who is Responsible for Educating the Parents of Special Needs Children?

Special Education and the Public School System, the concepts themselves sometimes seem like an oxymoron. After dealing with various public school systems as an advocate for my children in what as become more often than not an adversarial role, it's difficult to trust a system that is more interested in the financial bottom line than ensuring my children get an adequate education. The concept of Full-Inclusion and the Full-Inclusion Team to develop and Individual Training Plan (IEP) for the child seems like the greatest thing since white bread. Contrary to what may look brilliant on the surface doesn't hide the fact that it's still up to the parent's to ensure that the child gets the education they are guaranteed by federal mandate. This may seem like a harsh indictment of the public school system but from my perspective after having dealt with this for the past 13 years I find that it's the children who really pay the price for a process that has such a great potential for failure.

The Problem

I will never forget the first time that I heard the term Full-Inclusion. My wife and I were at an Autism conference in Los Angles and the minute we heard the concept we thought we had found the plan for our children. Now the Inclusion Model is all that you find in most school districts though out the nation. Why is it that when most organizations accept a new educational model they throw out all the previously trusted models?

The problem presents itself when we examine what the interests of the parties are. The role of the parents is to ensure that their child receives the best possible education possible. The role of the school seems to be to give the child the best education, but spend as little money as possible. This is where the problem starts, because all members of the team are not really there for the same purpose.

The secondary problem is harder to define and revolves around the role that the parents take base on their level of knowledge of the system. It's easy to understand how parents don't take an active role in the IEP process and how they can feel intimidated when setting at a table surrounded by professionals telling them what is best for their child's welfare. It is for this reason I attribute that many parents with special needs children fail to assert themselves at these meetings, believing that the school district is going to do what is in the child's best interest. So in my view the real problem or dilemma is that if the school is truly interested in doing what is best for the child then shouldn't it be in their best interest to educate the parents. This would ensure that they have the basic fundamental knowledge required to be an active, contributing members of the team.

The Theories

First let us look at the inclusion model, In the Wisconsin Educational Association Council's article: "Special Education Inclusion", they quote James Kauffman of the University of Virginia view of inclusion as being: "a policy driven by an unrealistic expectation that money will be saved. Further more, he argues that trying to force all students into the inclusion mold is just as coercive and discriminatory as trying to force all students into the mold of a special education class or residential institution"(WEAC 2001 pt. 3). In the same article they go on to define Full Inclusion as meaning: "all students, regardless of handicapping condition or severity, will be in a regular classroom/program full time. All services must be taken to the child in that setting"(WEAC 2001 pt. 10). So it is imperative that the IEP team coordinate and collaborate to ensure the child has the correct program to meet their educational needs.

The team by its very nature and the members of the team should be based on an andragogy learning model. Andragogy is a learning model developed by Malcome Knowles and is based on the concept that it is student self-directed and the knowledge is being learned so it can be applied now and not at some point in the future (Wiley p.77). The primary reason for the andragogy model is in the second of five assumptions about the adult learner: "An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning" (Wiley p77). In the situation of the IEP team the student is no longer the child but the members of the team. In fact this learning model could also be looked at as team learning, in where everyone brings something to the table. It is the dynamics of the team environment that will make or break the IEP process, as well as the resultant education of the child in question. As anyone who has ever worked in a group has found, if the team doesn't have a clear and singular goal outlined from the beginning then the effort is doomed for failure.

The Reality

It is this singular goal where the process fails, even though everyone on the team will profess to be there for the child. It's the school district responsibility to be fiscally responsible to all children and it is here where the real problem begins to develop. It is usually not in the school district fiscal best interest to educate the parents to all of resources available, this would encourage the parents to request services that would entail higher expenditures. A case in point would be that if it is determined that the school district is unable to provide an appropriate placement/program for the child in question then the district must pay all expenses to send that child to a school that can provide the program (OSEA 2000 pt. Deciding Placement). It's easy to see why the members of the IEP team may not readily offer this information to the parents. So let's redefine the situation, the parents of the disabled child are looking to the school IEP team members for guidance on making informed decisions on what is best for their child. The school IEP team members are providing truthful but limited information to the parents to support their fiscally motivated decisions. This situation of dual goals is what corrupts the learning process of the team, and thereby an adversarial situation develops.

My personal observations throughout this process have been that it takes very proactive parents to get past the titles and degrees of the professionals and excerpt themselves as the resident expert of their child. To do this requires many hours of research that unfortunately it seems many parents are unwilling to do, or do not realize they need to take this position. My wife and myself have had to become not only medical experts on our children's disability but we have also found it imperative to learn the law, as well as research all the services available to ensure our children get the best possible education. Throughout this process, which has taken what seems a lifetime, I have little doubt that our pictures are on more than one dartboard around our school district.

The Solution

Being a proponent of personal responsibility I must say that a lot of my frustration on this subject comes from the fact that more parents don't take it upon themselves to take the proactive role when it comes to their children's education. Instead they rely on the school system to dictate what is the best program for their child's education. The ideal solution would of course be for parents to take the responsibility that is required and educate themselves in order to ensure that their children receive the education they deserve. An alternative is for the school districts, state education departments to take on the task of educating the parents of children with special needs. The education would need to go beyond just handing them the required document explaining their rights prior to the IEP meeting. It would need to be an open and true exchange of information to enable the parents to become truly informed advocates for their child. As school districts are service industries and like any other business they are driven by financial decisions.

These financial decisions by their pure nature are going to be contrary to the goals of the family, who in plain terms is not concerned with the cost, only that their child gets the best education possible. Or maybe a possible solution would be providing adult education courses on how to advocate for your child's education. These courses could be provided at no cost much the same as high school equivalency exam courses. The bottom line of the solution is educating the parent. Failure to do so will cost all of us a lot less in tax dollars now to educate these children and make them capable of becoming self-sufficient members of society than what the alternative will cost latter on. Besides it's the right thing to do.

Bibliography
Individuals with Disabilities Act-IDEA (1997). Retrieved April 15, 2002 from http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/Policy/IDEA/
Office of Special Education Programs-OSEP (2000). Retrieved April 15, 2002 from http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Products/IEP_Guide/
Wiley. (2001). University of Phoenix: Adult learning theory. [UOP Custom Edition]. New York, NY: Wiley.
Wisconsin Educational Association Council-WEAC (2001, November 5). Special education inclusion. Retrieved April 15, 2002 from http://www.weac.org/resource/june96/speced.htm