Working with Families of Children with Special Needs

The traditional notion of the parent who hands over her problem child to the professional expert to produce a cure, has recently come in for much criticizm. It is now recognised that parents' intimate and special knowledge of their children is an important and useful aid to the treatment of children with a wide range of disorders. Many professionals acknowledge this, but find it hard to make the changes in attitude and practice necessary, to make a partnership with parents actually happen. Naomi Dale's guidelines aim to help professionals at all levels of development to adapt and enhance their methods to the needs of current legislation and contemporary "best practice". Many different aspects of working in partnership with parents are presented and the book contains exercises that can either be worked through by the individual, or be used on in-service development courses. The book should be helpful to all professionals involved with special needs, especially educational psychologists, clinical/child psychologists, social workers, preschool/home counsellors and health visitors.