Family-Centered Practice: Supporting Children with Special Needs

This assignment response addresses family-centered practice in early childhood education, focusing on an educator's role in supporting a child with hearing and orientation issues and their grandmother. The response emphasizes building positive relationships, showing care and respect, and incorporating family strengths and cultural competence. It outlines principles like respecting family culture, building parental confidence, and providing individualized support. The assignment also highlights the importance of social support, counseling, and play therapy to enhance the family's resilience. Strategies for welcoming families, fostering communication, and promoting family involvement through education and home activities are also discussed. The response references relevant literature on family-centered practice and child development.

Running head: FAMILY CENTERED PRACTICE
FAMILY CENTERED PRACTICE
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

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FAMILY CENTERED PRACTICE
Response to question 1:
As an educator, it is highly important for me to work within the practice of
relationships with the family. This is because as an educator, my chief motive is to impart
education to the children and it is highly important that I should be applying my knowledge
and strengths as an educator, to empower education and skills of the child, Diana in her early
age. More importantly, it is highly vital that as Diana has hearing and orientation issue, she is
not discriminated or left out from the other children of her age and this is why, a complete
educational and social support has to be given to her – in order to ensure learning and
development (Foster et al., 2020). Given the words of her grandmother that the educator from
Diana’s preschool program has problems with Diana’s behaviour and that she is hyperactive,
has hearing issues and she does not stands still for a particular amount of time even. Thus, as
an educator, I consider it to be my duty to show care, dignity, respect, honour and my
thoughtfulness to the child and grandmother of the child who has taken the trouble of visiting
the rural area with her granddaughter and then, was worried by the condition of her
granddaughter, as the situation was portrayed in a negative way and manner by the educator
from the pre-schooler program.
My positive interaction and relationship building with the child and the guardian of
the child would benefit all three of us, that is me, the grandmother of the child and of course
and most importantly the child. Showing and attending them with care, dignity, respect,
honour and thoughtfulness along with genuine and thoughtful active listening would improve
the various aspects of the relationship building with the child and the grandparent of the
child. Thus, it is more important to develop a positive relationship with the child and the
parent of the child in order to help them feel comforted, secured and also satisfied having
being treated well and professionally by the educator in the early life education centre and
this would motivate both of them to build trust, belief and faith from their side while

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receiving educational and also social support for the child, from the early life education
centre.
Response to question 2:
As an educator, firstly it is very important to support the views of the children’s
parents that according to them, is the best for their child. As an educator, my image of the
family firstly should not have any bias and secondly, should not have any negative perception
about the family. My overall image of the family is that the four year old child is too young to
be supported by her grandmother and it takes more than normal efforts, in her age to raise a
very young child. Thus, while it is very critical to understand that the symptoms as mentioned
by the other educator is that Diana has issues with hearing, standing or sitting still in one
place and is very overactive during the activities – is indicative of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and according to Vygotsky’s stages of development, it is
highly important that the more knowledgeable others ( that is the parents and the elders of the
child, the teachers and educators of the child) comes forward to shape the educational and
sociocultural developmental experience of the child in a pertinent manner. Thus as an
educator, having an image of strong resilience being shown the child and the grandmother
under adverse circumstances (at both family, environmental and psychosocial level) – I
would like to use the same to strengthen the bond between me, child and the grandmother.
Thus, the strategies would accommodate special attention to the social adjustment and
emotional development to the child and the teaching strategy would also incorporate
counselling sessions with the grandparent in order to help the academic and social
development of the child at home environment (Hiebert-Murphy, Trute & Wright, 2016).
Response to question 3:

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FAMILY CENTERED PRACTICE
The principles I will be incorporating are respecting the family’s culture as they come
from a culturally diverse background, building on family strengths as the child do not have
parents caring for her and it is vital that the child- grandmother socially resilient bond is
supported well. Building parental confidence is another important principle as the
grandmother is old in age to parent such a young child. Individualized planning and flexible
support would be used in order to attain the special social and educational needs of the child
(Rodger & Kennedy-Behr, 2017).
Response to question 4:
The strengths that the family is demonstrating are the resilience, strong compassion
and kinship, openness to other culture, strong interpersonal bond and connection, strong
social relationship and feelings of safety and security around the child is there, strong cultural
value. As an educator, I can surely improve the bond and security by acting as a bridge
between the child and her grandmother, by providing them the sense of support and security
in the early life education institute (which can act as their extended social support).
Moreover, by providing a culturally competent service, the strong cultural values can be
strengthened as well.
Response to question 5:
By providing social support to the family, the family resilience towards better safety
and security of the child can be developed. Talk therapy, counselling is critical to enhance the
parenting skills of the grandmother. Play therapy and play based learning would be
administered to enhance the learning outcomes of Diana. Family based activities would
increase their bonds as well.
Response to question 6:

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FAMILY CENTERED PRACTICE
A warm welcome message demonstrating cultural competence and dignity is an
important way of welcoming them into the classroom. The welcome kit should be given.
Secondly, on an ongoing basis and in order to build relationship with this family, a two way
and a one way communication important. Maintaining value congruity between centre and at
home , by teaching the cooperative social skill to child and by imparting parent education –
the relationship can be bettered.
Response to question 7
For education, empowerment and involvement, the opportunities provided are - parent
education, home activities for the child for developing social skills, sociocultural
empowerment by validating the child and the parent are parts of the society and cultural
competence in the teaching process. To develop the bridge, empathic relation with the
parents, respecting for child care needs at home and giving parent education by information
sharing, by incorporating activities that increases peer support is important too.

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References
Foster, T. D., Decker, K. B., Vaterlaus, J. M., & Belleville, A. (2020). How early intervention
practitioners describe family‐centred practice: A collective broadening of the
definition. Child: Care, Health and Development.
Hiebert-Murphy, D., Trute, B., & Wright, A. (2016). 12 Implementing family-centred
practice in childhood disability services in Manitoba, Canada. Early Childhood
Intervention: Working with Families of Young Children with Special Needs, 197.
Rodger, S., & Kennedy-Behr, A. (Eds.). (2017). Occupation-centred practice with children:
a practical guide for occupational therapists. John Wiley & Sons.