Parental reactions to the special education individual education program process: Looking through the lens of grief

Abstract

Parental grief reactions have typically been examined in situations where parents have a child diagnosed with a major medical or mental health condition. This study used the grief and loss model as conceptualized by Kubler-Ross (1969), Lamb (1988, and Kubler-Ross and Kessler (2005) as a foundation in examining parental reactions when a child has been referred for special education services. The model was expanded to include definitions of the concepts as applied to a special education setting and incorporated additional stages. Findings suggested almost half of the sample had reactions typically associated with the initial stage of grief, which encompasses feelings of denial, shock, and anger. Implications for school-based personnel are provided.

The Americans With Disabilities Act Implications for Family Counselors: Counseling Students in Higher Education

“…While the American School Counselor Association (2016) addresses the family's role in assisting their family member with a disability in receiving the appropriate modifications and adaptations necessary to meet the needs of the student to further their educational growth, there is limited attention to the family's role in assisting their family member with a disability in navigating higher education with their disability. In a K-12 school setting, families of individuals with disabilities are expected to be highly involved in their educational process as they cooperatively authorize accommodations or changes in the curriculum (Haley et al, 2013). Family involvement is the result of the individualized education plan, a process in which families serve as advocates for their family member with a disability to ensure that their family member with a disability receives the best, specialized education possible to meet their needs (Burke, 2013).…”

Engaging parents of students with disabilities: Moving beyond the grief model

“…Turnbull, Turnbull, Erwin, and Soodak (2006) asserted that many parents of students with disabilities felt disempowered while working with educators. When parents perceive that their contributions are not valued, they develop an understandable sense of disenfranchisement (Haley et al, 2013).…”

“…This article asserts that the Haley et al (2013) article exemplifies the deficit model of disability in regard to how parental response to disability is framed. In light of the challenges associated with the grief lens, the Haley et al assumptions and conclusions deserve further examination.…”

“…For well over 40 years, the expectation among policy makers and school administrators in the United States and most Western nations has been that parents and professionals should work collaboratively so that students with disabilities obtain maximum benefit from their education (Knight, 2010). However, as Haley et al (2013) documented, too often parents have not had positive experiences while working with school professionals to develop and implement programs for their children (Fish, 2006; Hammond, Ingalls, & Trussell, 2008). Some researchers have reported that the underlying message that parents perceived from educators was that parental input was unwelcome if not actively discouraged (Turnbull & Turnbull, 1997).…”

“…In a recent issue of Improving Schools , Haley, Hammond, Ingalls, and Marvin (2013) asserted that parents of students who had recently been diagnosed with disability and were entering into a special education program experienced a variety of responses that the authors associated with grief and the traditional stages of grief as outlined in the Model of Parental Response to Disability proposed by Kübler-Ross (1969). This article responds to the deficit model of disability by (a) addressing the viability and utility of the stage model of grief as it pertains to 21st century parents of children with disabilities and (b) presenting an emergent, empowering model of parental response to disability.…”