FAMILY INFORMATION NIGHT

PRESENTATION AND
COMMUNICATION PLAN
BY
CALANDRA YOUNG
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY
SPD 521
 CHALLENGES FAMILIES FACE

• Three obstacles for families that affect their children's educational success:
• Technical problems such as transportation issues may cause students to be late and
miss instructional time; 
• Missing important meetings such as IEP meeting and Parent-Teacher Conferences; and
• The student not afforded appropriate educational services.
 TRANSPORTATION

• We provide school bus transportation for

special needs students at Rockdale County
Public Schools. Kids are picked up before
school begins and dropped off before
school ends. Such programs cost no extra
resources because they are funded through
special education.
 TRANSPORTATION BUDDY SYSTEM

• Parent sharing/carpooling is a great way

to ensure timely arrival of your child
Growing up my mother and aunts would
take turns transporting my cousins and I
to school. They would alternate weeks
and days, depending on work schedules.
 LONG HOURS AT WORK

• I continuously attempt not to be a burden for those parents

whose working hours are outside of school hours by not
taking to much of their time.
• Text informing is one way I like to communicate
with guardians those parents as they can reply at whatever
point they have the time to do so.
• Email is another extraordinary and compelling way I like to
communicate with guardians who are incapable to
require time off work, which moreover serves as
a extraordinary way to conversate on paper trail.
 CONFERENCE CALLS

• I'm also striving to be cooperative with parents

as I recognize that they must work.
• Another alternative is conference calls for those
unable to physically attend the meetings.
• Conference calls  can be held in the morning,
during lunch or in the afternoon/evening.
 OBTAINING APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

• One way parents can stay in the loop is to

communicate with their child’s educational team.
• The parent should know exactly what kind of
programs are being given to the student from
meeting with the team at the IEP and how they will
access them.
• Students shall not be refused or denied the
resources he or she needs to excel in the classroom.
(TORUN, 2018)
 TECHNOLOGY

Using technology in special education helps break down barriers for disabled people and give them access to
the most relevant educational programs.
Technology used:
• Hearing aids

• Voice-recognition technology
• Text-to-voice devices

• Communication boards
• Laptop/Tablets/Desktops

• Smartboards/Whiteboard
• Cellular phone
• Calculator
 TECHNOLOGY

These supports are good for students as they ensure:

-Modified/Tailored learning
-Improved individuality
-Increased relationship building amongst peers and
Staff/teachers
(The Use of Technology in Special Education,2017)
 RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

The IDEA Act provides numerous resources to help parents

understand their rights and services that their child should
receive:
• Pacer (http://www.pacer.org/)
• Autism Key (https://www.autismkey.com/)
• Child Development Institute
(http://childdevelopmentinfo.com)
• NICHCY (http://nichcy.org/families-community)
• IDEAs That Work (https://ccrs.osepideasthatwork.org/)
REFERENCES:

• Special Education Resources and Links for Parents and Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/tools-and-research/support-and-resources-for-
parents-and-teachers.
• The Use of Technology in Special Education. (2017, September 15). Retrieved from
https://degree.utpb.edu/articles/education /technology-in-special-education.aspx
• TORUN, F. (2018). Experiences of Social Studies Pre-Service Teachers Designing Materials
for Special Education Students: From the Exhibition “Nothing Can Stop Education.”
International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 10(5), 183–200. https://doi-
org.lopes.idm. oclc.org/10.15345/iojes.2018.05.013