The work of professionals with children with disabilities affects the children's family, while events at home affect what professionals can achieve with the children. This text describes how professionals can form collaborative relationships with the parents of the children in their care, to optimise the children's development and to enable both family members and professionals to work in the children's interests. It describes experiences of families who have a child with a disability and takes a new look at old assumptions that disability necessarily has a negative effect on families or that families themselves are in need of therapy simply by virtue of having a child with additional needs. This text offers practical insights and guidelines for action by teachers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists and psychologists. It is a practical text that enables practitioners to offer a high-quality service to children while supporting the family in its role of nurturing their child with special needs.

Difficulties with reading and writing are not confined to English-speaking countries. The aim of this book is to provide a reference for researchers, practitioners and policy makers. It brings together professionals from across the world who have experience in teaching individuals with dyslexia.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, most recently reauthorized in 2004, explicitly reinforces the role of parents as partners with school professionals in the education of their children with disabilities. As members of the individualized education program (IEP) team, parents participate in all decisions about their child’s educational program. Research on parents’ perceptions of their experiences in their children’s individualized education program (IEP) meetings however, documents a lack of meaningful participation and involvement in decision-making. In this study, a researcher-developed survey was utilized to investigate the perceptions of parents of children with disabilities in grades three through five. Thirty-four parents completed an online survey and were asked to rate their agreement, using a five point Likert-type scale, with a series of twelve statements about their experiences in IEP meetings. In this study, two open-ended questions provided qualitative data on parents’ descriptions of their best and worst experiences at IEP meetings. The results of this study indicate parents are not participating in decision-making about their child’s educational program. Fifty-six percent of parents disagreed with the statement that their school’s team listens and responds to the concerns the parent has about their child’s school program. In addition, fifty-nine percent of parents indicated they did not have enough time to read reports before decisions were made at IEP meetings. No significant differences in parent perceptions were found across groups of parents (including parents of boys versus girls, parents from different socioeconomic groups, parents with different educational backgrounds, parents of children in different grades or parents of children with different disabilities). The results of this study indicate that parents continue to struggle to participate meaningfully in the decision-making responsibility of the IEP team. Limitations in the sample size, representativeness of the sample, and statistical power of this study should be considered when interpreting the results.

The purpose of this study was to obtain information on relationships between professionals in schools and parents of students with disabilities who meet criteria to qualify for an Individual Education Plan (IEP) through the school's special education program. Research looked to explore perceptual differences in the designing, implementing, and evaluating of a student's special education. It also explained the role of parents in their child's education, the benefits of parental involvement and collaboration, and barriers to a successful parentprofessional relationship. The importance of bridging a connection between educators and parents was emphasized through information from federal law. In conclusion, suggestions were made to help parents and professionals strengthen their working relationship by addressing barriers and creating opportunities for collaboration. Recommendations were also made for future research, specifically focusing on student perspectives and comparing perceptions of parents of general and special education children.