Page 64 - SEN113 SEN Magazine July-August 2021-V3

Parents / teachers Nightmare parents or lack of understanding? Grace Williams provides the parent’s perspective. 64 In 2020, 275,604 children were reported as having an educational, health and care plan (EHCP) in the UK with 12.1% of students on special educational needs support without a diagnosis. Yet parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities are still often misunderstood and seen as ‘difficult’ by professionals, which may be due to a lack of understanding. I invite you to take a step back and try to understand the daily battles parents face. “Misunderstood and seen as ‘difficult’” Grief It is important to think about what a parent goes through when their child is diagnosed with special educational needs. During the diagnosis stage and for a long time after, parents feel disbelief, sadness and often experience feelings of loss or grief (Fernańdez-Alcántara et al, 2016). This is because parents must now accept that their child has special needs, and this may mean that their child is not the child they imagined they would raise. They will have imagined their child’s first words, first day at school and when they learn to read and write. They may have imagined watching them play football and the many birthday parties with their friends. Unfortunately, for a lot of parents of children with special needs, these things will never come true. This may cause some parents to grieve, and this is a long and painful process that may continue throughout The struggles parents face Having a baby is an exciting but nerve-wracking experience for everyone, becoming a parent is extremely difficult. However, it is even more challenging to become a parent of a child with special needs. Families with children who have disabilities want the same things as other families (S’lungile et al, 2015). They want to see their children reach their full potential, they want to be included and accepted by their community and they want to enjoy things together as a family (Baker & Fenning, 2007). For this to happen, children with special needs must receive the best support and professionals must recognise the value and expertise of their parents (S’lungile et al, 2015). Therefore, the relationship between parents and professionals is extremely important. SEN113 senmagazine.co.uk