[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-580801-105":59,"doc-detail-580801-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","communicating-with-parents-of-children-with-special-needs-strategies-for-teachers","Communicating With Parents of Children With Special Needs - Strategies for Teachers","","Communicating with parents is a central teacher responsibility that strengthens relationships supporting student learning. This essay discusses strategies for effective communication with parents of children with special needs, highlighting the growing presence of students with disabilities and training gaps for both general and special education teachers. It emphasizes understanding the parent experience, treating parents as experts, building trust, and using communication practices aligned with content, mode, and frequency.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/communicating-with-parents-of-children-with-special-needs-strategies-for-teachers/580801/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/communicating-with-parents-of-children-with-special-needs-strategies-for-teachers/580801.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Riley","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why is teacher–parent communication especially important for parents of children with disabilities?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It supports learning relationships and becomes critical because special education goals and programs can differ from the regular curriculum. It also involves collaboration across needs assessment, evaluation, goal setting, progress review, and transition planning.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What perspective should teachers adopt to improve communication with parents of children with special needs?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Teachers should understand parents’ unique experiences and recognize that these parents often have deep expertise about their child, including medical conditions, developmental milestones, and treatment histories.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which communication approaches does the article emphasize for IEP meetings?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The article outlines strategies grounded in the literature to maximize effective communication during Individualized Education Program meetings, including building trust and using thoughtful choices about content, communication mode, and communication frequency.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},580801,1792423853,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},1374391975076,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000253ca4ec9f6853?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1783305029341752051","Communicating With Parents of Children With Special Needs: Strategies for Teachers  \nSusan Graham-Clay  \nAbstract  \nCommunicating with parents is a key role for teachers to foster relationships that will support student learning. This essay and discussion article focuses on a range of strategies teachers can use to promote effective communication with parents of children with special needs. The increasing prevalence of students with disabilities in our schools is highlighted as well as training needs relevant to both regular and special education teachers. The importance of understanding the parent experience is discussed, as well as viewing parents of children with disabilities as experts on their child, which complements the professional knowledge and practice of teachers. Specific strategies discussed include building trust with parents and the use of effective communication skills, including a thoughtful approach to the content, mode, and frequency of communication. Strategies to support key interactions with parents during IEP meetings are outlined based on the literature. Finally, opportunities to support communication with parents who are culturally and linguistically diverse and who also have a child with a disability are highlighted, with the goal to reduce barriers and promote parent engagement.  \nKey Words: communication, communicate, communicating, exceptionalities, parents, teachers, children, students, special needs, special education, disability, disabilities, strategies, parent engagement, parent involvement, school–home partnership, culturally and linguistically diverse, CLD  \nSchool Community Journal, 2025, Vol. 35, No. 1 35  \nAvailable at [http://www.schoolcommunitynetwork.org/SCJ.aspx](http://www.schoolcommunitynetwork.org/SCJ.aspx)  \nSCHOOL COMMUNITY JOURNAL  \nIntroduction  \nEffective communication between teachers and parents is critical to build strong relationships that support student learning. Communicating is one of six key parent involvement strategies outlined by Epstein overtime (Epstein, 1995, 2010; Epstein et al., 2018) and has been described as the strongest predictor of parent involvement (Gisewhite et al., 2021; Park & Holloway, 2018). Teacher–parent communication is important for all students but becomes even more critical for the parents of children with disabilities, whose special education goals and programs may vary widely from the regular curriculum. Communication and collaboration between teachers and parents of children with disabilities occur at multiple levels, including discussing the child’s educational needs, participating in the evaluation process, identifying goals, reviewing progress, and planning for successful transitions (Mereoiu et al., 2016). Indeed, there are legal mandates in the United States and in many other countries to ensure parent participation in both evaluation and placement decisions and in the development of an individualized learning plan for the child.  \nIt is important that teachers understand the unique needs and experiences of parents who have children with special needs to support effective communication. Beyond their control and because of their experiences, many parents have faced significant personal and family stress, wait lists, health concerns, and financial hardships. Parents often become experts on their child in ways that go well beyond expectations for a typical parent, such as in-depth knowledge of medical conditions, developmental milestones, and treatment history. Parents are often asked to repeat their child’s story to multiple professionals. Many parents are forced to take on unexpected roles to address their child’s educational needs, requiring considerable personal time and energy (such as advocacy). Parents have also reported stress due to feeling criticized and blamed for their child’s challenges (Broomhead, 2013; Gwernan-Jones et al., 2015), as well as stress navigating the special education system (Datoo, 2021; Heiman, 2021).  \nThis","cbCaidEkwk6SHnUw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidEkwk6SHnUw","pdf",520928,42,"English","# Introduction\n## Parent involvement and communication importance\n## Unique parent experiences and stresses\n## Article purpose and scope\n## Communication challenges in special needs contexts\n## IEP meeting communication strategies","[{\"question\":\"Why is teacher–parent communication especially important for parents of children with disabilities?\",\"answer\":\"It supports learning relationships and becomes critical because special education goals and programs can differ from the regular curriculum. It also involves collaboration across needs assessment, evaluation, goal setting, progress review, and transition planning.\"},{\"question\":\"What perspective should teachers adopt to improve communication with parents of children with special needs?\",\"answer\":\"Teachers should understand parents’ unique experiences and recognize that these parents often have deep expertise about their child, including medical conditions, developmental milestones, and treatment histories.\"},{\"question\":\"Which communication approaches does the article emphasize for IEP meetings?\",\"answer\":\"The article outlines strategies grounded in the literature to maximize effective communication during Individualized Education Program meetings, including building trust and using thoughtful choices about content, communication mode, and communication frequency.\"}]","Communicating With Parents of Children With Special Needs - Strategies for Teachers | PDF",1792038318,106]