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FAMILY EDUCATION AND COUNSELING IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

Prepared for families to have children with special needs, it's not normal. Families with special needs children experience some emotional reactions and want to be understood.. Emotional responses; shock-denial, anger-anger, negotiate, can be classified as depression and acceptance.. Families with special needs children need emotional support, needs financial and information support. Families of children with special needs must participate actively in the special education process.. The purpose of family education for families with children with special needs; To inform about different aspects of parenting, to raise awareness and gain skills.

Educational programs for families of children with special needs, eve, divided into three, based on home-institution. Professionals must respect families to communicate effectively, active listening and asking questions, must accept parents, should encourage and develop confidence. Families should do activities to support different development areas with children at home..

1. Family Education: Family, starting with marriage, continuing by blood or adoption ties, the basic structure of society, It is an institution that affects individuals and society.. of individuals, in a healthy and harmonious union, social, emotional, eko­nomik, families that respond to their physical needs, are healthy families (Baran and Yurteri Tiryaki, 2016). Rich environmental conditions provided in the family, positive family attitudes exhibited by parents, timely meeting of interests and needs, the child does not experience a lack of love, plays an important role in the development of children in all aspects. Attitudes of the child in the family environment, the foundation of their beliefs and behavior is laid (Bayraktar, Confidence and Foundation, 2016). Family Education; helping family members understand the situation of the child with special needs, Contributing to the development of a positive attitude towards the child, increasing the competence of parents, provide family members with positive coping and effective functioning skills, a form of effective intervention that empowers parents (Kaner, 2015).

1.1. Family of Children with Special Needs: Special needs children, Progress may be delayed in one or more areas of development, and children constantly need a model.. Therefore, family awareness for the child with special needs, environment, life, The importance of equipment and environment is increasing more than all other individuals.. special needs child, It is known that the support of the family contributes positively to the development of these individuals and the participation of the parents in the family education program is of vital importance for the children.. The family of the child with special educational needs, cultural, economic, experience various difficulties in educational and health fields. Families with disabled children, psychological nature of the disability, health, educational, economic, experience different problems such as social and care. Families with special needs children, They need more help about how they can contribute to their children's education and what they can do for their children compared to families of normally developing children.. Mothers with children with special needs stated that they want to be informed regularly by their children's teachers.. The problems brought about by the presence of a child with special needs in the family create psychological pressure on the whole family. (Carpathians, 2011). Personal care of special needs child, feeding, health, One or more of the factors such as dependent life and social incompatibility can be consumer factors for parents.. Because, A more special family education service should be implemented for families with children with special needs.. These services should be programmed in accordance with the educational needs of children and their families.. When education is given according to the needs of the family; It is seen that families can help their children acquire appropriate behaviors and help them gain many independent living skills..

1.2. Reactions in the Family of Children with Special Needs: When families find out they have a child with special needs, In this case, they show some reactions.. These responses are explained by four models.. These models are: constant sadness pattern, helplessness-weakness and meaninglessness model, individual structuring model and stage model. In the "Stage Model", which is the most common of these models, the reactions of the family consist of the following stages:.

Shock: The first reaction of family members when they learn they have a child with special needs is shock.. Shock; numbness and inactivity, cry, feeling helpless, show no surprise, manifests itself in making illogical speeches.

Denial: Escaping from reality due to fear and uneasiness against the unknown situation, their reaction in the form of trying to ignore the situation and pretending that the child has no disability is denial..

Suffering and Depression: Families begin to realize that they do not have the ideal child of their dreams and that their children have special needs.. Suffering is an emotion that facilitates acceptance of reality., Depression is seen in parents who see that they will not be able to do anything at the end of these feelings..

Guilt: The most difficult emotion for parents to overcome is guilt.. Because parents may feel punished for their own mistakes and feel guilty..

Anger: Parents “Why me/we?” they ask the question and express their anger towards each other., to experts, they can show it to their other children or household items.

Shame: Some parents may feel ashamed that their child's shortcomings are their fault.. He may even experience embarrassment to the extent that he cannot even leave the house.. This sense of shame is the disapproval of society., pity, refusal, It can be seen as a result of the worries caused by the teasing behaviors..

Bargain: Parents at this stage, clergy, subject matter experts, They can negotiate with anyone or anyone they think has supernatural powers to eliminate the child's disability..

Acceptance and Compliance: At this final stage, parents ask, “What can we do now??They are ready to accept and adopt their children as they are.. They spend their energies on their children and their needs.. Previous negative emotions do not completely disappear, but parents learn to cope with these negative emotions while accepting their own and their children's weaknesses and strengths..

These stages that families with children with special needs go through in order in each family., in the same time interval, may not occur with the same intensity or frequency. However, these stages that family members usually go through show similarity.. When families learn that their children are disabled, they are faced with a difficult situation that they did not expect and are not ready for.. If parents deny the difficulties they have in their child, they may not fully receive the early intervention that is so important to the child..

1.3. Needs of Families of Children with Special Needs: Families with special needs children; by trying to transfer the skills that their children have acquired at school to daily life., facilitating them to transform these skills into behavior, to guide them, to assist in case of need, It needs various trainings in order to have many skills to prevent and solve possible problems.. Families with children with special needs will learn how to gain skills that the child lacks., needs support on issues such as how to establish healthy communication with the child and how to control the child's behavior. families are emotional, should be supported in three areas: economic and information support..

emotional support; themselves excluded, desperate, Emotional support is important for families who feel one or more of the psychological problems such as depression.. family self esteem, feeling confident, Emotional support is essential for her to control her emotions and use her resources.. Support from parent to parent, early intervention specialists as it is important for emotional support, provide families with contact information or support group information for another parent living nearby. Other people come to the family as positive and strong motivators.; listen and respond to them, can provide direct emotional support by showing warmth and friendliness. It has been observed that the education given to families reduces the family's need for emotional support..

Financial support; families food, clothing, shelter, toy etc. includes access to financial and material resources. If the family cannot meet their most basic needs such as shelter and nutrition, may focus less on their child's higher-level needs for development and intervention. Experts connect the family with the resources in the community., nutrition or diaper bank, should try to provide material support such as assistive technology needs. In addition, helping them to reach health-related aids is among these supports.. It is stated that not meeting the material needs sufficiently increases the stress in the family members..

Information support; inadequacy of families, child development, strategies that can be used for the child, and resources that can be reached, are supports that will respond to the needs of knowing and understanding.. Some family members may have very little information and prefer to get this information from their experts.. Some families get the first information from their friends., they can search and find from families or other sources such as the internet.. It has been observed that informing reduces the anxiety level of parents.. Needs of families; need for love and attention, the need to develop self-confidence, need for socialization, economic needs, need for information and support, future expectations of individuals with special needs, emotional understanding and support, social acceptance etc.. sorted by headings.

1.4. Supporting Families of Children with Special Needs; The love of parents of normally developing children, protect your child, show no interest in your child, While fulfilling responsibilities such as preparing a suitable environment for the development of the child or meeting the needs of the child; parents of children affected by disability, does all this and besides, It also undertakes new responsibilities such as teaching the child new skills or doing physiotherapy exercises and so on.. Supporting the family, It is possible to conduct activities and meetings with them.. Through family education activities to be prepared for parents, their state of exhaustion and helplessness will decrease.. This will increase their motivation level., replace the problems they have with their children with special needs., will take a more positive view. Parents will be able to get to know their children better, will be able to learn the type of developmental retardation and their educational performance.. They will be able to learn ways to deal with behavioral problems.. Nutrition your children need, will be able to gain basic life skills such as toilet and independent movement skills. Also contact, It will be ensured that they guide their children in matters such as socialization and facilitating daily life.

1.5. Siblings of Children with Special Needs; The issue of raising a child with disability affects the whole family and has direct emotional and cognitive effects on family members.. In families with disabled children, sibling relationships; to the type of family, to family lifestyle, family's parenting experience, number of children, age difference between children, to the gender of the children, socioeconomic level of the family, may be affected by the type and degree of the child's disability.. Siblings, on the other hand, can experience the happiness of the arrival of a new person in the family very intensely, but a sibling with a different characteristic, brings with it sadness and different complex emotions.. Even brothers don't notice, jealousy, fear, shame, they may show some various reactions such as boredom and abusive behavior.. On the other hand, a sibling with different characteristics, be more tolerant, developing responsibilities, can gain positive emotions and experiences such as increased sensitivity to human relations and differences..

2. Family Education Programs: Child, is mostly in the family during early childhood. The education that the child receives in the family forms the basis for the following years.. In this aspect, family, plays the most important role in the education of the child. parents, they need support about child development and education with family education programs. Family education programs provide parents with both parenting skills and information about child development and education.. At the same time the family, enable their children to participate in their education at school. Parents' involvement in their children's education, It creates positive effects on the relationship of the child with his family.. Children's self-confidence increases, contributes to academic success and the continuity of education is realized.. For this reason, it is considered important to develop and expand family education programs that are shaped according to the needs of parents.. When family education programs are examined, it is seen that these programs are generally carried out in low socio-economic regions.. However, it is necessary to disseminate these studies to all segments of society.. At the same time, family education is to ensure the healthy development of children who will be born.. Education of mothers, an individual, later family, It will then contribute to the shaping of society.. It will also have a great impact on the development level of societies.. Families do not have enough time to participate in family education programs, have emotional reasons, negative experiences or thoughts about school or the school system, Difficulties such as not knowing the importance of family education programs and feeling insecure about what they can do are obstacles.. Family education sessions to ensure that the family and the child get the maximum benefit in family education; Preparations before family education, consists of the main sections of family education application and family post-education evaluation.. Family education stages; getting information from family, family playing with child, talk with family about the game they played, educator-child-family playing together, educator-child-family playing a listening game together, expressed as a summary of the training and recommendations. Various applications can be made to involve the family in education and to enable the family to communicate with the expert.. These; parent meetings, family-expert interview, there may be follow-up bookkeeping and home visits for the child's performance. At parent meetings; Parents are informed about the general condition of their children and solutions are offered to cope with the problems encountered during education.. Family-expert interview; The family is informed by the specialist about the child and the family is informed about the activities to be carried out regarding the child's educational needs.. In the application of keeping the child's performance tracking log; Notes are kept about the child's performance that day and information is given about how to work at home in the next step.. In family seminars; The issues that families need are determined and a comprehensive education program is prepared.. Then, by inviting the families to the seminar according to this program, they are included in the education.. In home visits, not only the active mother, but also, to all members of the family, information about the child's education. Attitudes towards the active role of families in special education services have become more important in recent years.. It is observed that the services and supports offered to families have become widespread.. These services are mostly guidance and counseling., It is carried out with the cooperation of school-family on issues such as education.. In addition, various official and unofficial institutions can provide support to families on the issues they need.. For families with special needs children; group based, home-based and home-institution-based family education programs can be organized.

Group Based Family Education Programs: Families with similar children, come together to support their children's educational processes, programs that are trained by experts. Parents can learn ways to gain skills and concepts to their children through family education.. In addition, they can have skills such as preventing possible problems with their children and solving problems when they arise..

Home Based Family Education Programs: home based programs, are family education programs for the parents of children who cannot continue their education in any institution due to severe disability or other reasons.. The purpose of these programs; identify the needs of children with disabilities through home visits, to equip parents with the skills to control their child's behavior and teach them the skills they need. The most common early special education programs within the scope of home-based family education implemented in Turkey, Small Steps Early Education program and Portage Early Intervention Family Education Program.

Home and Institution Based Family Education Programs: The skills acquired at school by children attending an educational institution., They are family education programs that aim to maintain and generalize them at home or in their immediate surroundings, or to acquire skills that are not emphasized much in the institution.. Developmental Support Program, Interaction-Based Early Childhood Intervention Program and Behavioral Education Program for Autistic Children can be given as examples of home and institution-based early education programs.. Today, with the development of technology, early intervention and education programs based on online education have gained importance.. There is an increase in studies in which internet-based distance education programs are developed and their effectiveness is tested, especially in parent education..

3. Family Participation Studies for Children with Special Needs: Parents of individuals with special needs are expected to be more active and more involved in family involvement than parents of typically developing children.. At the same time, in the education of the child, The opinion that family-expert cooperation will positively affect success is increasing.. All of the activities organized for parents to contribute to the development and education of their children are called family participation.. Families can participate in the following issues regarding their children's special education process.:

• Nomination/Nomination: Conscious parents, are more attentive to early signs of disability in their children and the importance of early intervention. Regarding special education services, where to apply, It is more sensitive about how it will follow and which institutions it should cooperate with..
• Measuring: Active participation of the family in the diagnostic process, sharing accurate information about the child, It is very important for them to cooperate with experts to make a medical and educational diagnosis..
• Program Preparation: In discussing diagnostic results, in the development of an individualized education program, setting short- and long-term goals, The full participation of parents is very important in making the best placement decision for the child..
• Teaching: Parents can contribute to the child's education process with the role of an assistant teacher both in classroom teaching activities and in the implementation of the individualized education plan at home..
• Evaluation: Parents can provide feedback to experts on improving the education plan or assist in gathering evidence of the child's development outside of school..

Family involvement studies, in preschool education, These are activities that pave the way for parents to be involved in their children's education and ensure their active participation in this process.. In pre-school education, family participation can be achieved in the following ways::

first meeting, introductory meeting, parent/guardian meeting, individual interviews, phone calls, notice boards, education board, news letters, posters, brochures, booklets, batch files, news letters, video-tape recordings, participation in classroom activities, conferences, home visits, inviting parents to school on special occasions, wish box.

Family participation has benefits for both the family and the child with special needs.. Some benefits of family involvement include::

• Since parents are the first and natural teachers for children, most of the knowledge and skills are gained through them..
• Because parents spend a lot of time with their children, they can find many opportunities for teaching activities..
• Parents' role as co-teachers, Provides economy by saving time for educators.
• With the participation of the parents in the process, the school success of the children with special needs and their adaptation to the society are positively affected..
• It enables the child's teachers and parents to have more communication and cooperation through the participation of the parents..
• Contributes to the positive development of parents' attitudes towards their children.
• Consistent between home and school, fosters understanding and mutual trust relationships.
• Family involvement is important in reaching the educational goals set by the school for the child with special needs.. Parent involvement in the educational process, both the child and the family to set the right goals., to strengthen families, to trust themselves more, use their capacity more to defend the rights of their children., contributes to the reduction of stress and anxiety levels and to support other parents.

There are some barriers to family participation.. These; lack of time for parents, lack of financial resources, difficulty in accessing school and insufficient awareness levels. In another classification, family participation barriers originate from families., originating from teachers, seen as legal and school-related barriers.

4. Guidance and Psychological Counseling Services for Families: Services to families of children with disabilities;
5. a) informative consultancy, b) Skills trainer family counseling, c) It is classified as family counseling for therapeutic purposes..
6. a) informative consultancy; type of disability for families with children with special needs, degree, causes and effects on child development; ways to communicate correctly with the child; legal rights; ways to contribute to the child's development and control their behavior; It aims to provide information on topics such as educational program opportunities.. Information is generally made with a group of families with similar characteristics, and during these studies, families are informed about each other., provides an opportunity to share their experiences and thoughts..
7. b) Skill Education Family Counseling; how to parent parents of children with special needs, is to teach the knowledge and skills about how they can be effective in correct communication and interaction with the child through family education programs..
8. c) Family Counseling for Therapeutic Purposes; Family members with special needs children may have mental health disorders such as depression and intense anxiety due to emotional difficulties.. Sometimes psychological problems such as communication problems and social adjustment problems affect daily life functions.. Psychotherapy or psychological counseling services provided by authorized therapists in such cases are beneficial for families to solve their problems..
9. Interviews with the Families of Children with Special Needs: The characteristics of families with children with special needs differ according to their geography.. Even if they live in the same country and city, the way of life of families, cultural characteristics and beliefs change. For this reason, the concept of having a child with special needs has different meanings all over the world.. Therefore, educators and experts working with families, knowing the cultural characteristics and differences of families; Families should be approached in this direction.. Because parents are respected by the experts they receive support for their child's education., They also expect mutual trust and acceptance of their own value judgments.. Otherwise, a solid communication cannot be established and the active participation of the parents in the education program is negatively affected.. Family members and experts, should pay attention to the following features to realize a successful cooperation;

-Must be willing to cooperate,

-Equal and contributing to the cooperation process,

-Must set common goals, should share responsibility in their decisions in the cooperation process, should contribute to the process in terms of resources, should evaluate all processes jointly.

Ethical principles in studies with families with children with special needs are as follows:;

• The educator should inform the family at all stages..
• The educator is aware of the emotional state of the families., objective, understanding, must be patient, should use their empathy skills well and not be prejudiced against the family.
• The educator should not form close and private relationships with family members..
• They should learn the rights and responsibilities of both individuals with special educational needs and their families., should be transferred to the family in case of need.
• Be aware of the positive consequences of family involvement in education, should involve the family in more education.
• Make home visits to support the family.
• The purpose of the program to be applied to educator families and individuals with special needs, It should give information about the dangers that may arise and the gains after the application..
• The educator should guide the family when needed..
• Does not try to learn more information than necessary for education.
• Confidentiality matters.
• Parents' opinions are taken into account during the preparation and implementation of the training program..

Educators, To communicate effectively with the families of individuals with special educational needs, they should respect them., listen actively and ask questions. It should also accept the parents., should encourage them and develop their families' sense of trust. It should be emphasized that parents should carry out supportive and developing activities with their children at home..

Learning happens when the brain does the same thing in the same way over and over.. Family is an important and indispensable element of learning.. MYSELF