Abstract
Using socio-cultural theory and an ecological perspective, this study utilized a case study format to explore how families and teachers understand children with complex academic, mental health, and health needs in the United States. These case studies were developed based on home and school observations and semi-structured interviews with the parents and teachers of two children with complex needs attending a primary school in the United States. Data analysis revealed that parents and teachers may understand a child’s development differently because they become conscious of it at different times and construct meaning out of it in unique ways. For parents, the contexts and interactions surrounding their child’s evaluation process greatly influenced their emotional response to, and understanding of, their child’s development, primarily in terms of one developmental area. As a result, subtle yet important changes in other developmental areas went unnoticed or diminished in potential importance, making it difficult for parents to optimize potential outcomes through advocacy. For teachers, understandings of a child’s development were framed by an existing personal teaching philosophy. The stronger and more complimentary the understandings of a child’s development by both teachers and parents, the greater was the likelihood of developmental opportunities for the child. As the parent of a child with complex needs, this chapter also includes my own narrative as the lens through which I analyze the data.
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Anderson, E.M. (2017). Better Understanding the Complex Academic, Mental Health and Health Needs of Children in the United States. In: Halder, S., Assaf, L. (eds) Inclusion, Disability and Culture. Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55224-8_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55224-8_21
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