Deck 4: Families of Children With Disabilities   

Question 1

Which of the following statements about family reactions is true?

A) Feelings of shock, denial, grief, and anger are generally brief and tend to disappear once an accurate diagnosis of the disability has been made.
B) Siblings and extended family members generally do not experience feelings of denial and grief.
C) Feelings of shock, denial, grief, anger, and acceptance in response to the disability may recur throughout the lifespan of the individual.
D) The family of a child with a disability experiences a sequence of emotions, and once these stages have been worked through, the feelings disappear.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Thinking about a particular situation in ways that enhance well-being has been described as

A) cognitive coping.
B) social learning theory.
C) cognitive strategies training.
D) internal attribution.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following components of family quality of life is NOT affected by poverty?

A) The family's physical environment
B) Overall family health
C) The love between parents and children
D) The family's emotional well-being

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The Cho, Singer, and Brenner (2000) study of Korean-American mothers of children with disabilities

A) concluded that the mothers experienced a severe depression on learning that their child had a disability.
B) concluded that the mothers accepted their child's disability stoically.
C) described how the mothers blamed physicians for their child's disability.
D) concluded that the process of adjustment to disability was complex and included positive and negative emotions.

Question 5

The foundation of family systems theory is the idea that

A) the family is a system that can be changed by external events.
B) no one member of the family is as strong as the family unit.
C) what happens to one family member affects all other family members.
D) family interaction is affected by characteristics of the child's disability.

Question 6

The expression "adjustment and acceptance" refers to

A) the ability of an ill child to adjust to the medical interventions associated with his or her condition.
B) parents' acceptance of the fact that their child should not be expected to progress to a notable degree.
C) parents' ability to let go of feelings of anger, guilt, and sadness over the disability of their child.
D) parents' constructive adaptation to a child's disability and development of realistic expectations.

Question 7

The two basic premises of ecocultural theory are that families adapt to the environment in which they live and

A) understanding a family's daily routines is important to understanding its ecocultural niche.
B) the child can only be understood in the context of the family ecosystem.
C) family characteristics may impede the family's adaptation to the ecocultural niche.
D) cultural identity is the most important factor in analyzing family interactions and support systems.

Question 8

Many parents describe their initial reaction to the news that their daughter or son has a disability as

A) shock.
B) anxiety.
C) grief.
D) anger.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about working with families is NOT true?

A) Special education teachers generally work more closely with the families of their students than do teachers in general education classes.
B) Working with students and their families is much more effective than excluding them.
C) There are inevitable stresses associated with families with an exceptional child.
D) Involvement with families of exceptional students is not legally required but makes good common sense.

Question 10

Which of the following terms describes a parent support group that links experienced parents of young children with disabilities to parents who are new to programs and procedures?

A) Support model
B) Parent-to-parent model
C) Parent assistance team
D) Networking model

Question 11

Early diagnosis of a disability is usually associated with

A) biological factors.
B) severe disabilities.
C) environmental factors.
D) None of the above.

Question 12

Which of the following statements about culture is true?

A) Family ethnicity is determined by the socioeconomic status of the family members.
B) The religious background of family members has little influence on how a disability is perceived.
C) Culture can be described as a framework, or set of tendencies, that guides life practices.
D) Language is a component of culture that has little impact on school-home relations.

Question 13

The U.S. Census Bureau describes a family as

A) a group of people who live together and consider themselves family.
B) a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together.
C) a nuclear group residing together and related by blood.
D) marriage partners and their children.

Question 14

Which of the following statements about family interactions is NOT true?

A) It is generally accepted that having siblings act as teachers for individuals with disabilities places undue stress on family relationships.
B) The highest levels of stress are reported in families of children with the most severe disabilities.
C) Mothers of children with disabilities dominate the communication interactions with their children more than other mothers do.
D) Extended families may demonstrate support for families under stress by providing financial and emotional support and by acting as respite caregivers.

Question 15

Professional educators have come to accept that

A) there is no such thing as the "average" American family.
B) the American family has remained relatively unchanged over the past twenty years.
C) exceptional children tend to be over-represented in foster homes.
D) children with extreme needs tend to be put up for adoption.

Question 16

Which of the following has NOT been found to be a factor in the low level of participation of many families?

A) Use of educational jargon
B) A power structure that implies that the professionals are the decision makers
C) Extensive time required, with meetings often scheduled for an hour or more
D) Late notices and inflexible scheduling of conferences

Question 17

According to family systems theory, which of the following is categorized as a family characteristic?

A) Nature of the handicapping condition of the exceptional child in the family
B) Interaction among siblings related to increased demands
C) Interaction between spouses related to financial demands of the exceptional child
D) Economic support that parents provide to maintain a household

Question 18

Which statement about support groups is correct?

A) They are most common among parents of older students with disabilities.
B) They include some degree of respite care so participating parents can attend meetings.
C) They typically follow the parent-to-child model.
D) They have varied goals, such as offering instruction in advocacy skills or providing opportunities to get to know other parents of children with disabilities.

Question 19

Which of the following statements about parents of children with disabilities is NOT true?

A) Parents are entitled to choose not to participate in the educational decision-making for their child.
B) Parents are entitled to participate in the placement decisions associated with the IEP process.
C) Parents have the right to request a due process hearing if they disagree with the recommendations of the IEP team.
D) Parents reveal a lack of involvement with their child at home when they do not become involved in their child's program at school.

Question 20

Parents' discovery that their child is disabled

A) usually comes immediately after birth.
B) usually comes when the child encounters academic or social difficulties in school.
C) affects parents differently, depending on the age at which the disability appears.
D) is more readily accepted by immediate family members than by the extended family.

Question 21

How can a philosophy of cultural reciprocity help a teacher working with families from cultural backgrounds very different from their own?

Question 22

Describe three steps that we should take to move toward cultural competence and give examples of how you might accomplish these steps.

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT a step toward cultural reciprocity?

A) Identify the cultural values that are embedded in your interpretation of a student's difficulties or in the recommendation for service.
B) Find out whether the family being served recognizes and values these assumptions, and, if not, how their view differs from yours.
C) Try to convince parents of the validity of your point of view.
D) Set about determining the most effective way of adapting your professional interpretations or recommendations to the value system of this family.

Question 24

Interpreters who work with teachers and families

A) are often not familiar with the terminology of special education, including the disability itself.
B) are usually competent, experienced, and well-paid.
C) are usually available in a range of languages and dialects.
D) must be licensed and certified.

Question 25

Which statement about effective transition planning is correct?

A) It typically does not include parental input.
B) It includes input from the student regarding his or her interests.
C) It rarely includes interagency involvement.
D) It is best begun at the end of the student's senior year of high school.

Question 26

What components of a parent-to-parent model of support are useful for parents of children with disabilities? Why are they important?

Question 27

Choose and explain one component of the family systems model, and give an example of how it might relate to having a child with a disability.

Question 28

The first step in developing cultural competence is to

A) examine your own attitudes and beliefs.
B) talk to people from other cultures.
C) learn at least one foreign language.
D) travel extensively in other countries.

Question 29

Cultural competence is based on the skills of

A) spoken and written language.
B) eagerness to learn and to change others' beliefs.
C) awareness and communication.
D) reading and visual understanding.

Question 30

What reactions do parents tend to go through in response to the diagnosis that their child has a disability? How predictable are these feelings?

Question 31

Compare and contrast the terms family, household, and extended family.

Question 32

Write your own definition of culture, and describe how the traditions of your own cultural background influenced your beliefs and values.

Question 33

In what ways can culture affect a family's reaction to a child with a disability? Give examples of your answer.