1. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-1 Chapter 3 Family Functions

2. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-2 Sharing Their Story The Powell family consists of Xenia Powell and her son Lanz. Xenia is a single parent of Lanz who is now 19. Lanz has Asperger syndrome. He is academically talented. He has just graduated from a magnet school in Chicago and will be heading to college. Xenia is teacher who has taught students in both regular and special education classes.

3. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-3 Sharing Their Story Xenia has a brother with an intellectual disabilty. Her mother and sister live close by and are the core of their social circle. Xenia shares candidly how her family inputs and interactions play a role in her family’s outputs (family functions).

4. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-4 Think About It Assuming your are Lanz’s teacher, which of the many roles she (Xenia) has played in Lanz’s life would be most likely to contribute to your partnership with her? Which of the many roles she has played would you most want to support her to carry out? What aspects of Xenia’s family life is most likely to challenge you as you try to build a partnership with her?

5. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-5 Family System Framework

6. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-6 Family Functions Affection Self-esteem Spirituality Economics Daily Care Socialization Recreation Education

7. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-7 Family Functions Although each of the 8 categories of needs are distinct, in many ways the functions are interrelated and impact one another. Each family function is affected by every family member, including the family member with a disability. Cultural and personal preferences influence each family function. Most families have pre-determined priorities for carrying out their family functions and seek to achieve balance in carrying out the functions.

8. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-8 Affection Exchanging verbal and physical affection; exchange of unconditional love among family members. Cultural influences strongly determine how families deepen their emotional commitment and display affection.

9. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-9 Self-esteem Families help their members establish who they are and their worth as people. A child with a disability can influence other family members’ self-esteem in positive, negative, and neutral ways. Self-esteem is susceptible to many challenges across the lifespan. Teachers play a critical role in supporting the self-esteem of their students and families as a whole.

10. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-10 Spirituality “Spiritual” refers to beliefs associated with spirituality and religion. In many cultures, the role of the church and one’s culture are deeply intertwined. Children with disabilities are a catalyst for a family’s increased spirituality. Many persons with disabilities, like persons without, report religion to be a very important part of their lives.

11. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-11 Economics Families make decisions daily on how to spend their income and handle their finances. Family resources vary widely, determining the family’s ability to respond to the challenges of their child with an exceptionality. Often a child’s disability creates excessive costs for the family. Additionally, the presence of a family member with a disability affects parents’ employment status.

12. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-12 The Impact of a Disability on Family Employment Drawbacks: Extensive caregiving demands associated with a child’s condition may deter employment for a family member. Difficulty securing satisfactory child-care arrangements for their children. Benefits: Parents who work some hours outside of the home have better mental health. Opportunities to pursue a meaningful and fulfilling career (e.g., a father who becomes a special education teacher).

13. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-13 Daily Care Family responsibilities relating to their members’ physical and health needs. Includes the day-to-day tasks of living: cooking, cleaning, transportation. Health impairments of children greatly increase the breadth and depth of caregiving on a daily basis. All children, including those with disabilities can make contributions to family daily care needs.

14. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-14 Persons of all ages, irrespective of disability, need opportunities to create meaningful friendships. Developing friendships is challenging for some children with disabilities. Some families will need guidance in facilitating friendships for their children; in such instance, teachers can serve a vital role in helping to facilitate friendships in the school setting. Socialization

15. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-15 Recreation Enjoying leisure time is an important component of quality of life for individuals with disabilities and their families. A family’s culture influences its views about the role of recreation and leisure. Depending upon the nature of the child’s disability, the family’s recreational role may be expanded, unaffected, or curtailed. Leisure and recreation should be an important part of each child’s curriculum

16. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-16 Education Across cultures, families generally place a strong emphasis on education. Families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds often encounter educational and social barriers in attaining equal opportunities for their children. It is important to maintain a balanced approach to educational goals since overemphasis of education may be a detriment to the other family functions.

17. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-17 Time as a Factor in Meeting Family Functions Barriers to efficient use of parent time, as reported by parents: The inability of professionals to coordinate their activities among themselves; The overwhelming number of tasks parents were asked by professionals to complete; The lack of local and accessible services; A lack of flexible and family-centered scheduling of services.

18. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-18 Revisiting Lanz and Xenia Powell Lanz and Xenia have found a way to perform the tasks associated with their family functions in ways that are consistent with their family characteristics. They show each other affection and support each other’s self-esteem. Their faith gives them support and their extended family provides economical, spiritual, and social supports. They enjoy relaxing together. Transferring cultural values and traditions is consistent with family functions. Lanz values education. They both will be attending college.

19. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-19 Revisiting Lanz and Xenia Powell Tasks family members perform within family functions change over time. As a professional, how could you impact Xenia and Lanz as they perform their family functions? If Xenia did not have her “hats ” and the knowledge she has gained wearing each “hat”, how might this have impacted the Powell’s family functions?. But given all her “hats” what could you do as a professional to support efficient and effective use of time?

20. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-20 Summary Families exist to meet the individual and collective needs of their members Affection Self-esteem Spirituality Economics Daily Care Socialization Recreation Education

21. Families, Professionals, & Exceptionality: Positive Outcomes Through Partnerships & Trust, 6e Turnbull / Turnbull / Erwin / Soodak / Shogren ISBN: 0137070578 © 2011, 2006, 2001 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3-21 Linking Content to Your Life As you think about your own experiences in carrying out the eight family functions, bear in mind that the families with whom you develop partnerships may attend to their functions in ways that may not be the ones you have used or would recommend Use the questions shown on p. 68 to reflect and respond linking the content of this chapter to your life.