“Teaching is not for wimps.” A Little About Jerry:

graduated with a specialist degree in education

was a assistant superintendent (which turned into the director of special education with only three months experience)

then, he had two part-time jobs in Wisconsin as a psychologist (was more like two full-time work loads)

finally, ending up at the job he is doing while writing this book, being a school psychologist

“I’m just gonna tell it like it is and in the process, some readers may feel offended.”

Two Types of Parents:

The Real Mean Kind

and

The Not-So-Mean But Pretty Darn Ineffective Kind

Understanding The Difficult Parent

“Free and Appropriate Public Education”Some parents will take this statement and run with it till the school is dry.

IDEA LRE M-team IEP Section 504

The Parents’ Legitimate Power

Dealing With Advocates

Symptoms of burnout

Causative factors

Dealing with burnout

Prevention

Burnout: Are You At Risk?

“anger comes from the demand that we not be frustrated”

Change the demand into a preference

You control your feelings; not the difficult parents!

Dealing With Anger

Fear VS. Anxiety

Fear is an emotion response to a threat of harm, injury, or loss

Anxiety is a response to perceived dangers

“It was the worrying and fretting about it for days and weeks that was difficult to handle.”

Coping With The Anxiety

Get some rest!

Call for back-up

“S___ Sandwich”

What parents go through

Strategies For Successful Parent Conferences

1. What is the concern?

2. Who is responsible for the concern?

3. What can I do to assist _____ with his or her concern?

4. How do I keep from owning someone else’s challenges?

Helping Parents Own Their Responsibilities

Do You Have Any Questions?

Wilde, J. (2000). An educator’s guide to difficult parents. New

York: Kroshka Books.

References