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Information Management for

Parents of Special-Needs Children Workshop

24 February 2008

Presented by:

~ Jennifer Trujillo de Good ~

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Table of Contents Page(s)

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Lesson Plan 3-9

*Information Management for Special-Needs Parents*

2.1 Objective / Outcome 3

2.2 Skill 3

2.3 Target Audience 4

2.4 Materials Needed 4

2.5 Program 5-9

3.0 Conclusion / Further Training 9

4.0 Assessment / Evaluation 9

5.0 Works Cited 11

6.0 Appendices 12-13

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1.0 Introduction

This workshop was conceived in response to the recognition of the information needs of

parents of children with special needs. It has been observed that special-needs parents

are a user group that often experiences information anxiety, information overload and at

times information avoidance (Smith & Strick, 1997). In order to develop information

literacy skills and be proactive about resolving information concerns, parents of special

needs children need to utilize information management techniques both online and in

their everyday information environment. Special-needs parents need to master provision

and use of information that concerns their children. Today’s workshop will explore

techniques to improve information literacy through information management of this wide

breath of material concerning case management for the special-needs child.

Personal Information Management techniques taught in this module aim to create a

solution to the clutter and chaos of information that that can plague parents with special

needs children as they attempt to face the issues of their everyday lives.

2.0 Lesson Plan: Information Management

2.1 Objective/ Outcome

• To learn techniques for managing and organizing information

• To gain familiarity with online personal organizational tools

• To compile valuable resources and reference tools for future use.

2.2 Skill

• Ability to locate, relocate and mange information

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2.3 Target Audience

There are many types and ranges of individuals with developmental and learning

disabilities. Autism, Down’s Syndrome, blindness, cerebral palsy…the lists is long of

disabilities that lead individuals to require special programs and accommodations. In the

United States it is estimated that between 1.2 and 1.6 percent of the total population are

developmentally disabled. Considering the developmentally disabled alone, using the

estimated US population of 301,139,947 from July 1997 (Central Intelligence Agency

World Fact Book), there are nearly 5 million developmentally disabled individuals in the

US. If we then add the learning disabled children, we have an astronomical amount of

parents that rely on information to help provide for these children. The target audience of

this workshop is parents, guardians, family members, and primary caregivers of children

with developmental disabilities. The task that faces the audience in everyday life is

managing information for their loved ones in regards to education, employment, specific

conditions, community living, disability related resources, and much more.

2.4 Materials needed

! A computer lab with a data projector, and computers with internet access for all

students (for this reason, students should enroll for the workshop).

! Prop for the Attention Activity: a laundry basket filled with papers, catalogs

brochures etc.

! White board, dry erase markers

! Handbook (Appendix A, bound into books for each participant)

! Workshop Blog (http://parentsworkshop.blogspot.com/)

! Evaluation forms. (Appendix B)

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2.5. Program

2.5.1 Introduction

Icebreaker / Attention activity / Relevance Discussion

“Good morning, and welcome to this workshop on Information Management Techniques

for Parent of Children with Special Needs. As we begin here I’d like to share a few

photos with you (web). This is my mother Clara. Isn’t she beautiful? I know, she looks

just like me. What a great mom though, really…She did an incredible job raising my

brother, Guillermo, and I. Guillermo is blind and developmental disabled. I grew up

understanding the trails of having a developmentally disabled family member. It tested

me. It tried my patience, but ultimately made me a more compassionate person. And

everyone in this room today disserves a big round of applause for being the courageous,

loving people you are (applause). Although I could sing the praises of my mother and

you audience members long into the day, unfortunately, I have to bring up your

weakness…your downfall. Terrible of me isn’t it, lift you up to push you back down.

Mom’s downfall is that her paperwork and file maintaining techniques amount to this

(direct attention to laundry basket). Now, how many of you find yourself in a similar

predicament? Don’t be shy, you’re amongst friends. It’s true, bad organization, and the

clutter and chaos that comes with it, can be our downfall, but that’s why we are all here

today. Good information management techniques can make the difference between this

(laundry basket) and this (gesture towards handbook and laptop). Having organized

information is a giant leap towards improving your ability to manage your children’s care

with more confidence. It’s no small task. In fact, it’s a monumental achievement. All

the information that you are responsible for…financial, social security benefits,

education, medical diagnoses,…but I don’t have you tell you that it’s overwhelming. The

skills and techniques you will walk out of here today are going empower you. When you

take control over this scattered information from a multitude of sources and organize it so

you can store it, find it, synthesize it, share it, and use it…believe me, your life will

change.”

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2.5.2 Body of the Lesson

Skill

Ability to keep found things found (H. Bruce 2004) in the course of information

management on the behalf of special-needs children.

Method

This workshop has an emphasis on using a variety of methods and learning styles

especially styles and theories of learning as developed by Bernice McCarthy from 1997

and David Kolb from 1984. The Why Learner is engaged through brainstorming. The

How Learner is engaged through practicing online techniques. The What If Learner is

engaged through the ability to use the Workshop Blog to make suggestions and

recommendations for future workshops. The What Learner is engaged through

exploration of the Helpful Websites and recording information using online tools and the

Handbook forms (McCarthy). This workshop also follows the ARCS model of learning.

The introduction is personal to the user and grabs the Attention with a prop and personal

story. The Relevance of the workshop is revealed through clearly outlined objectives

and outcomes. The Confidence portion comes from watching the tutorial, practicing the

methods taught, and then presenting them to the workshop class. The Satisfaction is

intrinsic as the methods hope to make positive changes in the student’s everyday life

through information management.

Tasks

1) Overview of Personal Information Management

2) Brainstorm about PIM tool needs

3) A Look at the Workshop Blog and Handbook

4) Online Demonstrations: blog, calendar and web tool tutorials

5) Hands on web tool use with instructor guidance

6) Mini Student Presentations

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1) Overview of Personal Information Management

“After this conference, we hope to increase some management skills using a variety of

tools including blogs, online calendars and agendas, and the Handbook we provided for

you, just to name a few examples. We have built a Workshop Blog that has tutorials, and

some of the important bits from this class room setting for you to take any with you. We

have also build a Workshop Handbook (Appedix A). The handbook mimics much of the

same information that you will find on the Workshop Blog as well as a variety of forms

and resources for those of you in the class that feel like the online environment might not

work as well for you as a way of facilitating information management. The point being,

that this is personal information management. It’s not supposed to strain you or cause

you aggravation. Rather, we want you to find your own best set of tools whether they be

online or on paper and actually use them.”

2) Brainstrom about PIM tool needs

“Ok, so many of you raised your hands (some reluctantly) to admit that your information

management is like my mothers. (Grabbing a fist full of papers from laundry basket)

What is this stuff, parents? Let’s brainstorm some of the Personal Information

Management resources you are going to need to resolve this laundry basket situation.”

• The class brainstorms foreseen needs in regards to resources and tools

• The instructor creates a list/outline from the brainstorm

3) Workshop Blog and Handbook Orientation Tutorial

“Some of you may be comfortable using the internet, while some of you may not have

any computer experience at all. That’s fine; this workshop is designed to suit a variety of

experience. Perhaps those with less online experience will fell more comfortable relying

on the Handbook as a personal information management tool. Regardless, everybody

will have the opportunity to improve their computer skills in this workshop.”

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" The instructor explains that the brainstorm that the participants completed today

was also conducted prior to the workshop to come up with many of the same tool

needs to make them available in the Handbook.

" Looking at the Workshop Blog allows the workshop class to explore together

some of the included posts that can be used as a reference tool. The class can see

the format of one type of blog and gain familiarity prior to the blogging

instruction tutorials

" Workshop Handbook will contain spaces for calendars, medical information,

journal entries, important contacts, websites, etc. In becoming familiar with the

information they are trying to manage, the class is primed for thinking about how

they can perform some information management techniques online in addition to

in their Handbook.

" The instructor explains the value of having a tool like the Handbook or a personal

blog and how it can be used for synthesizing elements of the the information

environment for the special needs parent.

4) Online Demonstrations

# The instructor runs a blog tutorial

o Setting up

" Choosing a host

" Registering

o Features

" Format

" User information

" Gadgets

o Posting

" Text

" Pictures

" Links

o Privacy and Permission :: keeping confidential information private on the

internet

# The instructor introduces the class to iGoogle homepage

o Google docs

o Calendars/Planners

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o To-do lists

o Sticky Notes/Reminders

o Address Book

# The instructor covers social bookmarking concepts and websites

5) Hands on Web Tools Training

The class will spend a large portion of the workshop following the tutorials, practicing

using the tools introduced during the lecture. They will explore things independently and

with instructor guidance as desired.

6) Student Presentation

Following the hands on learning, the students will pick their favorite tool/gadget/blog

feature that they explored and present it’s workings to the class.

3.0 Conclusion :: Further Training

Key Points Summary

“In conclusion, we have explored the concepts of information management and

examined many tools and techniques for making those concepts a reality. We first

brainstormed what things might make our lives more organized and then we explored

practical ways of actually organizing. We have giving you some web skills to

develop and improve upon as well as resources and websites to explore and utilize.

We urge you to continue along the paths that you’ve begun to travel down today with

a new repertoire of skills at your disposal. Practice and use is quite instrumental to

increasing familiarity and confidence for information management skills. Please

spend some time, go back online to the blogs that you’ve all started today. Take a

look at some of the suggested resource websites that we’ve provided in your

handbook (Addendix A) and through the Workshop Blog. Add the sites you find

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most useful as links to your own blog. If you get stuck, feel free to contact me

through the blog for this training module, complete with how-to’s and frequently

asked questions.

4.0 Assessment :: Evaluation

Student assessment is through formative methods as the instructor monitors the class

during instruction for understanding of the material being presented. The instructor can

also monitor student understanding and grasp of the content during the hands on practice

after the tutorial and again during the student’s mini presentations to the workshop class.

A rubric of competency levels can aid the instructor in articulating skill understanding,

during observation.

A survey (Appendix B) is provided to students as a means of providing an overall course

evaluation. Students have also been encouraged to provide course evaluation through

interactions with the Workshop Blog.

“Please be so kind as to take a few moments to complete this workshop evaluation. It

will help us to make improvements for future workshop participants.”

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5.0 Works Cited

CIA – The World Fact Book – The United States. Retrieved February 18, 2008 from

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/us.html

Bruce, H. “Personal anticipated information need.” Information Research, Vol. 10 No.

3, paper 232, April 2005a.

Bruce, H. “The PAIN Hypothesis.” In Fisher, K. E., Erdelez, S., & McKechnie, L.

(2005). Theories of information behavior. ASIST monograph series. Medford,

N.J.: Published for the American Society for Information Science and Technology

by Information Today. 270-274.

Bruce, H., Jones, W. and Dumais, S. "Information behavior that keeps found things

found" Information Research, Vol. 10 No. 1, October 2004.

Fisher, K. E., Erdelez, S., & McKechnie, L. (2005). Theories of information behavior.

ASIST monograph series. Medford, N.J.: Published for the American Society for

Information Science and Technology by Information Today. 270-274.

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and

Development. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall

McCarthy, B. (March 1997) "A Tale of Four Learners: 4 MATs Learning Styles."

Educational Leadership 54.6, pages 46-52.

Osman, B. B. (1997). Learning disabilities and ADHD: a family guide to living and

learning together. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Pain, H. (1999). Coping with a child with disabilities from the parents’ perspective: the

function of information. Child: care, health and development, 25(4), 299-312.

Shin, L. M. (1998). Learning disabilities sourcebook basic information about disorders

such as dyslexia, visual and auditory processing deficits, attention

deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism, along with statistical and demographic

data, reports on current research initiatives, an explanation of the assessment

process, and a special section for adults with learning disabilities. Health

reference series, v. 33. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics.

Smith, C., Strick, L. (1997). Learning disabilities A-Z: a parent’s complete guide to

learning disabilities from preschool to adulthood. New York, NY: The Free

Press.

Stewart, D., Law, M., Burke-Gaffney, J., Missiuna, C., Rosenbaun, P., King, G., Moning,

T. & King, S. (2006). Keeping It Together: an information KIT for parents of

children and youth with special needs. Child: care, health and development,

32(4), 493-500.

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Appendix A :: Excerpt from Workshop Handbook

Information Management for the Special Needs Parent

Helpful Websites: Americans with Disabilities http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm

Best Buddies http://www.bestbuddies.org/site/c.ljJ0J8MNIsE/b.1162355/k.BF9F/Intro.htm

Internet Resources for Special Children http://orsaminore.dreamhosters.com/handy/links/uk_various.html

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities http://www.nichcy.org/

National Resource list http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/genresc/gr2.htm

Parent to Parent USA http://www.p2pusa.org/index.html

SNAP:: Special Needs Advocate for Parents http://www.p2pusa.org/index.html

Social Security Online http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

Special Child Magazine http://www.specialchild.com/index.html

Special Olympics http://www.specialolympics.org/Special+Olympics+Public+Website/default.htm

The Arc http://www.thearc.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?&pid=183&srcid=-2

US Department of Education:: Special Needs http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/edpicks.jhtml?src=ln

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Appendix B :: Special Needs Parents Workshop Evaluation

Please check the item(s) below that you found most useful about today’s workshop

! Class Tools Brainstorm

! Blog Tutorial

! Other Tutorial (please explain which)_________________________________________

! Mini Class Presentations

! Helpful Websites

! Workshop Handbook

! Workshop Blog (Feel Free to Visit / Comment / Make Suggestions Any time!)

http://parents workshop.blogspot.com

What aspect of the workshop was your least favorite? Do you think any areas need some

development? (Please explain):

This workshop was:

! Too long ! Too short ! A good length to cover the content

Was there any part of the workshop you would have liked to spend more time on?

Is there anything you think would make a future workshop more helpful for participants?

Thank you for your participation!