Nursery World - Inclusion: Hard to say

Having conversations with parents about their child’s newly identified additional needs can be difficult. Gabriella Jozwiak looks at best practice and responsibilities for settings

Practitioners should show empathy as well as knowledge, while being nonjudgemental

When delivering a course for practitioners on meeting the needs of children with special educational needs or disability (SEND), National Association for Special Educational Needs education officer (early years) Mandy Wilding includes a poem called Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley.

‘When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like you’re planning a vacation to Italy. You’re all excited,’ it begins. ‘Only when you land …there’s been a change of plan …you’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.’

Reciting poetry is not always appropriate when informing a parent their child has an additional need. But Ms Wilding uses the poem to help practitioners understand how a parent may feel when they discover their child is different from what they believed. ‘It’s an adjustment process,’ says Ms Wilding. ‘We stress empathy rather than sympathy. You’ve got to put yourself in their shoes.’

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