Hello and Welcome.  Each month The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore, Ltd. will provide articles of interest and updates on areas that our office deals with on a regular basis.  We appreciate and welcome feedback, so please feel free to send us an email at mickim@lawforchild.com with questions or suggestions.

 

The Top Ten Ways to Improve your Communication and Effectiveness in Advocating for your Child.

I am frequently privy to e-mail or other correspondence between schools and parents. Often, I am reading these when things have deteriorated between the parents and staff. Rarely do parents visit our office when things are going well. I spent the morning today reading e-mails between school staff and parents that required me to read them several times to figure out what the other was saying. This isn't because of my difficulties with reading but because the message was getting lost in translation. It was nearly impossible to discern the parents or the school's position on the various issues. This is not uncommon and leads to misunderstanding and animosity. In an effort to help, I thought I would add my input and advice about communications in a bullet point form.

1. Use a font that is normal size.
2. Outline what it is that you want to convey. Pick only 4-5 key points. Pick Your Battles.
3. Prioritize what you want and what  your concerns are before sending the email. Think big picture. Don't get lost in the details.
4. Avoid a critical or abusive tone. If you are upset, sleep on it. Don't send an email in the heat of anger. 
5. Say something positive even if it is hard to locate that point.
6. Pick a key person to email. I typically advise parents to send their concerns to the Special Education Director.
7. Don't over communicate. People stop listening.
8. If it is a very serious situation that involves safety, mental health or other concerns that are out of the ordinary, pick up the phone. Arrange to meet.
9. Review your email before sending.
10. Ask for a response by a certain date.  

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The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore is a unique legal practice that specializes in providing legal services to families and children in the areas of special education, IEP consultations, divorce and custody, parenting agreements, mediation, guardianship and juvenile law, including criminal law, DCFS and mental health. Where possible, we have initiated flat fee billing for appropriate matters.

 

The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore 

1950 Sheridan Rd.

Suite 201

Highland Park, IL 60035 

 

For more information about The Child and Family Law Center of the North Shore, please call 847-926-0101 or visit our website at www.lawforchild.com