Serving Minority Children in Rural Settings : A Personal Perspective / Kathryn Clark Gerken.

Minority children in rural settings have limited access to educational and economic resources. School psychologists, with commitments to several rural schools, may have difficulty getting to know minority children and to understand their diverse needs. School psychologists specifically trained to work in rural settings consider their major problems to be little understanding of the school psychologist's role by parents, teachers, and administrators, and a lack of understanding about exceptional children by parents and school personnel. There is a need to deal with biases and values and to develop a plan to minimize the effects of value differences on services to children. Reevaluation of minority children once diagnosed as mentally retarded is often necessary. Resistance from children can be lessened by learning about their background, interests, and concerns; by listening to them; and even by visiting their homes. Although school nurses, teachers, speech clinicians, and other personnel can often help the school psychologist to improve conditions for minority children, decreasing resistance from teachers and administrators is often a slow process. Effective service to minority children in rural settings demands that the school psychologist take time to learn from the children and the setting. (NRB)

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