Consulting Office for Parents With Disabled Children

Introduction

Learning disabilities include a variety of neurologically-based problems that influence a child’s behavior and development. Alone with difficulties with reading, writing, and calculating, children are challenged by poor organizational skills, time planning, and critical thinking due to auditory processing disorder (APD), dyslexia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and other mental diseases. Their parents have to be ready to provide these children with support, understanding, and help. Still, in the majority of cases, parents are those who look for assistance and professional recommendations. Therefore, my business focuses on the creation of a consulting office for parents who have children with learning disabilities.

Main body

My mission statement is to create multiple opportunities for parents who have learning-disabled children through support, education, and collaboration. I want to find several people who share my values and believe that a learning disability is not a challenge but a unique feature of a child that does not scare but motivate a parent. My vision statement includes respect for the uniqueness and the identification of strengths in families with learning-disabled children.

My work is based on career and educational goals chosen during this course, including:

• Strengthen my pedagogical skills to teach learning-disabled students;
• Improve my communication skills during cooperation with parents and colleagues;
• Know how to select models for early childhood education courses and engage students in various learning activities.

There are three key questions that guide my choice to support families where learning disabilities challenge children:

1. How do parents react when their children are diagnosed with a learning disability?
2. What is the main responsibility of parents in regard to their learning-disabled children: to cure, support, educate, or protect?
3. Who (except doctors) can help parents to raise a learning-disabled child?

Nowadays, the current job market contains a number of examples of how learning disabilities can be recognized and treated. There are many private clinics and medical centers, the goal of which is to diagnose a child and develop an effective care plan. Another example is the creation of specialized centers where children with learning disabilities can be educated and developed. Finally, online forums and resource centers are available 24/7 for parents to ask questions, receive oral help, and share recommendations. My goal is to combine the need for education and support and focus not on children only but on parents who are at a loss but inspired to facilitate their children’s life.

Marketing and Implementation

Like any business, my consulting office should be based on strong marketing strategies. I am going to introduce a marketing positioning statement to the world with an intention to improve education and support disabled people. For individuals who understand the uniqueness of learning disabilities and the role of parents in caring for children, our office provides supportive services, training, and cooperation at different levels. This office is not only a team of experts who know how to treat learning disabilities but a place where parents find help and understanding.

The compelling value I want to offer to society is simple but driven by the most sincere intention: “To personal progress with learning disabilities”. The main products are supportive services, including communication, consulting, and training. The target market includes families who have children with learning disabilities. The primary benefit is to offer help to parents but not to learning-disabled children directly. People should pay attention to this office because my goal is not to work with children who have many places to go and receive professional care. My distinctive feature is the recognition of indirect learning disabilities problems among parents. Education, humanism, and support are tightly intertwined within the frames of the chosen business.

Risks and Mitigation

The success of the chosen business depends on the evaluation of family relations and the conditions of parents who raise children with learning disabilities. In this case, there are four major metrics that determine the quality of services offered to clients within the chosen context:

• Profits (the analysis of spent costs and received payments);
• Customers (the number of regular and new customers);
• Brand awareness (feedback of the population about services);
• Additional contributions (participation in charity programs and attention of other companies).

Despite the intentions to achieve success, it is important to identify risk factors (threats and weaknesses) and understand how to mitigate them (strengths and opportunities). SWOT analysis is an integral part of this personal business plan:

Regarding the results of SWOT analysis, such external factors as the presence of potential competitors, the lack of experience, and the impossibility to identify the scope of clients’ needs are the main risk factors. They may affect the success of this consulting office, and clear mitigation strategies are required. Three types of risk mitigation are available:

• avoidance (continuous education and research to eliminate the outcomes of limited experience);
• acceptance (improvement of services and price policies to predict the impact of competitors);
• transference (partnership with local hospitals where families ask for help and get diagnoses).

I have witnessed that many families where children have learning disabilities addressed specialized centers. Children received help and education, and parents enjoyed the assistance of experts. Still, not much attention was paid to concerns, questions, and emotions of parents who have to live and know how to support their learning-disabled children. I learned the most important lesson that parents, like children, may be in need of professional help. Therefore, cooperation with parents and support of their intentions to facilitate the life of disabled children should be promoted.

Ethics and Inspiration

In education and business, there are several integral ethical principles that determine the quality of work and services offered to the population. My desire to found a consulting office for parents who have children with learning disabilities is based on such concepts as responsibility, freedom, fairness, and truthfulness. I want to provide parents with free choices about how to provide their children with care. In addition, respect and clearly defined responsibilities must be underlined, so people understand what kind of help is offered. Finally, fair and trustful relationships should be established to not only educate parents but cooperate as equal. In my life, I have two people who help me choose the right way, my tutor and my father. My tutor is a source of knowledge and an example of how respectful relationships are developed in a particular setting. My father always teaches me to believe in the power of family and support parents and children offer to each other. Learning disabilities should not be considered as a challenge for a family, but another reason for cooperation and recognition of values. My intention is a happy society.