MYRA BETH BUNDY, PH.D. DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY Sharing Developmental Concerns with Parents What professionals are in our audience today? .. Physicians? .. Social Workers? .. Psychologists? .. Teachers? .. Speech-Language Pathologists? .. Occupational Therapists? .. School Counselors? .. Others? Helping Families Listen to and Work With Feedback about their Children Why can this be a challenge for families? We have to respect the parenting experience they may be facing… We have to listen too… Families may be hoping… Research on the Parenting Experience Review of Current Research on Parents of Children with Autism (Pisula et al., 2003) • Profound stress experience • Stress Profile – Atypical Child Behaviors – Lack of Knowledge about Child’s Problems and Developmental Challenges Research on the Parenting Experience .. There are a few studies looking at the positives of autism parenting…(Kayfitz, Gragg & Orr, 2010) .. Parents with less parenting stress reported more positive experiences ¡. Sample experiences ÷. Learning through challenges ÷. Source of happiness and fulfillment ÷. Source of strength and family closeness Helping Families Listen What approach is a good match for a particular family? • Have a set of possible approaches • Know your family • Watch and Listen for cues. What is this family’s style? Helping Families Listen .. Begin and end your discussion on a positive note .. What are child’s strengths, things he does well? What Content? .. What has taken place in the assessment process (even if informal) .. What conclusions you have reached .. Why? .. Important for family and child to ask questions .. Important for family and child to provide information ¡. either to confirm or disagree Summarizing Where to Go from Here .. Ways Forward ¡. The most important part of the contact .. Leave on a Positive Note .. Brief and Clear Plan for Next Steps Wonderful CDC “Tips” Sheet .. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/ parents_pdfs/TipsTalkingParents.pdf CDC “Tips” Suggests 2 Alternatives .. 1. You suspect a child has developmental differences, but parent seems unaware .. 2. Parent approaches you with concerns Parent seems unaware .. Good afternoon, Ms. Jones. We love having Taylor in class. He really enjoys story time and follows directions well. He is working hard on coloring but is having a difficult time and gets frustrated. I have also noticed a few things about Taylor’s social skills that I would like to discuss with you. Do you have a few minutes? [Cite specific behaviors and when they occurred.] .. Have you noticed any of these at home? Parent seems unaware .. Ms. Jones, I know this is hard to talk about, and I maybe over-reacting, but I think it would also be a goodidea to talk to Taylor’s doctor about this in the next fewweeks. You can take this information with you whenyou go. The doctor can give Taylor a “developmentalscreening” which can answer some questions about hisprogress and whether you need to do anything else. Maybe there is no problem, but getting help early canmake a big difference if there is, so it’s really importantto find out for sure. Let me know if you need anythingfrom me for that doctor’s appointment! .. Thank you for agreeing to talk with me today. We’ll alldo our best to help Taylor. He is a great kid! Parent Approaches You .. Mrs. Smith, you wanted to speak with me privately about Taylor? .. [Listen to her concerns. See if she has noticed the same behaviors you have, and share examples that are the same as or different from hers.] .. I am glad to know we are both on the same page. I have some information that might help you when you’re watching Taylor at home this week. This fact sheet shows the developmental milestones for his age. Each child develops at his or her own pace, so Taylor might not have met all these milestones; it’s worth taking a closer look. Let’s meet again next [set a date] after you’ve had time to read this and think about it. Parent Approaches You .. I also think it would be a good idea to talk to Taylor’s doctor about this in the next few weeks. You can take this information with when you go. The doctor can give Taylor a “developmental screening” which can answer some questions about his progress and whether you need to do anything else. Let me know if you need anything from me for that doctor’s appointment. Thank you for talking with me today. We’ll all do our best to help Taylor. He is a great kid! Let’s evaluate the CDC’s scripts… What do you think? Additional CDC Little Tips .. Use fact sheets .. Discuss specific behaviors .. Make it a discussion, not a lecture .. Expect that for an oldest or only child, parent may not have experience with milestones .. Remind parent that you care for children and want their child to do their best Another Source… National Association of School Psychologists Listserv From NASP listserve… Delivering News to Parents .. Private discussion, with time for questions .. Use parents’ observations of their child to point out what they already know .. Write down terms used by professionals .. Talk about what child can do and learn (what will they need to help them; what their progress may be) From NASP listserve… Delivering News to Parents .. Acknowledge the child and family as individuals, not category or disability .. Encourage family to educate themselves .. Point out the unique roles that parents play .. Point out importance of caring for selves and relationship of their well being of their child’s What are some of your anxieties or fears about approaching families? .. My examples .. Your ideas .. And…what may be some of their anxieties about working with professionals? Rebecca Grau’s Favorite Websites for Sharing Concerns with Parents .. http://www.cdc.gov/Features/AutismChampion/ .. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/ concerned.html .. http://nichcy.org/babies/overview/ .. https://www.firstsigns.org/concerns/ parent_doc.htm .. https://www.firstsigns.org/concerns/ parent_parent.htm