IYC Articles - CommentsReaders' comments on Ann P. Kaiser's “Teaching Parents New Skills to Support Their Young Children’s Development”Dear ISEI Members, Thanks so much to all of you who participated in the Infants and Young Children Articles and Comments Page on the ISEI Website. The questions and comments for Ann Kaiser’s article with Terry Hancock entitled “Teaching Parents New Skills to Support Their Young Children’s Development” and Ann’s responses (in CAPS) can be found below. Please note that two new articles have been placed on the Current IYC Articles. All previous articles will continue to be available by accessing the “IYC Previous Articles (pdfs) & Comments.” Best regards Mike Guralnick COMMENTS FROM WEB PAGE WITH ANN P. KAISER’S REPLIES FOLLOWING (IN CAPS): It seems like your checklist would be more family freindly
if instead of a score of poor to excellent it had two columns, one
for "keep it up you do that really well" observations, and "suggestions
for improvement". (2/16/2003) Did you encouter barriers in instances where parents insisted on wanting to have one on one therapy because they doctor prescribed it? How did you introduce the concept of the parent being the lead in the intervention? (1/30/2003) WE HAVE RARELY HAD PARENTS EXPRESS CONCERNS. WE EMPHASIZE THAT A TRAINER WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH THE PARENT, SHARE EXPERTISE AND INFORMATION ETC. WE TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILIES AS FIRST TEACHERS AND GENERALIZATION AS A KEY ISSUE FOR CHILDREN WITH LANGUAGE DELAYS. This is an interesting and important program. Thanks for sharing it with members of ISEI. (1/16/2003) THANKS FOR YOU KIND COMMENTS. Many times we give families what we call choices while sending the message "but if you love your child you will do it this way." How can this option be presented without sending that message? (1/15/2003) IT IS IMPORTANT TO GIVE PARENTS A CHOICE. SOME PARENTS WOULD NOT CHOOSE THIS APPROACH. STRONG CLINICAL SKILLS AND AN ETHIC OF CARING BY PARENT TRAINERS ARE ESSENTIAL. THE PARENT ALWAYS HAS THE FINAL CHOICE. How important is parent motivation for this to be successful? (1/15/2003) PARENT MOTIVATION IS IMPORTANT, BUT WE HAVE WORKED SUCCESSFULLY WITH PARENTS FROM VERY DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS. IF THE PARENT IS WILLING TO SHOW UP, THEN WE CAN BE SUCCESSFUL IN TEACHING THEM THE SKILLS TO SUPPORT THE CHILD'S LANGUAGE. SOMETIMES PARENTS GET MORE MOTIVATED AFTER THEY HAVE SOME SUCCESS AND SEE THEIR CHILD'S PROGRESS. How would a "teaching parent" approach work in cultures where parents believe that "internal factors" are most important for language to develop? (1/14/2003) I DON'T HONESTLY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS. EVEN WITHIN CULTURES WHICH VALUE INTERNAL FACTORS, PARENTS MIGHT BE CHARACTERIZED AS ESSENTIAL "CONTAINERS" FOR THE CHILD'S HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT OR AS CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING/ENHANCING THE CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND PRESSING THIS PROGRAM ON FAMILIES THAT FELT THE CORE ASSUMPTIONS WERE NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THEM. Back to IYC Articles - Previously published in association with ISEI |