Head Heart Hands

1. Head Heart Hands

2. Consultation and CollaborationWhat does it all mean??? • There have been major changes for families and their children in our society over the last few decades •  Families have become more diverse in their structure and background •  There are more families with multiple and complex needs. •  Parenting young children has become a more complex and more stressful business for many families •  There are less resources including specialist support to support these families (Carpenter, 2005 and Moore,2008 )

3. Increase in numbers of childrenwith complex needs •  With technological progress and developments in medical practice, the survival rates of neonates is increasing. •  Only 22% of children born at 25 weeks and under will have no disability at age 6 with 46% having a moderate to severe level of disability. • (Carpenter,2005)

4. Increase in the Rate of DiagnosedAutism • Over recent years there has been a major still unexplained rise in the rate of diagnosed autism. • Part of the explanation for this is to be found in better ascertainment and a broadening of the diagnostic concept. However this does not explain the rapid rise in diagnosed Autism. • In Australia, Aspect says 1 in a 160 children are on the ASD spectrum.

5. Widespread acceptanceof inclusion • There have also been major changes and a widespread acceptance of the inclusion and full participation of children with disabilities in all aspects of life including early childhood settings and mainstream schools • (Foreman, 2008).

6. What is our job here? • There is clearly no longer any doubt about whether inclusion for children with disabilities and complex needs is feasible the question is how one can design programs to maximise their effectiveness • Adapted from Guralnick, 2005.

7. Challenge? What just one more wafer thin challenge??? • One of the challenges of serving children in inclusive settings is the increased number of key players and the need and difficulty of coordinating the services and communication among them. • Inclusion will require ongoing collaboration and team work and new ways of working (Foreman 2008)

8. Collaboration…Do I have the skills????

9. The Three Biggies •  Collaboration – working together in teams and collaborative partnerships •  Consultation - a move away from more traditional expert ‘hands on’ models to more indirect models such as collaborative consultation. •  Communication - improved communication skills and relationship building

10. It looks easy but… • Research has shown that practitioners are not adequately trained or prepared to work with adults and other practitioners either working in: •  the consultant’s role (special education teachers and therapists) or as •  the consultee (parents, teachers and teacher’s aides) • (Buysse & Wesley, 2007).

11. Meeting needs… ‘If the complex needs of families today are to be met, a coordinated and coherent approach is necessary. This approach requires new ways of working that are neither multidisciplinary nor interdisciplinary but are trans-disciplinary’ • (Carpenter, 2005, p.31).

12. Barriers…

13. Are you ready for a partnership?? • Bruder (2000) stated the ‘most important reason for the lack of implementation of family centred early intervention may be the attitudes of those in early intervention who still see themselves as expert’ and the family as the ‘client’. • Bundy, A. (2008) The Therapy Services in the Disability Sector: Literature Review

14. But guess what??? We are back to the beginning of the cycle… • Know yourself first… • Tutorials will look more deeply at the skills and the processes for collaboration in order to best support the learning of students with special/complex learning needs

15. References •  Bundy, A. (2008) The Therapy Services in the Disability Sector: Literature Review. NSW • Department of Ageing, Disability & Home Care. •  Buysse, V. & Wesley,P.(2007). Consultation in early childhood settings. Paul H Brookes • Publishing, Marylands. •  Buysse, V. & Wesley,P.(2008). Consultation in early childhood settings. Workshop National • Early Childhood Conference, Sydney. •  Carpenter, B. (2005), Real prospects for early childhood intervention: Family aspirations and • professional implications. In Carpenter, B. & Egerton, J. (Eds.), Early Childhood Intervention. • International Perspectives, National Initiatives And Regional Practice. West Midlands SEN • Regional Partnership. Great Britain. •  Cook, R.; Klein,M. & Tessier, A. (2008). Adapting early childhood curricula with special • needs. Pearson, Merrill, Prentice Hall, USA. •  Coben, S.; Thomas,C.; Sattler,R. & VoelkerMorsink (1997) Meeting the challenge of • consultation and collaboration: Developing interactive teams. Journal of Learning Disabilities. • V 30, Number 4 July /August •  Davies, S (2007). Team Around the Child: Working together in early childhood intervention. • Quick Print: WaggaWagga, Australia •  Guralnick, M. J. (2005), The Developmental Systems Approach to Early Intervention, Paul H. • Brookes Publishing Co, Baltimore, Maryland. •  Foreman, P. (2008). Inclusion in Action. Cengage Learning Australia •  Hanft, B.; Rush, D. & Sheldon,M.(2004).Coaching families and colleagues in early childhood. • Paul H Brookes; Baltimore. •  Honey, P. & Mumford, A. (2000). The learning styles helper's guide. Maidenhead: Peter • Honey Publications Ltd. •  Kolb D. (1984). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development. • Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. •  Kolb D. (1999). The Kolb Learning Style Inventory, Version 3. Boston: Hay Group. •  Moore, T. (2007). Early Childhood Intervention Coordination - Project Professional • Development Project. Centre for Community Health, Melbourne •  Moore, T (2008). Beyond the evidence: Building universal services from the ground up. • Pauline McGregor Memorial Address, ECIA National Conference. Sydney. •  Spedding, S.(2008) The role of teachers in successful inclusion. In Foreman, P. (2008). • Inclusion in Action. Cengage Learning Australia