What the Joneses Taught Me

1. What the Joneses Taught Me Carrie Davenport, Center for Outreach Services, Ohio School for the Deaf Barbara Raimondo, Parent Consultant, Gallaudet University Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, Professor of Education, Gallaudet University EHDI Conference 2007 Salt Lake City, Utah

2. Gallaudet University Family Centered Early Education Program (FCEE) • Prepares specialists to work with children who are deaf or hard of hearing from birth through five years of age and their families. • M.A. degree in Deaf Education with Specialization in FCEE • Special Education/Deaf and Hard of Hearing and CED Certification

3. Barriers to Family-Centered Approach • Tradition of child-focus services • Professional attitudes • Lack of administrative support • Lack of family interest or skills • Professionals lack training • Lack of clear understanding • Roush, J., Harrison, M., Palsha, S. (1991). Family-centered early intervention: The perceptions of professionals. AAD.

4. Family-Centered is…. • Focus on children within the context of their families • Recognizes family supports, strengths, and cultural perspectives • Enhances family well-being and promote competence • Commitment to equal collaboration with families and their communities • Research underscores the effectiveness of family-centered approaches on child outcomes

5. Gallaudet University Family Centered Early Education Program (FCEE) • Course Work • Field Experiences • Parent Panels • Workshops and Seminars • Conferences • Family Match

6. Family Match Students/Families • What is Family Matching? • Overall Goal: For students to learn from families through the eyes of the family • Students • Families

7. Family Matching Student Objectives • At the end of the 30 hour/three semester match period, student will be able to: • Describe family interactions during a “typical” day • From observing family’s perspective, identify professionals’ approaches and actions that support/do not support families • Reflect on the importance of families’ culture, community, and other factors and their relevance to families’ decision-making • Reflect on own actions, values, and beliefs to assess and plan growth as a professional

8. Family Matching Requirements • Time: 10 hours per semester over a three semester period/30 hours • Logs: Students maintain logs of all visits • Journals: For feedback from Parent Consultant. Description of activity, perceptions, and other impressions • Confidentiality:High level professionalism and confidentiality

9. Preparing Students • Parent Consultant • Experienced Students • Family Therapist • Active Listening Skills • Role Plays • Confidentiality Issues • Professionalism

10. Carrie’s Experience • Family members • Hearing loss • Activities • Family Culture and attitudes

11. What Carrie Learned • Don’t judge - let people make their own decisions • Be flexible - expect the unexpected! • Listen • I don’t need to have all the answers • Explore my own family and its impact • Family culture is specific to that family

12. Student Comments • “I enjoyed getting to know families on a personal level . . .” • “I feel like part of the entire experience is experiencing what parents of think of professionals and how they treat them. Part of it is knowing how to respond to families – how to be supportive – not biased – how to be encouraging and not rigid . . .” • “ . . . This was the best part of the FCEE program. Real life experiences are the best way to learn.”

13. Student Comments • “[The child’s] mom said she was very impressed tonight. She said that this is the first time she’s seen him really try and have a conversation. He was talking to me all night, explaining his toys, noticing it was dark and telling me that when it gets dark he takes a bath and then goes to sleep, etc. Mom said this is very new and she’s never seen him do it before. I was very impressed with the level of conversation as well, especially for a 2 year old.” • “All I can say about getting into the minivan and watching the parents strap the kids in is WOW. It seemed to take a lot of energy to get going in the morning.” • “Sometimes the issues involve communication and sometimes they have nothing to do with communication and have everything to do with the fact that the child is a two year old.”

14. Parent Comments • (From a family that had several students) “My children loved all of the students . . .” • “It was good to have someone around who understood deafness.” • “I was hoping she would be more direct with me in asking any questions she may have in her mind about anything . . .” • “We plan to stay in touch.”

15. Student Comments “This has been a great semester where I have had a lot of different experiences with families and I feel like there is so much to be learned from each individual family. As a teacher your initial tendency is to want to help the family “fix” what they are doing wrong. It’s ironic, the more time I spend with the family the more I respect what they are doing and the decisions that they are making. Do I believe that the decisions are always the best? No. Do I think they are always developmentally appropriate? No. But it works for that family, and the child is happy and healthy. What else could you want from a family?”