Family Trainees in LEND
Barriers, Strategies and Successes
Fran D. Goldfarb USC UCEDD, CATerri Abrams, Rochester Center, NY
Anne Bradford Harris, Waisman Center, WI
Ruth Roberts, Boling Center, TN
LEND Family Discipline Workgroup Fran Goldfarb, USC, CA,
Chair Becky Adelmann, OHSU Darla Cohen, IN Sheryl Feuer, OH Audrey Koertvelyessy,
HRSA Paula Lalinde,FL Barbara Levitz,
Westchester, NY Jan Moss, OK Elaine Ogburn, VA Crystal Pariseau, AUCD Madhavi Reddy, HRSA
Ruth Roberts, TN Laurel Ryan, TN Mark Smith, NE Denise Sofka, HRSA Barbara Wagner, WI Mark Wolraich, OK Jackie Yingling, Rochester,
NY
Wow! Wow!
Agenda Introduction Common Thread for Success: A LEND Family
Trainee’s Perspective on a Clinical Mentorship Family Trainees in LEND Overview Panel Comments
Fran Goldfarb Anne Bradford Harris Ruth Roberts
LEND from the Trainees Perspective Teri Abrams
Common Thread for Success:
A LEND Family Trainee’s Perspective on a Clinical Mentorship
Terri Abrams, LEND Family TraineeJackie Yingling, LEND Family Discipline CoordinatorLiz Baltus-Hebert, Occupational Therapy Discipline
CoordinatorSCDD LEND, Rochester, NY
Typical Mentoring Experience
Trainee in a professional discipline is linked with a family to shadow over a period of time, with the intent of identifying strengths, and to gain an increased understanding and appreciation of how families cope, access supports, and share resources
What happens when a Family Trainee is looking for a different kind of experience?
Family Trainee and Family Discipline Coordinator design a new kind of mentoring experience utilizing the same objectives, format, and resulting formal class presentation
The ProcessFamily Trainee linked with a
professional discipline coordinator from the SCDD/LEND program
Family Trainee researched different professional disciplines and chose Occupational Therapy as a discipline she would like to know more about
Occupational Therapy Discipline Coordinator is open to the experience
From the perspective of the clinical supervisor
Why OT??? Designed an ITP to meet
Terri’s interests, skills and needs
No specific skills to teach or knowledge to transfer as with an OT trainee
I offered opportunities so that her experiences would be as diverse as possible
Widened Terri’s perspective on what constitutes a family: foster family, inner city family, single parent
Their needs were as diverse as the families themselves
What did I give to the experience?
Thoughts about what might be most beneficial for Terri to experience
Examination of my schedule, caseload to identify opportunities for those experiences
Notify Terri of the opportunities, allow her to choose which she would like to observe
Ask families’ permission
What did I gain from the experience?
Observations from the perspective of a parent of a child with special needs
A second set of eyes and ears and hands A sounding board for problem solving Affirmation that my intervention was
worthwhile
Early Intervention The system through which children from
Birth to age 3 with developmental disabilities receive supports and services.
Established by the IDEA. In NY funded and administered through
the county health department.
Occupational Therapy Occupational therapy is the art and science of directing an
individual's participation in selected tasks to restore, reinforce, and enhance performance; facilitate learning of those skills and functions essential for adaptation and productivity; diminish or correct pathology; and promote and maintain health.
Its fundamental concern is the development and maintenance of the capacity throughout the life span to perform with satisfaction to self and others those tasks and roles essential to productive living and to the mastery of self and the environment.
Since the primary focus of occupational therapy is the development of adaptive skills and performance capacity, its concern is with factors that promote, influence, or enhance performance as well as those that serve as barriers or impediments to the individuals ability to function.
Occupational Therapy Occupational therapy provides service to those individuals
whose abilities to cope with tasks of living are threatened or impaired by developmental deficits, the aging process, poverty and cultural differences, physical injury or illness, or psychological and social disability.
Occupational therapy serves a diverse population in a variety of settings such as hospitals and clinics, rehabilitation facilities, long-term care facilities, extended care facilities, sheltered workshops, schools and camps, private homes, and community agencies. Occupational therapists both receive from and make referrals to appropriate health, educational, or medical specialists. Delivery of occupational therapy services involves several levels of personnel including the certified therapist, the certified occupational therapy assistant, and aides.
Definition from: www.sunyjcc.edu/college-wide/ota/index.
“We need to support each child and family where they are…use our knowledge and resources to
support them and their priorities.”Liz Baltus Hebert
VisitsR family suburban 2 parents Ext. family,
advocacy, vision, persistence
3 young children, disability, help, skills, info
J family urban 2 parents Caring, stable, church, support each other
SES, education,System help, info, skills, schedule
D family urban Parents apart Grandmother, service opportunity
Maturity, stability, education, custody, help, skills
Andrews Center
foster nuns Stable, competent, loving, involve parents
Funding, hands-on help, information
Joys and Frustrations Variety Different strengths
and hopes Fun to watch the
children learn and grow.
The system When kids lose
because people can’t get what they need
When personal values conflict with a family’s.
Disability(Family) Each family and
individual is unique. Each has gifts and
needs of their own. Culture, SES, etc. all
play a role. Disability is a variable
and even varying factor.
Support Must be
individualized. Contributes: skills,
information, strategies, or help.
Often must be interdisciplinary.
Must be respectful.
Increased Resilience Improved situation. New skills or strategies. A sense of being understood or validated. Additional resources. An enhanced sense of security or confidence.
"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places."
-- Ernest Hemingway
Family Trainees in LEND N=28 programs
Yes- 18 (64%) No- 8 (29%) Uncertain- 2 (7%)
Number of Years 1-2 years – 9 (50%) 3-4 years – 6 (33%) Over 4years – 3 (range from 5-11
years) (17%) Number of Family Trainees per year
1 trainee = 7 1-2 trainees =3 2–3 trainees = 3
Barriers to Establishing None/Very Few = 7 Funding Enrollment in
University Minimum Educational
Requirements Curriculum Supervision Class Schedule Recruitment Materials
Strategies for Establishing Develop program and budget funds Program out of a hospital – not subject to
University requirements Funding from same stipend pool as other
disciplines Trainees in other disciplines who are also
parents Clear trainee qualifications and requirements
Strategies for Establishing Trainee Recruitment
Work with advocacy groups to publicize program Cast a wide net Have former trainees help Look for trainees already involved in the field Recruit year round
Allow two year fellowships Collaboration with Parent-to-Parent and local
Children's Services Council
Barriers for Maintaining No/Very Few – 7 Family Crises Trainee Recruitment Balancing LEND and
Family (and Work) English as a second
language Academic Support Dropping Out
Strategies for Maintaining Application included questions regarding barriers
to participation and need for accommodation Support/Partnering from other fellows Allow two year fellowships LEND activities that focus on leadership and
advocacy Support from Employer Accommodations on assignments and due dates
Successes Trainees have taken positions with other
family support agencies Identified by People Magazine as a Local
Hero Became Parent Faculty Increased networking with other national disability leaders and professionals
WI MCH LEND, Waisman Center, UW-Madison
LEND Co-Director – Anne Bradford Harris
UCEDD Director- Daniel BierFamily Faculty – Barbara Wagner
Family Trainees since 2005/06
(3 years)
UT Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities
Family Faculty: UCEDD/LEND Director Fred Palmer Training Director – Ruth Roberts Family Faculty – Laurel Ryan Memphis
Knoxville
Tennessee
USC
UCEDD at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Training Director: Patrice Yasuda
LEND Director: Marion Taylor Baer
Family Faculty: Fran Goldfarb
Family Trainees since 1995/96 (12 years)