Received: from imo19.mx.aol.com (imo19.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.9]) by csf.Colorado.EDU (8.8.5/8.8.4/CNS-4.1p-nh) with ESMTP id RAA11266 for ; Sun, 15 Nov 1998 17:39:18 -0700 (MST) From: VLeiter@aol.com Received: from VLeiter@aol.com by imo19.mx.aol.com (IMOv16.10) id DITAa04680 for ; Sun, 15 Nov 1998 19:39:01 +1900 (EST) Message-ID: Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1998 19:39:01 EST To: MEDSOC@csf.colorado.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: No Subject Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Cindy, Your question struck a chord in me. I'm looking at the relationship between practitioners in Early Intervention programs (which serve infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities), and the parents of the children who are served. The staff are physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, nurses, etc. They do a great deal of emotional work with parents, but often they have not been prepared to do it through their training. The focus of their work and training is on the children, not the parents. Here are a few references on this, if you think that the match is close enough: - Walker, B. and Singer, G.H.S. 1993. Improving Collaborative Communication Between Professionals and Parents. In G.H.S. Singer and L.E. Powers (Eds.), Families, Disability and Empowerment: Active Coping Skills and Strategies for Family Interventions (pp. 285-315). - Bailey, D.B., Jr., Palsha, S.A., and Simeonsson, R. J. 1991. Professional Skills, Concerns, and Perceived Importance of Work with Families in Early Intervention. Exceptional Children, 58, 156-165. -Summers, J.A. et al. 1990. Examining the Individualized Family Service Plan Process: What are Family and Practioner Preferences? Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 10, 78-99. Renee Anspach's book on Neonatal Infant Care Units (Deciding Who Lives) might also be of help. Best wishes, Valerie Leiter