Friday Feature: Collaborating With Parents in Using Effective Strategies to Reduce Children’s Challenging Behaviors

Friday Feature: "Collaborating With Parents in Using Effective Strategies to Reduce Children’s Challenging Behaviors" (Fettig, Schultz, & Ostrosky, 2013) from the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Young Exceptional Children journal

The authors describe principles of partnership with families, including communication, respect, trust, commitment, and equality (p. 32); discuss how to understand challenging behaviors, provide examples of the three components of a behavior support plan (prevention strategies, new skills to teach, and responses to challenging behavior - see the helpful chart on p. 35).

The principle on equality, defined as "sharing power, fostering empowerment, and providing options to families" (p. 32; see chart) was a great reminder!

Question for us to reflect on:
To what extent do we "share power" with families when collaborating to support children's positive behaviors?

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Read more by accessing the article on the web: http://journals.sagepub.com/d…/full/10.1177/1096250612473127
 
Remember, Division for Early Childhood (DEC) members can access YEC articles for free!

Not a DEC member? See membership information here.

Tuesday Tidbit: DEC Recommended Practices

Tuesday Tidbit from the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) Recommended Practices with Embedded Examples document (2016):

Photo credits: Division for Early Childhood

Strand: ENVIRONMENT

"E3: Practitioners work with the family and other adults to modify and adapt the physical, social, and temporal environments to promote each child’s access to and participation in learning experiences."

Examples:

• "The itinerant early childhood special education teacher works with a childcare provider to modify transitions in the childcare setting by posting a visual schedule of the daily routine.
• A developmental specialist works with family members to find resources to modify their home so their child who uses a walker can move easily from place to place.
• An early childhood teacher modifies a popular board game (e.g., he adds an easy to grasp foam handle to game pieces) so that a child who has difficulty grasping can access and play the game with classroom peers."

(DEC, 2016, p. 15)

Question to think about:
How do you promote ACCESS to and PARTICIPATION in learning experiences in early intervention? 

Please comment below!

Download the Recommended Practices with Embedded Examples here: http://www.dec-sped.org/dec-recommended-practices

DEC Recommended Practices: Assessment

Most, if not all of you following Division for Early Childhood (DEC) are aware about the DEC Recommended Practices document... but did you know that in 2016 DEC released an RP document with examples?

This is a great tool to use to guide your interactions with your children, families, colleagues, teams, and communities. Here's an example under the ASSESSMENT strand:

"A3: Practitioners use assessment materials and strategies that are appropriate for the child’s age and level of development and accommodate the child’s sensory, physical, communication, cultural, linguistic, social, and emotional characteristics.

Examples:

• An early interventionist incorporates the child’s use of an alternative communication system into all interactions and observations for the purpose of administering an assessment.
• The early intervention team agrees to do individual assessments across a few days and times based on the family’s feedback that their child becomes overwhelmed by groups of people.
• A physical therapist observes a child with a physical disability using his mobility device and adaptive equipment while being assessed in the area of physical development."

(DEC, 2016, p.11)

Think about it:
What are other EI examples you can think of that align with A3? 

Please comment below!

Download the official Recommended Practices with Examples document at https://divisionearlychildhood.egnyte.com/dl/NRAghl7roM