Family Trainees in LEND Barriers, Strategies and Successes

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Family Trainees in LENDBarriers, Strategies and
Successes

• Fran D. Goldfarb USC UCEDD, CA
• Terri Abrams, Rochester Center, NY
• Anne Bradford Harris, Waisman Center, WI
• Ruth Roberts, Boling Center, TN

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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!
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Agenda

• Introduction
• Common Thread for Success A LEND Family
  Trainees 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

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Common Thread for Success

• A LEND Family
• Trainees Perspective
• on a Clinical Mentorship
• Terri Abrams, LEND Family Trainee
• Jackie Yingling, LEND Family Discipline
  Coordinator
• Liz Baltus-Hebert, Occupational Therapy
  Discipline Coordinator
• SCDD LEND, Rochester, NY

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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

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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

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The Process

• Family 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

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From the perspective of the clinical supervisor

• Why OT???
• Designed an ITP to meet Terris interests, skills
  and needs
• No specific skills to teach or knowledge to
  transfer as with an OT trainee

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• I offered opportunities so that her experiences
  would be as diverse as possible
• Widened Terris perspective on what constitutes a
  family foster family, inner city family, single
  parent
• Their needs were as diverse as the families
  themselves

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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

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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

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LEND Clinical Presentation

• Terri Abrams
• 2007

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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.

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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.

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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.

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• We need to support each child and family where
  they areuse our knowledge and resources to
  support them and their priorities.
• Liz Baltus Hebert

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Visits
R 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
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Joys and Frustrations

• Variety
• Different strengths and hopes
• Fun to watch the children learn and grow.

• The system
• When kids lose because people cant get what they
  need
• When personal values conflict with a familys.

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So what is the common thread? (And the formula
for success?)
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• Disability(Family) Support
• Increased Resilience

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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.

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Support

• Must be individualized.
• Contributes skills, information, strategies, or
  help.
• Often must be interdisciplinary.
• Must be respectful.

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Appropriate support is like new sneakers

• Now I can run faster and jump higher!

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Increased Resilience

• Improved situation.
• New skills or strategies.
• A sense of being understood or validated.
• Additional resources.
• An enhanced sense of security or confidence.

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• Families are sometimes overwhelmed but they can
  do so many thingsincredible things!
• Liz

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• "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are
  stronger at the broken places."  
• --  Ernest Hemingway

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Family Trainees in LENDBarriers, Strategies and
Successes
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Family Trainees in LEND

• N28 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
• 23 trainees 3

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Barriers to Establishing

• None/Very Few 7
• Funding
• Enrollment in University
• Minimum Educational Requirements
• Curriculum
• Supervision
• Class Schedule
• Recruitment Materials

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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

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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

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Strategies for Establishment
Flexibility on Everyones Part
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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

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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

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Strategies for Establishment
Flexibility on Everyones Part
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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

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Successes
Graduated just like everyone else
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Panel Presentation
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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)
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• UT Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities
• Family Faculty
• UCEDD/LEND Director
• Fred Palmer
• Training Director
• Ruth Roberts
• Family Faculty
• Laurel Ryan

Tennessee
Knoxville
Memphis
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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)
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Strong Center for Developmental
Disabilities University of RochesterGolisano
Children's Hospital at Strong Training/LEND
Director Stephen Sulkes Family Faculty Jackie
Yingling Family Trainees since 2006/07 (2 years)