DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 102 778 EC 071 447

AUTHOR Grim, Janet, Ed. TITLE Training to Teach; Four Models. First Chance for Children, Vol. 3. INSTITUTION North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill. Technical Assistance Development System. SPONS AGENCY Bureau of for the Handicapped (DHEW/OE), Washington, D.C. NOTE 88p.; For related information see ED 067 798, 073 581, 082 422, and 093 116; a few pages may reproduce poorly due to color of original copy

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$4.43 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Conceptual Schemes; *Delivery Systems; Demonstration Projects; Exceptional Education; *Handicapped Children; *Individualized Instruction; *Models; * Education; *Parent Role; Education; Program Descriptions; Training Techniques; Transfer of Training IDENTIFIERS Developmental Disabilities; First Chance Network; TADS; Technical Assistance Delivery System

ABSTRACT Described in a monograph published by the Technical Assistance Delivery System (TADS) are the rationale, intake and screening procedures, service delivery, liaison and follow through, and evaluation of parent training models from four preschool demonstration centers for handicapped children. An overview discusses the purposes and dimensions of parent training (social and emotional support, exchange of informationo opportunities for parent participation, and improvement of parent child interactions). The university-affiliated program at the University of Washington, an example of a center-based parent training model, offers short-term, individualized parent training emphasizing home carryover of data keeping and behavior modification programs. Reviewed are three variations of the home-center parent training model: the carryover by parents of school instruction to the home, the teaching of new skills in the home, aid the training of parents as volunteers in the center. Examples of parent lessons and child progress are included. Parent participation in a home-based program is exemplified in the Portage Project model which uses weekly prescriptions guaranteeing success for the parent and child. Finally, the parent implemented preschool model as seen in the Regional Intervention Program in Nashville, Tennessee is described in terms of the individual tutoring, generalization, and classroom training modules. An annotated bibliography of 18 citations is provided- (CL) co

1:2,TRAINING PARENTSTO TEACH FOUR MODELS By David 1. Lillie Rice H. Ha.gden

ALIN, H. D. BudFredricks DEPARTMENTOFWELFARE EDUCATION & OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE EDUCATION Victor L. Baldwin HAS BEENREPRO THIS DOCUMENTAS RECEIVEDFROM DUCED EXACTLY ORIGIN OR ORGANIZATION THE PERSON OF VIEW OROPINIONS David Grove ATING IT POINTS REPRE NECESSARILY OF STATED DO NOTNATIONAL INSTITUTE SENT OFFICIALPOSITION ORPOLICY Marsha S. Shearer EDUCATION Ron Wie±gerink Vince P-arrish Edited by Janet Grim ,Q) first chance forchildtenvolume3

,he in 1968 the enactment of the Handicapped The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped Children's Early Education Act authorized the has as its overall goal the equalization of educa- establishment and operation of model early edu- tional opportunity for handicapped children by cation projects. These hundred projects are col providing the leadership and resources needed lectively referred to as the First Chance Network. to help the handicapped achieve their fullest The responsibility for admin,stering this nElw pro- potential and participate constructively in society gram was accepted by the. Bureau of Education to their maximum abilities. The long-range ob- for the Handicapped, Office of Eckication. The jective of the Handicapped Children's Early Edu- projects are designed to develop a:id demonstrate cation Program is to stimulate services toall effective approaches inassisting handicapped estimated 1,000,000 preschool-aged handicapped children during their early years and are struc- children by 1980. tured so that other commu:lities can replicate, or adopt, exemplary components of the projects to Technical Assistance Development System meet their own meds !n similar projects. (TADS) was established :1 Chapel Hill, N. C. by B.E.H. to provide a wide array of special support services for the network of centers. Some of the services include identifying and providing con- sultants, holding small group workshops, collect. ing and dispensing data about the network, and conferring withindividualcenters andstaffs. Most often, services are offered to First Chance projects in the areas of program planning and evaluation,interventionprograms, community program development, and media and informa- tion. First Chance for Childrenisaseries of monographs published for the First Chance Net- work. The subject matter is drawn from the knowledge, skills, and techniques of the people who work within the First Chance Network and iscollected and published by the Technical Assistance Development System.

This monograph is distributed pursuant to a grant from the Office of Education, U.S. Depart- ment of Health, Education, and Welfare. Grantees undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgmentinprofessional and technical matters. Points of view or opinions do not, there- Managing Editor Rosemary Epting fore, necessarily represent official Office of Edu- Designer Susan Almon cation position or policy. Typist Helen Knight

616 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 Dimensions in Parent Programs: An Overview By David L Lillie

CHAPTER 2 A Center Based Parent Training model 11 By Alice H. Hayden CHAPTER 3A Home-Center Based Parent Training Model27 By H. D. Bud Fredricks Victor L Baldwin David Grove CHAPTER 4 A Home Based Parent Training Model 49 By Marsha S. Shearer CHAPTER 3 A Parent Implemented Preschool Program 65 By Ron Wie_gerink Vince rrish ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 77 WPIER1 Dimensions in Parent Programs:An Overview By David L. Lillie There is no doubt in contemporary thought children. Al of the demonstration programs (more about and early education than one hundred) in this network have parent that the extent of parent and involvement programs. The purpose of this monograph is to is becoming more pervasive. Parents all across provide information that will assist you in con- the country are finding themselves engaged in ceptualizing, planning, and implementing parent activities ranging from listening to a lecture at a programs. Represented in this volume are First parent meeting to making decisions about the Chance projects with exceptionally good parent directionthat achild development program programs from across the country. should take. Why this sudden rush to involve parents and ? Is a high level of parental involvement necessary for the success of i child WHY PARENT AND FAMILY PROGRAMS development program? Are parent-oriented pro- There are a number of good reasons why grams to take the place of child-oriented pro- these and other projects are attPA:ipting to involve grams? What approaches are most successful? parents in their child development efforts. As the Certainly we don't have the answers to all of the numbers of educational programs for young chil- questions that are being raised. But we do have dren have increased rapidly over the last few a substantial base of knowledge to draw on as we years, there has been a mounting awareness of discuss the dimensions of parent and family pro- the need to involve parents in these efforts. Re- grams for the development of young children. search efforts, such as the work of Gray (1970), particularly young children with special problems. Karnes, et. al. (1970), and Livenstein (1970) point One substantial pool of knowledge of parent out that educational efforts in day care centers, programming is the First Chance Network. Offici- nurseries, Head Start centers, and public schools ally known as the Handicapped Children's Early should be augmented with parent training pro- Education Program, this network represents a grams. After an extensive review of the research comprehensive attempt to demonstrate a number literature on infant-mother interaction, Streiss- of educational approaches for young handicapped guth and B (1972) conclude that the teaching I 1 style used by the mother is very important in through fees then through public taxes, parents shaping early motivation and cognitivefunc- should participate in planning activities to assure tioning. that they receive the type of services they want. Unless we develop effective parent programs The gap between parents' expectations and the as a major element of a child development triad services provided by the center or school must of parents, child, and the program, these efforts become as narrow as possible through coopera- are destined to only marginal success. During tion and coordination. the early years of life, a large proportion of what It goes without saying that parents and pro- the young, developing child learns will occur in gram personnel contribute uniquely to the prog- the child's home environment. The parent, partic- ress of the child. Parent and child interaction ularly the child's mother or mother surrogate, must be as productive and adaptive as possible; will be the primary "teacher." This does not parents should be encouraged toprovide an change evenif the child is enrolled in a sub- emotionally warm, secure relationship with their stitute care situation such as a day care center. child, end to reinforce positive behavior. It is interesting to note that Schae:er (1972) Very often when parents recognize the ex- concludes his review of research on the effects istence of problems, they have a tendency to of parent training programs by stating that these focus on those concerns and to ignore the more types of programs do provide an effective supple- positive aspects of we child's functioning. In ment or even an alternative for pre-school edu- doing this, they may overlook normal aspects of cation. It is logical to assume that unless there the child's development. When parents notice is planned consistency between the center's edu- that a child is having difficulty in accepting ap- cational program and the experiences taking propriate limits or discipline, they may feel the place in the home environment, the experience youngster is not developing an adequate respect provided in the center program may have little forauthority and may become apprehensive effect on the child's development. Communica- about the possibility of serious consequences tion between parents and program staff is im- during and later life. They may not portant not onlyfor coordinationof training notice the times when the child's behavior is between home and center, but also to provide the quite appropriate or they may not respond to that staff with valuable information about each child behavior. To the contrary, they may be constantly and how he is developing in the home. If parents on guard for misbehavior and may even set up will relate their observations of the child's be- artificial situations in which they attempt to exert havior in the home to the center staff,more authority. meaningful activities can be planned for the In most child development programs, there child within the center or school. is a lot of similarity between program and parents' It is being more widely acknowledged that the needs. Both are concerned with tne optimal de- parents of children in child development centers velopment of the child in all dimensionsphysi- are one of the primary consumers of services cal,emotional, intellectual, and interpersonal. As consumers who are paying fora service, if nct Both aim at the child's reaching the highest pos- ;i 2 10 sible level of adaptation. The program needs the The birth of a child into a family is by itself parents' cooperation and assistance in a variety a potential life crisis. In a discussion of the need of ways; and parents need support, advice, direc- to attend to emotional and social needs of par- tion, and information from the program personnel. ents, Enzer (1973) stresses the potential for crisis None of this can be accomplished unless there is in the family and the crucial role the center staff a close, compatible working relationship between in supporting the parents as an ii.dividual. the program staff and the family. As parents strive to fulfill their role success- In conclusions there are two general pur- fully there arise many self doubts, resentment of, poses for providing viable parent programs in and confrontations with the child. It is quite evi- early childhood education: to improve the center's dent that one focus :n parent programs should ability in providing effective services to children be on meeting the parent's emotional and social through their parents and to provide a supportive needs of this kind. system for parentsinaccepting therole as A few parents, because of prior emotional parent and fulfilling their personal needs as difficulties or lack of emotional support, may be individuals. overwhelmed by their feelings. These parents may not be relieved by venting their feelings and may DIMENSIONS OF PARENT PROGRAMS need additional professional help. However, the There are at least four major conceptual sincere teacher or child worker who listens care- areasinplanning parent programs that you fully can give adequate support to most parents. should consider ina precise and systematic Often the objective in this area is to increase in manner: supporting parents emotionally, exchang- the parents a positive attitude toward their role ing information with parents, improving parent- as an educator of their child and perhaps, more child interactions, getting parents to participate important, to increase their feelings about their in your program. Although the main focus of the own importance as a worthwhile human being. delivery system presented in this monograph is There are many ways to meet social and on improving parent-child interactions through emotional needs of parents once you have identi- parent training, it is important to place this vital fied what those needs are. Often the activities area in perspective with some other important center around a regularly scheduled meeting of dimensions. a group of parents. Topics in these meetings may vary from discussing various types ofcraft activi- Social and Emotional SupportThe purpose of ties that parent and child can do together to activities in this area is two-fold: to reduce anxie- listening to book reviews or formal lectures from ties caused by guilt feelings and feelings of in- professionals. For the group meetings to besuc- adequacy in the family, and to provide socially cessful it is important that the members of the stimulating activities whichincreasepositive group indicate to one another through their feelings about the family unit as wellas the actions as well as their words that these meetings parents' feelings toward themselves as competent hold value for them. parents.

3 Exchanging informationActivities for parents in about the home and child for the sake of con- this area should lead to the following goals: (1) sistency between the center's methods and pro- providing parents with an understanding of the grams and those used in the home. For instance, rationale, objectives, and activities of the program such information as what the child likes and dis- in which their child is enrolled; (2) developing an likes, what kinds of things occupy his time at understanding of the continuous growth and de- home, what toys are available in the home, what velopment of the child as they apply to the child's the relationship is between brothers and sisters interactions in the home; and (3) providing the and the child can be invaluable to the center. project personnel with background information Answers to these questions and many others will on the child to facilitate the effectiveness of the help the center personnel to understand the center program. This should include descriptions child's behavior he is at the center. of the child's activities in the home. Many programs provide information to par- There are many different kinds of information ents on.child-rearing practices and child develop- that you can and should be giving parents about ment sequences. Often workshops are provided to theprogram. Well-thought-outdiscussionsor assist parents in specific areas of child-rearing written information indicating what you hope to such as "teaching your child to talk," or "disci- accomplish during the year is extremely important plining your child." This kind of information- to keep the parents' support and interest. For giving, however, overlaps with what we refer to example, the parents should know what kind of as parent-childinteraction, which we discuss changes in their child or accomplishments by next. their child they should be able to see. When these Parent ParticipationThe purpose of activities in goals have been articulated well, the parents will this area is to involve parents in the ongoing then understand the relationship and purpose of activities of the program. The assumption is that the many activities that go on during the year to by productively utilizing the parents in activities the intended goals. Periociically parents should such as being a teacher's aide, the parents' feel- be given a preview of the schedule of activities ingsofself-worthwillbe enhanced.Their that lie ahead for their child, and at this time understanding of children will increase, and a the importance of the sequence of these events larger repertoire of experience and activity for the and the end results should be presented. parents to draw upon for interaction with their Routine information flowing from your pro- own child will be developed. Another important gram to parents is essential. Scheduling, special purpose for parent participation in the program events, parent conference schedules, fee sched- is to provide needed manpower for the successful ules (if fees are collected) are examples of routine functioning of ongoing activities. information that may be changing often. Some- Although this area may overlap to some ex- times this is accomplished through a newsletter. tent with the other areas already discussed, there or a form letter, or by a telephone call. are a number of program objectives that you may There is a great deal of information that want to pursue in this area alone. Parents need should be received by the center from the parents to be involved in some of the basic program 14; 4 I decision-making, perhaps as member, of an ad- parent, through the years, will be the child's visory group. After all, the parent is one of the primary source of information. Hence, the parents two primary consumers of your services. Parents must be capable of providing meaningful inter- are alsoinvolvedinfinancing the programs action with their child to stimulate cognitive, through fees or taxes. It is therefore reasonable emotional, and social development. that the program be accountable to parents in To facilitateparent-childinteraction, your program decisions. program should provide opportunities for parents This is not to say that parents should uni- to develop skillsin(1)general child-rearing laterally make program decisions. On the contrary, practices, (2) promoting and fostering social and the program staff are the trained professionals emotional development, (3) utilizing and optimiz- and should be able to provide viable alternatives ing everyday experiences, (4) fostering and en- for most aspects of the program. Parents will look couraging language growth, and(5)utilizing to the staff for leadership in program decisions effectively the community resources available to and will expect it. In return, the center personnel assist the child in activities. should expect from them valuable assistance in Although perhaps an over-simplification, most program decision-making. programs can be identified as following one of For years many programs have found that these three models: a behavioral model, a psy- parents make excellent volunteer aides. Under chologicalinsight model, and an experience the direction of the teacher or child worker the model. The behavioral model employs a great parent side can be involved in such activities as deal of what we know about learning and de- providinglearningexperiencesforchildren, velopment in a systematic, structured manner. monitoring and assisting in lunch and snacks, In this approach, the parents are first taught some assisting in taking off and putting on heavy wraps, basic terminology avid understanding ofrein- constructing learning materials, and providing forcement principles. They are also helped to de- transportation. velop their abilities to observe and quantify,or Usually most groups of parents have some count, the frequency with which various actions members with special skills, such as , of the child occur. The next step usually involves baking, or storytelling. Other parents may have the parents in observing and counting frequency had interesting jobs or interesting experiences, of behavior as well as in administering various and they can be utilized as resources for program types of positive reinforcers to the child. After it activities from time to time. is apparent that these skills have been developed Improving Parent-Child InteractionsThe fourth in the parent, there usually follows a long, formal dimension of parent programs is the primary relationship between the program personnel and focus of this monographtraining parents to be- the parent. Perhaps oncs a week or at another come more effective child rearers. set time interval, the parent will review with a Activities that you plan in this area should program specialist the results of his interactions be designed to improve the effectiveness o" par- with the child by presenting and discussing the ents as teachers and "rearers" of their child. The behavior frequency charts which he continual,y sa 5 uses. As specific patterns of reinforcement be- tions for the parents in providing developmental come part of the parent's repertoire, often the experiences for their child. charting of behavior is dropped. Another recent development in assieing par- A number of behavior modification programs ents in providing positive interactions and ex- are available today. Parents as Teachers, A Child periences with and for children is the lending Management Program (1971) is designed to help library concept. After a discussion of the de- parents learn to be more effective teachers of v"lopmental level and needs of the child, the their children. Living With Children (1968)is parent is given an appropriate educational toy to another often-used book which details the man- take home for the child to play with. Usually ner in which parents actually teach their child. mini-lesson instructions accompany the toy to the The parent training approaches presented in the home to give the parent an understanding of how r'ext chapters have a strong behavioral founda- the toy can be used for learning. Periodically the tion even though they represent quite different parent will bring a toy back to the center and delivery approaches. trade it for another which is geared at a slightly The psychological insight model deals with higher level of developmental learning. developing an understanding in parents about Parents as Resources, a group of parents in why children behave the way they do, based on Illinois, have put together a series of suggested analysis of interactions between parent and child. activities to increase the positive interactions be- This approach has been popularized through the tween parent and child in the home. They have works of (Between Parent and Child, provided two resource books for parents, Recipes 1959) during the last few years. This approach for Fun and / Saw a Purple Cow (1972). These emphasizes solving conflict situations through "recipes" provide many arts and crafts activities developing "insight" into the causes of the prob- that parents and children can do together in the lem. Many programs use lectures and films en home, emphasizing the use of articles already child development or personality development of available in most homes. the child to pursue this model. Thomas Gordon's work in Parent Effectiveness Training (1970) is an DELIVERY SYSTEMS example of a well-known approach that falls into There are four basic service delivery systems this category. presented in the following pages of this mono- Programs following the experience model graph: center based, home-center based, home will concentrate on providing systematic experi- based, and parent administrated center based. ence for parents to use as a mechanism for inter- These approaches represent basic organizational acting with their children. These experiences may and management procedure: for the delivery of be highly focused on an area of development the content of the program. such as the Teach Your Child 41 Talk program The term "center" as used in this volume is (1969), or on an age of development such as a generic one. That is, it represents any delivery Ways to Help Babies Grow and Learn (1970). Each system that brings children and parents into a of these programs offers activities and sugges- central location. This central location could be C 14- I. 6 a preschool classroom in a public school system hon. Instead, it is an alternative to a center- or or ia clinical classroom in a university or private school-hased program. As in any specific delivery setting.In a center-based delivery system, the system, there are definite advantages and disad- parent and family involvement program is often vantages to home-based programs. In addition, ancillary or "in addition to" the actual interven- the,e are a number of management dimersions tion activities with children. In the center-based that the center staff needs to attend to that wit approach, the staff-parent interaction takes place vary from other types of delivery systems. Chapter almost entirely at the center. The desired res.'lt Four discusses these dimensions in detail as the of these interactions, whether they are in the author, Marsha Shearer, shares her experiences center or elsewhere, is a positive change in the in helping .o develop and operate a home-based child's or parents' behavior. In Chapter Two, Dr. program for parents of handicapped children. Alice Hayden discusses the important manage- in addiCon tc these basic delivery systems ment dimensions that you must consider in estab- there have been some recent efforts in turning lishing and operating a center-based program. the entire remagement and operation of parent Another service delivery system, presented in programs over to the parents themselves. This Chapter Three, addresses a combination of two censumereperated delivery system is yet another systemsa home- and center-based project. This model and it varies in a number of dimensions approach has elements of both the home- and from the three approaches mentioned above. center-based projects. However, the interaction Authors Ron Wiegerink and Vince Parrish provide between these elements represents a need for us with some insight into the factors to be con- different organizational procedures than do the sidered if this alternative is chosen. The authors two systems when approached separately. In a have been with a consumer-operated program in home-center approach, parent-staff interactions Tennessee for several years which is currently take place both in the center and hi the home. operating quite successfully. These interactions are sequential in nature and Each of these following chapters will address call for careful planning and coordiiation be- the following program components: Rationale. tween center and home. Drs. Fredericks, Baldwin, This section discusses the theoretical and philos- and Grove address these considerations as they ophicalbasesfor the approach.Intakeand draw upon their experience in operating parent Screening. The task offinding parentswith programs in Oregon. specific needs is not an easy one. What criteria Home-based programs rely almost exclusively should be used to select parents for the program? on p. wit:ling the eaucational intervention through How do you develop a cooperative spirit with the parents to the child. The parent-child inter- parents? How do you systematicallyassess their actions in the home environment are the primary needs? Service Delivery. The methodologies used targets for change and much of the staff-parent to deliver need-related services to parents and interaction takes placein the home as well. families are discussed in detail in each chapter. Horne -based programs do not provide for group- What resources are needed for a particular de- ing of children outside of the home for instruc- livery system? What are the constraints? Liaison 15 7 and Follow-through. Continuing contact is an im- portant dimension of parent programs that is often overlooked. How do you assure that the intended activities are actually ha ling an impact on child; en and their parents as a result of earlier services? Evaluation. Each of the approaches pre- sented discuss their evaluation procedures. What are the necessary steps that must be taken to determine the degree of success of the program activities? Programs for young children with special needs cannot afford to exclude parents from their procedures. It is anticipated that this monograph will provide the staff members who are responsi- David L. Lillie, Ed.D., is the director of TADS ble for parent programs with the framework to (Technical Assistance Development System) at make decisions as they plan and operate pro- the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. grams for parents and children. He is the co-author of the Beginning to Learn curriculumpackagesandnumerousjournal articles. He received degrees from Indiana Uni- versity and Western Michigan University. BIBIJOGRRPHY Becker, W. Parents are teachers; a child manage- ment program. Champaign, Ill.: Research Press, 1971. Cold, Ann, ed al. Recipes for Fun. Winnetta, III.: Parents as Resources, 1970, 42 pp. Cole, Ann, Hass, Carolyn, Bushell,Faith, and Weinberger, Betty. I Saw a Purple Cow. Boston, Little, Brown, and Co., 1972. Enzer, N. The child development triad: an over- view of parent-child and professional inter- action. In D. Lillie (Ed.), Parent programs in child development centers. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Technical Assistance Development System, 1972. u6 8 Ginott, H. Between parent and child. New York: Avon, 1969. Gordon, Thomas, Parent Effectiveness Training: The "No-Lose" Program for Raising Re- sponsible Children, New York: Peter W. Hyden, Inc., 1971, 338 pp. Gray, S., Klaus, R., Miller, J., and Forrester, B. Before first grade. New York: Teachers College Press, 1970. Karnes, M. Goal: language development. Spring- field, Massachusetts: Milton Bradley, 1972. Levenstein, P. Cognitive growth in preschoolers through verbal interactions with mothers. Am. J. Orthoposychiat., 1970. Patterson, Gerald R., and Gullion, M. Elizabeth. Living with Children: New Methods for Par- ents and Teachers. Champaign,Illinois: Research Press, 1968. Pushaw, D., Collins, N., Czuchna, G.,Gill,G., O'Betts, G., and Stahl, M. Teach Your Child to Talk. Cincinnati: CEBCO Standard Pub- lishing Co., 1969. Schaefer, E. Parents as educators: evidence from cross-sectional, longitudinal, and interven- tion research.In W. Hartnup (Ed.), The young child. Washington National Associa- tion for the Education of Young Children, 1972. Segner, Leslie, and Patterson, Charlotte: Wayto Help Babies Grow and Learn: Activities for Infant Education. Denver, Colorado: World Press, 1970.

9

Center Base nt Training Alice R

RATIONALE and plans for such Centers to the President's The degree or extent to which parents and Committee on Mental Retardation. Some of the families are involved in providing special services first funding received by such groups was for and instruction to young handicapped children construction only; that is, for Center varies widely from one program to another de- facilities, The Centers at the University of Wash- pending upon some of the following factors: the ington and at Albert Einstein University in New administrative organization and purpose(s) of the York were the first two such Centers, funded in program, school, or agency; the philosophy under- 1964. Perhaps these Centers are now best known :ying the program; the need for direct parent as University-Affiliated Facilities. assistance to the children and to the programs; The University-Affiliated Program at the Univer- and the goals and objectives of the program. sity ell Washington The Child Development and What are Multidisciplinary Center-School Pro- Mental Retardation Center at the University of gram:IA number of universities having medical Washington has four component units: Medical schools and other resources benefiting retarded Research, Behavioral Research, Clinical Training and handicapped children recognized early the (and Diagnosis), and the Experimental Education need to bring many resources together in a Center Unit, which has three major functionstraining, in order to permit greater exchange among the research, and service to handicapped children different disciplines such as medicine, nursing, and their families. L..:r:stry,education, psychology,socialwork, The Experimental Education Unit School pro- spewth dathology and audiology. Such exchange vides instructional programs for handicapped would promote efforts to attack some of the prob- children from birth to eighteen years of age. This lems of prevention, remediation, and treatment chapter will focus on the service aspects of the of handicapping conditions. Professionals and programs in the Unit's Model Pre-School Center representatives of a number of agencies joined for Handicapped Children. (The Model Preschool hands with parents in presenting their problems Center for Handicapped Children is funded in

.40ktv: 11 part by the U.S. Office of Education, Bureau of the Center Is on individualized instruction for Education for the Handicapped, under P.L. 91-230, every child, and that emphasis extends to staff Part C.) The school not only provides instruction and parent training as well. Although thereare for children, but also serves as a demonstration- basic principles underlying the training given training facility for university students frommany everyone at the Center, we believe that individual different disciplines, for paraprofessionals in dif- parents and families, like their children, have ferent fie1s, and for parents who are trained at unique needs and problems, and that to be effec- school to work with their own children at home. tive in meeting these individual needs,we must Each of the five classrooms for preschool age maintain flexible training. Second,our Center is children serves two groups of children a day; the different from most schools where parents play children Ire grouped into classes according to an active role in that children are referred to us age and to the severity of their handicaps. for relatively short-term interventionmost chil- Because the children spend only two or three dren spend from one academic quarter to two hours per day at school, it is essential that par- years at the Model Preschool Center before re- ents learn how to help their children develop turning to placements in their home communities. self-help, motor, communication, cognitive and Further, the children may arrive at any time dur- social skillsin the home, where the children ing the school year. So it is not possible forus spend so much of their time. The different types to plan a single program that begins in September of parent training and involvement dependupon and ends in Junetoo many ofour parents would the particular program the child is in andupon be short-changed by such inflexibility. his and his parents' or family's special needs. The one exception to this general pattern of The focus is always on the child, andon how the short-termintervention occursin our Down's staff and the parents can best work together to Syndrome Programs. Many of the children who meet his needs. Those who are working with participate in these programs are referred tous parents need to recognize that parents' needsare when they are newborn infants, and theymay be as different and as individual as those of their entered in the Infant Learning Programas early children. as two weeks of age. Some of the children in Parents usually find that, among the many these programs have stayed withus for as long advantages of being traired in the Center, rather as three years; obviously, their parents haveex- than at home, is the opportunity to talk to and perienced a more typical "parent trainingpro- work with other parents of handicapped children. gram" than most others in terms of continuity Those parents who have children with similar and duration. handicapping conditions often develop strorg bonds of friendship and are appreciative ofthe INTAKE gains made by all the children. Parents may apply directly to the Child De- At the Model Preschool C',nterwe do not velopment anci Mental Retardation Center for have a"parent training package." Thereare counselling or service, or they may be referred several reasons for this. First,our emphasis at by clinics, agencies, private physicians,nurses,

12 t! psychologists, or school districts. How the parents quently introduces them to another parent whose get to the Center is not important; what happens child has been enrolled for a while. The parents after they arrive there is.If a child needs help, are invited to visit the program their child will be the staff of the Clinical Training Unit at the Child placed in and to meet the staff if they have not Development and Mental Retardation Center de- already done so. If the parents are expected to termine which Clinic within the Unit or team of participate in one or more class sessions each representatives fromdifferent disciplines can week, they are informed of this before the child best undertake the information-gathering neces- is admitted, and a time schedule is worked out sary to learn as much about the child's problems which will be most convenient for them. Parents as possible. If a child is not receiving services are told about the regular parent-staff meetings, essential to his development or treatment, recom- usually held at least once a month and in the mendations will be made for placing him inan evening so that both parents can attend. There appropriate program. The first consideration is are also all-school parent-teacher meetings each given to the services available in the child's home quarter. In addition the Admissions Officer ex- communitywhere would he be best served, plains parent consent forms and clearances, given his age and his handicapping conditiontsr available insurance policies, and services which In any case, consultations with personnel from may be provided through the University Hospital the child's home school district are essential in- at a very modest fee. asmuch as the school district is, or will be, re- When it appears that a child is a candidate sponsible for the child's eventual education ina for placement in one of the Mode! Preschool regular or special education program. An objec- Programs, his needs are discussed at a meeting tive of the Experimental Education Unit is to of the Consultant Advisory Committee. Meetings return each child to an appropriate placement in of this committee are scheduled once or twice a his home community as soon as itappears that month, depending upon the number of children he will be ready to function adequately ina to be considered for placement. Prior to the meet- school district program. The parents must, of ing, the child's records are reviewed to make course, supply some of the needed information certain that all relevant information as wellas and must also be involved in any decisions about parenta' consent and clearance forms arein. placement. Parents may be invited to visit various Program coordinators or head teachers inthe appropriate programs, to talk with their personnel, different programs discuss how the child's needs and to observe the children enrolled. Practical can best be met, what support help is needed, considerations such as transportation must, of and what arrangements have been made to ob- course, be taken into account. tain it. The latter arrangements are usually made When a child is being considered for place- by the school nurse consultant. The Admissions ment in the Model Preschool Center the Admis- Coordinator may also report on the information sions Coordinator informs parents of theoppor- that has been exchanged with the school district tunities for parent involvement and participation in which the parents live, arrangements for trans- in Model Preschool Centerprograms, and fre- portii.g the child, and the date when the child

fr 13 will begin his work at the Unit. Every effort is attainment of these goals. The evaluation of made to keep the time required for admission progress is on-going and integral to this process. procedures as short as possible.Itit appears Goals for Home Management are indicated on a that 44. I may be a delay in placing the child in form such as that shown in Figure 1. a pm n at the Model Preschool because of If a child exhibits behaviors that are annoy- lack of openings, alternative placements are con- ing, the parent may think that the child engages sidered.If a child has to wait until his name in these behaviors "all the time." Here at the comes up on a "waiting list," services that he Center, the staff members try to get the parent to badly needs can be delayed. For this reason, our collect information on the actual frequency of "waiting list" is short, and we act to place chil- these behaviors and to encourage the parent to dren in a program as quickly as possible if one reinforce the child for his desirable behaviors or of our programs is considered by the referring approximations to desirable behaviors. Helping agency and the Clinical Training Unit to be the the parent realize that the child does some things most appropriate or only possible placement for that please him is an important function of the a given child. data collection. No child is "bad" all the time or Parents have the opportunity to ask any ques- "good" all the time. Staff and parents can work tions they may have. A well-informed parent who together to increase the frequency of desirable is involved in tl'e parent training programs is a behaviors and to decrease the frequency of the good public relations person and can be very annoying behaviors. Examples of the usefulness helpful to other parents of handicapped children of parent data are included in the section on in the community. By the time a child is admitted parent parti,lipation in procedures common to to a program in the Model Preschool Center, the all programs. parent is usually eager for information and the assistance which can be provided by the staff. DELIVERY OF SERVICES The parent may have collected infor:nation about We start with parent training as soon as pos- the child's behavior at home which can be very sible after a child's handicapping condition has helpful to the staff in initiating his program at been identified. Acceptance of tne fact that a the Unit. child has a handicap is not easy for most parents. For instance, children miy have certain an- While they are going through this period of ad- noying or puzzling behavior patterns, or problems justment the parents usually discover that there which are of great concern to their parents or the are mimes of help and that they, the parents family. To give just one example of ways in which and family, have contributions to make that will parents and staff work together to remediate such help the child. In the past, many parents have problems, parents having children enrolled in any said that the most difficult time they had with of the Down's Syndrome Programs are asked to their nandicapped child was between the time list home management goals for their children. the pediatrician no longer worked with them on The staff then helps in the statement of specific a regular basis and the time the child entered objectives and in determining procedures for the some type of school program. During this period .# 14 kl*S1 FIGURE 1 GOALS FOR HOME MANAGEMENT

Dear Parent: Please indicate one or two objectives in any of the following areas that you would like your child to attain this quarter. Be specific. After you have identified theseobjectives, we will discuss them with you and will help you plan a program or programs to meet them. (Please state objectives in terms of child behaviors.)

Gross Motor 1. 2 Fine Motor 1. 2 Self-help Skills 1. 2. Preacademic Skills 1. 2. Social Interaction and Language 1. 2. Behaviors you would like to increase or decrease 1. 2.

Please return this form during the first week of school. Thank you.

Sincerely yours, Val Dmitriev Coordinator, Down's Syndrome Programs

4111111111111111111111111111 . e, 23 15 the parents did not know what they could "do" Perhaps excerpts from two recent publica- for their child; thus, they waited and felt useless. tions will express the initial impact on parents of The situation is greatly changed today with the being told at their child's birth that the child is many and increasing numbers of preschool pro- handicapped. In the first example, a minister grams now available for infants and young chil- shares with his congregation the reaction he and dren. In these, parents can and do play active his wife experienced. roles, thereby decreasing their frustrations. Three of the saddest words in the English language Support to parents and families while they are 'we had hoped .. ' They capture some of the are recognizing and accepting the fact that they deepest pain, loss and disillusionment human beings can feel.... have a child with a handicapping condition must ... Todd finely arrived at 7:30 p.m., five weeks pre- be provided so that the parents do not dwell too mature and weighing in at 41/2 pounds. much on being burdened and on the questions We were very apprehensive about Todd's progress raised in their own minds and by their relatives Saturday, since the first 24 hours are a crucial time or neighbors. There are misconceptions about for premature infants. .. Then we. learned Saturday night that Todd's prematurity was one of our smaller many types of handicapped children; these mis- worries. We were told that Todd has Down's syn- conceptions may cause parents to be embar- drome.... rassed, to have guilt feelings, and to despair. We don't see ourselves as unusual or exclusive. We Parents frequently have questions they are afraid think our experience is representative of the process to ask or that they do not know how to ask. The other parents have gone through in this kind of situation. sooner some of their questions are answered ob- Some of you know what it's like to look forward to jectively and their misconceptions are dispelled, the birth of your first child with eagerness and antic- the better it is for all concerned. ipation, a child with whom to share your world and Those professionals and paraprofessionals your life, and then be told after the birth that your working with parents must keep in mind that the hopes and expectations have just been shattered by some chromosomal accident. It is a grief process be- needs of parents and families are as unique and cause there is real grief over the loss of the child different as those ofindividual handicapped you expected and grief over the devastation of your children.Itsometimestakessome"extra- dreams and hopes.... sensitive" perception to assess the stated or There were times when we didn't want to believe this was happening to us- -times when, as one of our implied concerns of the parents and to get the prayers of confession put it, we wanted to told out parents to feel free to express these. Some par- for better terms.' We could hardly hear, much less ents hesitate to talk about problems related to speak, the words mental retardation. We felt almost their having a handicapped child, such as marital overwhelmed, and the future looked very bleak and difficulties, financial problems, or the well-inten- uncompromising. (Martz, 1974, pp. 34-35) tioned but not very helpful comments and sug- Another reaction is expressed by the parent gestions of relatives and friends. To reiterate, of a child in the Down's Syndrome Program in the some families need a time for adjustment, a time Mosel Preschool Center for Handicapped Chil- to recognize that they need help; and they need dren. The child was admitted to our program encouragement to seek the assistance that is when she was five weeks old. available.

16 When Angie ... was born 2Y2 years ago, her mother's think of "parent readiness" for coping with reaction was hysteria. Angie was, the doctor said, a different problems. mongoloid. In a multidisciplinary center-school, there are `I had never even been near a retarded person before,' her mother said. `I thought, `Oh, my God, what didI opportunities to work with parents and families do during this pregnancy that caused this?" of handicapped children in a number of different Angie's parents are long since over their shock. ways. If we are fortunate enough to be able to 'Pretty soon you just have to get busy,' Angie's work with the child and family soon after the mother said ... She often is asked to visit new mothers of Down's handicapping condition has been identified, we children in the hospital ... can relieve many parental anxieties and start `To be told is devastatilg, and all the books on it focusing on the child's problem(s) in those early, paint such a bleak picture. It's natural to he scared, crucial months and years of the child's life. Early afraid of pitying the child. We all have a fleeting wish identification and intervention can prevent many that the child will die. It's a normal, healthy reaction. It's fear of the unknown.' (Mills, 1974, pp. 8-10) other conditions which compound the child's diffi- culties. It is easier to start applying procedures From these two examples of parents' reac- that are effe tive in dealing with certain types of tions to having a handicapped child, it should be behaviors than it is to have to correct ineffective immediately apparent that professionals who are methods of coping with problems. Frequently, the going to work with such parents must start "where first step in parent training is to convince the the parents are" and must not contribute to the parent of the importance of becoming involved in feelings they already have of being overwhelmed. an early training program. Well-intentioned people Certainly the professionals will be acutely aware may have tried to allay parents' anxieties by sug- of many things that need to be done for the child. gesting that perhaps the child will "grow out of However, the families may be more upset by it." Such suggestions frequently do more harm specific concerns that seem paramount to them than good and in most cases they do not allay the concern about the child's feeding, the possi- parents' concerns. The parents stiilrecognize bilities of his having other, associated conditions. that "something is wrong" and that they need and their own perceived inabilty to cope with help in finding out what that something is and what they consider to be problems in the day-to- what they can do about it. Such suggestions often day care of the child in the home. delay the parents' search for help. Indeed, there may be many things parents need to know, but let's start with what they per- PROCEDURES ceive to be their needs and let thf -n discover Some common procedures are used through- .other ways we can work together as pLitners. out the Model Preschool Center for Handicapped professional team, no matter how expert, can Children and parents learn how to use many of meet all of the child's or parents' needs at the them. The procedures derive from the basic prin- same time. We who are concerned with child ciples of behavior modification: initial assessment instruction often talk about the child's readiness of child needs, on-going assessment and sys- for certain types of activities. Suppose we also tematic observation, daily measurement of pupil . 25 17 progress, modification of individual programs and the child's needs in these early weeks and when data indicate that a child's particular pro- months when much support is needed. A parent gram is not resulting in the expected progress. training class is not the answer to parents' needs Data are kept on at least two behaviors at a time for assistance at this point. A class could not for each child; in many cases, particularly where move fast enough, and the instructor could not parent or volunteer help is available, data are anticipate the needs of a group of parents and kept on additional behaviors. plan a program that would accommodate them. Infant ProgramsIn working with infants from Early Preschool ProgramsChildren from nine- birthtoeighteen months we trytoassess teen months to three years of age participate in the child's needs and the parents' specific con- early preschool programs. Such preschool pro- cerns. In some cases, we seek assistance from grams may last for two hours or more any may be physical therapists, nutritionists, social workers, conducted four or five days a week. The daily and other representatives of different disciplines schedule provides a variety of activities designed who may be able to provide help and instruction to develop self-help, motor, communication, social to the individual parent or to groups of parents and cognitive skills. In some programs, the par- who have common needs and problems such as ents work with the staff right in the classroom, feeding children or developing their muscle tone. and each parent has an opportunity to participate Normally, the parent will bring the child to the in the program at least one day per week. In other Model Preschool Center at least one day a week. programs, the parent observes the work being Each parent and child pair receives thirty min- done in the classroom and has an opportunity to utes of individual attention during which the meet with a staff member to discuss the child's parent is shown how to stimulate the child, to progress and to ask questions about working with help him to attend to sounds or objects, and to the childin the home. Data are collected on make eye contact with adults. The child's re- child progress in every session of every program. sponses are reinforced, as are the parents'. Par- Videotapes offer an opportunity to staff and par- ents frequently stay on after their session to ents alike to review the work done and the watch our work with other children and their children'sresponses.Every class. sessionis parents so that they may learn through observa- followed by a staff meeting to which parents are tion either in the classroom or from an observa- invitedif they have participated in that class tion booth. We encourage parents to report on session. Pupil progress is noted and plans are the progress of the child at home and to ask any made for the next day's session. questions they may have. They are invited to call When children and parents have special staff members at the school or at home whenever needs, special classes may be offered. For in- they have questions or special concerns. We want stance, parents of deaf children may attend the parents to feel that help is as close as their classes to learn English sign language and finger telephone. spelling while the children are being taught such Professionalism must be coupled with hu- skills in the classroom, so that the parents can manism in helping parents cope with their needst make use of every opportunity which may help

18 the child acquire language and speech skills. home. In this way, the parents of all children are While the emphasis in this chapter is on the drawn into a cooperative effort with the school earliest preschool years here at the Center,it staff to bring each child as close to normal skill should also be noted that the procedures de- development as possible. scribed here are used in the Advanced Preschool, , and Pre-Primary classes at the LIAISON AND FOLLOW THROUGH Center and in all of the Center's field programs. In addition to showing consideration for the Ours is a demonstration center, offering outreach individual child and his family and individualizing and technical assistance to a wide variety of field programs of instruction for both the child and the programs; because parent involvement is integral parents, our staff places emphasis on developing to all programs here at the Center,itis one the competence, confidence and independence of program component that is heavily emphasized the child and his parents. Parents usually feel the in field programs. too. need for much supervision at first --they want to Parent Participation in Procedures Corrwion to All be certain that they are "doing the right thing." ProgramsIn every program, the staff members The staff members reinforce the parents when work with parents in many different ways. There they have learned what to do. They also make are numerous parent conferences, parent group sure that the parent doesn't feel that the child meetings, direct parent participation, individual will perform a skill for, or respond to the staff parent instruction, and group parent instruction. member but not the parent. It is frequently neces- Parent groups are instructedin the steps of sary to point out"See, he did it for you, too." normal child development in the areas of self- The staff member asks the parent to report what help, gross and fine motor, communication, social the child does at home. Parents' feelings of in- and cognitive skills. Emphasis is placed on the security and doubt about their abilities to work parent's understanding of normal development with their own children must be dispelled as because one of the goals of the Model Preschool quickly as possible. Demonstrating that their work is to bring each child's development as close to is effective is the best way to achieve the goal of the norms as possible. However, care is taken to parental security and independence in working point out the wide range within normal develop- with their own children. ment. Parents learn through observing and chart- The following condensed excerpts from Model ing children's progress in these different areas Preschool case studies illustrate the important that children progress at different rates in devel- roles parents can play as data-takers and behavior oping skills. For instance, a child may develop modifiers. They also are good examples of ways normally in motor and social skills but he may in which parents and staff work together to show some lag in communication and in cognitive remediate a particular problem that the parent development. Parents are taught how to apply at or family find worrisome.Inboth cases, the home the procedures used in school to help their children's names are fictitious. child come closer to the norm, and the parents The first study concerns Randy, a four-year- learn to keep data on the child's performance at. old boy whose mother was convinced that her son

hot 7 19 was always naughty and getting into mischief, that haviors often occurred in clusters that did not cover no matter what she did he would not change, and a long time-span but led the mother to the conclu- furthermore, that his behavior was worse when sion that Randy was continuously bad; talsol that the she was out of the room. Aithoogh his teachers mother was inconsistent in handling Randy's inap- propriate behaviors: sometimes she scolded, sore- at the Model Preschool agreed that a lot of his times she spanked, sometimes she ignored, and behavior was inappropriate, they had noticed sometimes she actually rewarded...(Allen, 1172, some improvement at school. His momer, how- pp. 251-254) ever, had not noticed any change at home. The Randy's mother and the staff continued to staffrecognizedthatsimply'ellingRandy's work together for several weekscollecting and mother ,nat he had some appropriate behaviors analyzing data, using these data as a basis for would not change her mind; they reasoned that, establishing a program to remediate Randy's be- if she were to collect data herself, she might havior. The changes in Randy's behavior and in have a different picture of Randy's behavior and his mother's ability to deal with it were remark- what could be done to change the inappropriate ably good. behavior. She eagerly agreed to aprogram in which she would collect data overa two-hour The next study concerns four and a half-year- period each day. old Leslie, whose problem is dawdlingone that almost all parents must cope with at some time . . . Based on the mother's verbal descriptions of or another. what went on in the home, a data form was drawnup. The left hand side was labeled negative child be- ... As most of us who have worked with parents haviors and had four columns in which the parent know, telling a parent what to do to remediate a could enter 1) each occurrence of an inappropriate situation rarely has durable efficacy.Instead, the behavior, 2) what she did when it occurred, 3) the teacher asked the mother to describe, that is, pin- time, and 4) whether or not she was in thesame room. point, the times when the child's procrastinating The right side of the page was divided into thesame annoyed or angered her the most. Not getting herself four columns but was labeled positive child behavior. dressed for school in the morning was a prime an- . She arrived for her next conference armed with noyance, for this was the time that the mother was several days' records and some preliminary conclu- most harrassed. The next question asked was whether sions that she herself had begun to draw from her Leslie could in fact dress herself. "Of course she data. Most noteworthy was the indisputable evidence can," answerad the mother with exasperation, "if she that Randy was not all bad.... wants to. She just never wants to." Prior to the next conference, the teacher founda way The teacher asked the mother to jot down the time to code and display the mother's data[to give) that she gave Leslie the first cue to get dressed as almost instant read-out on the dynamics of each well as each time she checked on her, scolded, two-hour session.... helped her, or interacted with her in any way. The There was concrete corroboration that Randy wasn't final data point was to be the time that the dressing all bad; in fact, he was a pretty good boy much of was finally accomplished by whatever means.... the time; that her being out of theroom wasn't The mother had five additional days of data to pre- necessarily the SD (discriminative stimulus) for his sent at the next conference. A quick perusal indi- misbehaviors [and! that she reallywas doing a pretty cated three things: 1) most days it was taking Leslie good job ofreinforcingRandy's appropriatebe- 30 to LIS minutes to get dressed,2) mother was haviors. Further analysis revealed that the bad be- supplying 6 to 9 prompts and scoldings each day,

20 Jt and 3) mother usually ended up dressing the child Children: A Review." This article by Claudia A. herself. A couple of questions were in order at this Johnson and Reger C. Katz (1973) provides an point. One had to do with finding out what the mother considered a reasonable dressing time, and extensive review of the literature on "the use of the second to find out if Leslie preferred coming to parents in therapeutic roles (that) has resulted school to staying home. The mother replied she did from an explicit technology of behavior modifica- not care how long Leslie took to dress as long as ton predicted on the analysis and manipulation she was ready before the school cab driver came. of environmental contingencies." Mother also reported that Leslie was really upset whenever she could not come to school. Armed with this information, the teacher made the following suggestions: 1. Continue taking data. 2. Tell Leslie that if she did not get herself dressed EVALUATION in time for her ride, she would have to stay home. Parents can be and are taught to be reliable 3. Reduce to three the number of contacts made data-takers. However, this takes much time and during dressing time. If, when she went into the effort on the part of both staff and parents. In room, Leslie was making even an approximation to dressing, the mother could give her a bit of our Model Preschool Programs, we spend 500-600 assistance and much verbal praise for her efforts. hours a quarter with parents in the many different If Leslie was doing something other than dressing, types of parent involvement described earlier. the mother was to turn and walk out without say- The total time spent with parents over the course ing a word. of a full year (four quarters) will range from 2,000 4. Give Leslie one final warning about 6 or 7 minutes before the arrival of the cab. to 2,400 hours. It is time and energy well invested The next day Leslie and her mother arrived at school for both staff and parents in terms of pupil 15 minutes late. Leslie was teary-eyed, her mother progress. If a child is not making the expected obviously upset. It seemed that Leslie had thrown a progress, we do not ask, "What is wrong with the super scene over missing her ride and therefore child?" or "What is wrong with the parent or the school.She hadcried.screamed, pleaded with mother to bring her and mother had finally suc- trainee?" We ask, "What is wrong with the child's cumbed. A quick conference with mother followed in program, and how can we modify it to ensure that which she was counseled that if she really did want the child's progress can proceed at a reasonable to eliminate Leslie's dawdling then she must allow rate appropriate for his age level and handi- her to experience the negative consequences of capping condition(s)?" Continuous measurment dawdlingnot getting to come to schoolno matter how difficultit might be for the mother for a few and analysis of data provide information for im- days. Within a very few days Leslie was dressing her- proving programs. The use of videotapes and the self much more quickly and continued to do so with preparation of case studies also greatly assist in only an occasional relapse. (Allen, 1972, pp. 248-250) recording and reviewing training and classroom activities. These are also excellent dissemination Professionals interested in parent training will forms useful in our many field programs where find an excellent review of procedures such as parents play an essential role in replicatingour those applied in our programs in an article en- procedures and in improving programs for handi- titled, "Using Parents Change Agents for Their capped children. 29 21 What Do Parents Do for Us and for Others Work- in their homes in order to insure continuity in ing with Handicapped Children?Certainly this their child's program; they learn to take data both chapter would not be compleie ifit did not in- in the school and at home; they encourage other clude some information about the many ways parents to work effectively with their own chil- parents have assisted us in our programs and in dren; they talk with their neighbors and help to furthering other programs for handicapped chil- dispel misconceptions about handicapped chil- dren and their families. Their contributions take dren. In short, they are supporting the staff and many forms and it is interesting to note that many extending the efforts to reach and serve families of the things they do are projects they initiated. of handicapped children. First of all, the parents are helpful in work- Additionally, the parents respond to the many ing with children .Ind families who are newly en- requests that come to us from other parents, re- rolledin our programs. They are enthusiastic porters and site visitors for interviews; they parti- about the gains their own children have made cipate in site visits; they write articles that may be and are accepting of and reassuring to the newly helpful to other parents; and they participate in enrolled children and their families. They form panel discussions in university classes and pro- car pools if necessary to transport children or to grams, and in workshops. They share our con- come to parent meetings. They bring in items cerns about funding and about extending needed they think will be of interest to other parents or services to greater numbers of handicapped chil- to the children. dren. If site visitors from funding agencies want They also participate in a Parent to Parent to talk with parents, we ask for volunteers from Program, which lets pediatricians know that they the parents. At the scheduled timetnat which are willing to visit and talk with parents who have is most convenient for the parentswe simply recently been told that they have a handicapped introduce the parents to the site visitors and leave child. They want other parents to know about the the room, confident that the parents know the resources that are available to help the child and program's goals as well as we do. Sometimes the the family. parents sense that we have important visitors and Moreover, it was a parent group that was in- they seek to help even if they have not been strumental in working with students from the asked to do so. University of Washington Law School in drafting Parents have alsobeen instrumentalin "Education for All' legislation and in getting sup- establishing programs, particularly infant learn- port for that legislation. These parents are still ing programs, 'n communities where none had interested in seeing that the law is fully imple- previously existed. They continue to request as- mented and that funds are provided to do an sistance from our staff when it is needed, and to adequate job. They recognize the need for early arrange for some of us to meet with the parents childhood education and are helpful in getting and other members of the communities in which community support for necessary programs. these programs are established. They also work Parents working in our classrooms assist in with school districts in urging them to extend many ways. They learn to apply our procedures programs, and are constantly attempting to reach

22 parents of handicapped children in order to help that is, some standards that the parents and we them learn about the resources that are available would like to set for programs cannot possibly be to them and their children. They work with estab- met initially, and it will take time and a great lished agencies, organizations, and programs in deal of assistance to arrive at "ideal arrange- their efforts to disseminate information about ments." But these are beginning efforts and they what can and should be done in behalf of handi- are extremely important, for without these pro- capped children. grams, many childrenandfamiliesneeding Finally; parents have been active in the move- special services would otherwise be denied them. ment to change legislation so that insurance com- There can hardly be a more appropriate "testi- panies include in their coverage provisions for monial" to the parents' involvement and partner- children with birth defects. In light of the fact ship than their determination to extend services that medical and professional treatment can be that they have benefited from to other families. extremely expensive, parents should have help Their interest and their many forms of support in defraying such costs. Further, publicity given are richly rewarding to us all. to such efforts to change legislation helps to alert prospective parents of the needtoconsider "things that could happen in any family" and to learn more about handicapping conditions that may be evident at birth.

Concluding StatementIn their efforts to provide training and assistance in meeting the needs of parents and families, professionals can learn a great deal from the parents and families them- selves. That has certainly been our experience here at the Center, where we see our work with handicapped children as a working partnership with the children's parents and families. Alice H. Hayden, Ph.D., is the director of the As parents and families from the Center move Model Preschool Center for Handicapped Chil- out into communities and seek to establish new dren, Experimental Education Unit, Child De- programs for other handicapped children and velopment and Mental Retardation Center at the their familiesprograms that are badly needed University of Washington. but that are not now provided by any agencies Her numerous publications include articles we applaud their efforts to extend services and inTeaching Exceptional Children, Educational feel a deep commitrnent to heIp them in this Horizons, Education of the Very Young, and Ex- work. This approach may not be an ideal one ceptional Children.

23 She has receiveti degrees from Oregon State University, Purdue University, and Boston Univer- sity, and has te)ne research in the areas of Downs Syndrome, improvement of instruction for young children, systematic observation of young children, and evaluation of programs for young children. BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, K. Individualizing instruction for preschool childrenthroughutilizationofparent- teacher data.InA.H.Hayden(Ed.), Selected case studies. Model Preschool Center for Handicapped Children, Experi- mental Education Unit, Child Development and Mental Retardation Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1972. Johnson, C., and Katz, R. Using parents as change agents for their children: A review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1973, 14, 181-200. Martz, H. We had hoped. United Method'sts To- day, January 1974, 34-37. Mills, D. Things are looking up for Down's syn- drome children. The Seattle Times Maga- zine, January 6, 1974, 8-10.

24

Home-Center Based Parent Training f model RD, Bud Fteegicks Victor L Boldwin David Grove

RATIONALE center program increase, parents become more Most parent training models are designed to eager to want b help their child. Frequently, pc wide training to parents whose children are they have been discouraged about their child's not enrolled in a program. In fact, many educators capabilities until the center demonstrates some take the position that if the handicapped child is success with him, at which time the parents' dis- enrolled in a school-type program there is little couragement is replaced by optimism and a need for the parents to be trained in the tech- desire to contribute to their child's new-found niques of teaching their own child. Two factors growth. Therefore as educators we need to be militate against this position. First, there is a responsive to these desires of the parents and body of evidence that indicates that if parents of instruct them In teaching their own child. children enrolled in a school or center engage But even if the parents did not request us to in some teaching of that child, the child's learn- provide this type of instruction, it is logical that ing will be significantly accelerated. This will be we should involve the parents in at least some discussed at length later in the chapter. Second, educatiwnl activities and training. For instance, pressure from the parents who want to participate it is practically impossible to toilet traina child in the teaching of their child often requires that with only a school training- program; a- coordi-. they be taught how to teach their child. nated program between school and home is Let us speak to the latter point first. Our ex- mandatory if the child is going to be completely perience is that many parents, especially parents trained before he is a teenager. of severely handicapped children, are interested Perhaps even more critical than the child's in doing as much as they can for their child and acquisition of self-help skills is the acquisition consequently are willing to undertake home pro- of language skills, which also is accelerated by grams. Moreover, as the child's successes in the a home-center ,coordinated program. Language

27 skillsthe acquisition of sounds, blends, words, junction with the school program will almost the chaining of wordscan all be learned through double the rate of acquisition of the skill. (For a structured programs, but it is only with the use more complete discussion of this acceleration of language in the everyday environment of the rate see the evaluation section of this chapter.) child that the handicapped child can use lan- This chapter will describe three variations of guage fluently. Since the parents usually con- the Home-Center model which have been used stitute a large portion of the child's environment with children who have various handicaps, in- and provide him with much of the feedback he cluding deafness and blindness, mental retarda- receives each day, it is necessary for the parents tion, emotional distrubance and learning disa- to be actively engaged in the handicapped child's bilities. Thus the model has universal applica- language acquisition to maximize the rate of that bility across allhandicapping conditions. The acquisition. three variations of the Home-Center model are: Certainly for the child to progress through (1) The Lunch Box Data System in which parents the entire range of self-help skills, the parent conduct instruction at home similar to that being must become involved ininstructing the child. conducted at the school; (2) The Modified Lunch For example, if a teacher is teaching a child to Box System in which parents conduct instruction take off his coat, and the child is required to do at home that is not being taught by the school; as much of that behavior as he is able to at and (3) the Volunteer System in which parents school, it is defeating for the parents to assist the are volunteer wort .,:rs at the school and through child in taking off his coat at home to a degree that experience acquire the instructional capa- greater than assistance is given at school. De- bilities to teach their own child. velopment of each of the self-help skillsdress- ing, self-feeding, personal hygienebenefits from THE HOME-CENTER MODEL (THE LUNCH a very closely coordinated program with the BOX DATA SYSTEM) parents. IntakeIn the home-center model the children It is our experience that not only in the areas are already students in the center and so we mentioned above can parents be good teachers, shall not discuss how these children are taken but that they can be effective in any area of in- into the program. We shall, however, focus on struction. This effectiveness is demonstrated by how we take parents into this program. the acceleration in the rate with which children We think that the parents of every child who learn and the quality and quantity of what they is in the program should be given the opportunity learn. Inbrief,if a parent will conduct for ten to conduct at least one home training program. minutes to a half hour a day a training program To start this process a group meeting is held at home in conjunction with the same training with the parents. They an all be brought together program being conducted at the school, the child in a large group, or invited to participatein will acquire the taught skillin a significantly smaller groups according to their child's class- quicker time.In fact the data show that the room, by his age, or by his handicapping condi- systematic program involving the in con- tion. The purpose of the meeting is to explain

28 FIGURE 1 TASK ANALYSIS OF THE DRESSING SKILL OF REMOVING PANTS, UNDERPANTS

Steps 1.Child grabs cuffs and removes pants when one leg removed. 2.Child grabs cuffs and removes pants when pulled to ankles. 3.Child pushes down to ankles, grabs cuffs and removes pants when pulled to knees. 4.Child pushes down to ankles, grabs cuffs and removes pants when pulled to thighs. 5.Child pushes down to ankles, grabs cuffs and removes pants. \killr000wsmoowmumissmNmwmmmummi home training programs and "sell" the idea of probably also represents skills, which, if the child participating in a program to the parents. Two acquires, will be reinforcing to the parent. major "selling" points have been found to be Great care must be exercised in this initial successful. First, the accelerated rate at which selection of a program. One of the primary con- the child can acquire skills should be demon- siderations in this selection is to choose a pro- stratedto the parents by specific examples. gram with the parent that is likely to succeed Second, the necessity for the generalization from Such as simple self-help skillslike dressing, center to home of the child's learning, especially cognitive skills like rote counting, sound recogni- in the areas of self-help skills, toilet training and tion, shape sorting and certain motor tasks.It language acquisition, should be stressed. should almost go without saying that we would After this group meeting, individual confer- not pick as an initialskillto be taught one ences are scheduled with the parents to deter- which we have been teaching in the center but mine which programtheparentdesiresto with which progress has been slow. conduct at home. Parents should be encouraged Regardless of which skill we choose, we must to conduct language acquisition and self-help further the likelihood of success by breaking this skill programs if the child is participating in such skill into small parts (task analysis) and showing programs in the center, but they may initially the parents how to teach one part ata time. choose a motor program or one in a cognitive Figure 1 shows the task analysis for the behavior area, such as reading or arithmetic. If at all pos- of removing underpants. If the parents are faced sible the parents' choice should be honored with having to teach only one small step ata because this choice probably represents their time rather than the entire task, the chances for priority of what their child should be taught.It the parents to see some progress are greater Aia

29 and thus the parents will be reinforced for their cues are to be given. imagine a child who is on a efforts. Once the program has been selected, the program to increase the number of secondsthe parent is ready to be trained. child attends to the teacher's voice. The precise- ness with which the child is told to attendis im- Direct Services DeliveryIt should be pointed out portant. For instance, the cue might be, "Look, here that the effectiveness of any parental in- Johr,ny," and if the child were deaf a sign might volvement program is largely dependent on how also be emited by the teacher. The teacher may precise the instructions are that are given to the also desire to touch the child to get his attention parents. General instructions will only confuse initially. All of these fine points of the presenta- and frustrate the parents and make them feel tion of the cue must be adequately explained and guilty when they are not successful. The more modeled for the parents by the teacher. specific the program, the less chance there is The precision with which cues are given of for failure. course is in direct relationship to the severity of After the program has been selected by the the handicap of the child. The more severe the parent and the teacher, the teacher models the handicap, the more precise must be the cue. The program for the parent. During the course of this less severe the handicap, the less precision is modeling the teacher demonstrates to the parents required in the delivery of the cue although a all aspects of the teaching paradigm. First, the certain amount of consistency on the part of the teacher demonstrates the physicalposition of parent should be stressed. the child in relationship to the teacher and the The expected behavior that the child is to preparation and placement of any cues that may emit after the delivery of the cue should be ex- be necessary or materials that may be needed. plained to the parent. Any shaping procedures For instance, when a teacher is demonstrating that are being utilized or the degree of precision how to teach a deaf and blind child to take off with which the child must emit should all be his socks, the positioning of the teacher and the child is extremely important. The child should included in the instruction. be placed in a position sitting on the floor with For instance a child is being taught to write the teacher behind him, with her legs straddling the capital letter A. What degree of precision the child so that she can reach easily over his must be expected? Is this correct? :X'Is this shoulders if necessary and guide his hands to correct? 2 or is this correct? ± Hopefully the socks and through the motions. Likewise, if the teacho.:. has prescribed what degree of ac- the teacher is teaching a word recognition pro- ceptability marks success and what is not con- gram with a child and using picture cards to sidered correct. The parent must be willing to elicit the words, the placement and the method accept the teacher's criteria for success. This of presentation of the cards must be stressed acceptance will be facilitated by explaining the and modeled for the parents. shaping processhow we first accept a capital A Once the preparation of cues and the place- that looks like this: * . Then we shall demand ment of the child have been modeled, the teacher that the point of the A start on the line and so must demonstrate precisely the way in which we then shall accept anythingresembling an A

30 as long as the apex is on the line, such as 7g. with the behavior being taught. For instance, the Then, we may require the base of the left leg of chapter on dressing would be read if the parents the A to stop on the bottom line, and so on until were teaching their child to dress or undress. In we have step-by-step shaped the child's letter- addition,there are chapters discussingself- writing ability. feeding, toilet training, hygiene habits, language During the modeling stage the teacher dem- acquisition, motor skills, and academic learning. onstrates the way in which to deliver the con- Once the teacher has modeled the entire sequences to the child for the behavior emitted. procedure a number of times to the parent, the Ifthe behavioriscorrect, the teacher dem- parent is asked to try the procedure with her onstrates the way in which to delivery reinforcers, child in the presence of the teacher. At this point both social and tangible, paying particular atten- in time, if video tape cameras are available, they tion to the pairing of tangible and social conse- can be used to film the parent's attempts and quences. If signing is required, the delivery of thus facilitate the instructional process. Then, in the sign, the verbalization and the delivery of the addition to the feedback given to the parent by tangible consequence in rapid succession is a the teacher as the program is conducted with the difficult thing to coordinate and must be demon- child, the parent can watch a playback of the strated precisely in a set order to the parent. video tape and more vividly understand the cor- The method of delivering the negative feed- rections which the teacher has been giving to back, or the "No, that is not right, Johnny," when her. In correcting the parent during the video the child makes an incorrect response as well as tape playback, however, emphasis should be how to perform a correction procedure, should placed on the positive aspects of the parents' be demonstrated to the parent. Again, the ac- performance. Too frequently we focus only on curacy of this correction procedure and the speed the poor aspects. and precision of the delivery of the consequences Once the parent has demonstrated that he or are important to the child. The more severely she can deliver the cues and consequences to handicapped the child is, the greater necessity the child correctly and does so three or four there is to deliver reinforcers or negative feed- times in a row, the parent is then informed of back promptly. The more severely handicapped the extent of the program and the subsequent the child, the more precise the correction pro- sequences of the program. For instance Figure 1 cedure must be when the child emits an in- shows a sequence for a dressing skill removing correct response. In order to emphasize the in- underpants. If the child is on step one, the parent structions we give to parents of more severely is instructed to work on that step until the child handicapped children, we have the parents read makes three correct responses in a row. Then the selected portions of Isn't It Time He Outgrew parent is to move automatically to step two. Per- This? by Victor L. Baldwin, H. D. Bud Fredericks haps a demonstration of the entire sequence and Gerry Brodsky (Charles C. Thomas, 1973). might be necessary at this time. All parents are asked to read the initial chapters Since the same program is being conducted on cues, behaviors, consequences and data keep- in the home as in the center it is important that ing. Additional chapters are read to coordinate this program be coordinated between the two

31 environments. Therefore, a data system must be minutes of trying the program at home one even- developed for passing information about the ing. The child obviously was able to do step one child's progress back and forth between the after a few mistakes and then did step two parent and the center on a daily basis. We have successfully two times. Therefore, the teacher in dubbed this daily reporting system the Lunch Box the classroom the next day, on receiving these Data System. Figure 2 is a data sheet for the data, will work with the child on step two. Let dressing program shown in Figure 1 that is passed us suppose for the sake of the example that the back and forth between center and home. The teacher achieves success with step two. She then instructions to the parents before these data were sends home the data sheet to the parent marked taken were to move to the next step of the pro- as is shown in Figure 3, which indicates to the gram if the child was able to do a step three parent that she is to work with the child on step times in a row successfully. Figure 2 shows the three. This type of daily communication is im- data as submitted by the parent after fifteen perativeif the teacher and the parent are to

FIGURE 2 DATA FOR DRESSING PROGRAM BEING COORDINATED AT HOME

Child's Name STEPS 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10

Trials Date Reinforcer Used Phase Step Comments 1 2345678910

z ///7q -.4.-m4.;d IC I XOXOXXX ,2/ I/74/9"" -. 0X X

144

32 39 coordinate their instructional activity with the Even if the parent is not experiencing prob- child so that there is no lost time in the teaching lems with the program, periodic conferencesat of this child. least every three tofour weeksare recom- Figures 4 and 5 show two ways in which mended. During these conferences the parent teachers in two different types of programs pro- should once again demonstrate how she is con- vide information for parents about the program ducting the program at home. All teachers some- which they are conducting. Such directions have times acquire some had habits, and parents are been foundtofacilitatethecommunication not exempt from this fault. Thus, this periodic process between the center and the home. Al- conference serves as a maintenance check on the though the teacher has spent additional time quality of the home program. modeling, demonstrating and explaining the pro- One of the center activities that the parents gram to the parents at the center the parents seem to enjoy is periodic parent meetings. During may have some questions when they try the the meetings they share the experiences that they programat home without assistance. These have been having in teaching children. This type written directions help to answer sume of those of conference is especially valuable for those questions. The amount of detail put into these parents who may be having some difficulties; typesof communications variesconsiderably after listening to how other parents are solving from teacher to teacher and center to center. problems, they may be encouraged to try even Figure 4 shows a home program for a child in the harder. For parents that are having success, the Medford pre-school which caters primarily to opportunity to voice that success publicly can be children with learning disabilities and educable very reinforcing and may help to insure their mentally retarded children, and Figure 5 shows continuance in the program. the program sheet that will be sent home together with a sequence for a child in the Teaching EVALUATION Research Multiple Handicap Pre-School. Evaluation of this kind of program can be done on at least two dimensions. The firstis Liaison and Follow ThroughTheparent will con- program-wide. What percentage of the parents tinue to run the program and data will continue are participating in this type of program? Our to circulate back and forth between the school experience indicates that the average center will and the home. Frequently the parent may experi- have about fifty percent of their parents actively ence problems. The parent should communicate running home programs. Of this fifty percent these as rapidly as possible to the teacher so that about one-fourth will require rather close moni- the teacher can take remedial action. Often when toring and frequent liaison on the part of the the parent has such problems, the parent should teacher. The teacher should not become dis- be brought into the school to observe teachers couraged if certain parents refuse to participate modeling and to demonstrate how she is con- in this program or if certain parents who initially ducting the program at home in order to isolate agree to participate drop out. It would be an ex- the problem. traordinary program which had more than sixty

*1;40 33 FIGURE 3 DATA FOR DRESSING PROGRAM BEING COORDINATED AT HOME AND SCHOOL

Child's Name STEPS 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10. Trials Date Reinforcer Used Phase Step Comments 12345678910

2/1/74ga.41.t.,-,10e,:di 11 1 X0X0XXX 2 /i/P/ 9--, .e 2 0XX 2./2 /7i )4.4.4.4.- ,opal 2 OX0XXX 2/2/74. 3

percent of the parents participating on a con- ducting at least one program nightly, although it tinuing basis in this type of home program. The is not unusual to find some parents who will teacher should strive to prescribe some modeling conduct three or four nightly. and instruction to all parents and have the par- A final dimension upon which the value of ents demonstrate how they would provide the this kind of home-center program can be judged instruction. Much of this procedure learned by is the progress of the children. Figures 6 and 7 the parent can be used even though it may not show graphs of childrens' progress in this type be on a consistent, daily basis. of program. Figure 6 shows a Downs Syndrome Another way to look at program evaluation is child who was first taught to read sight words in the number of programs which each parent con- the center only. This method of teaching was ducts. All participating parents should be con- followed by a coordinated home and center pro-

,

34 41. FIGURE 4 HOME PROGRAM FOR MEDFORD PRE-SCHOOL

ROTE COUNTING Child 2) Date Initiated ////3/7' Teacher ?to.C54a-rie6

Goal: will be able to count by himself toV0 without error four days in a row.

Procedure: Help your child feel good about himself. Praise him whenever possible. Try to work withyour child at the same time every day.

1. Count to 10 with7fleje-/ 2.Using the cup ar,d beans, have 712-LA-4---/ count each bean as he drops it in a cup. 3.1714:04--e-counts to /3 by himself. Each day record the number your child can count to by himself.

Reward: This should be a realistic and practical choice. --&0 --6 717ac7.,72-42-41-4- Suggested period of time for working with child each day: S. Schedule for evaluation:

IDate to be returned Date to be returned-1 Date to be returned Yes No Yes No Yes No //5- /1/47 /1/19 ////6 ///i8

It4? 35 FIGURE 5 HOME PROGRAM FOR TEACHING RESEARCH MULTIPLE HANDICAP PRE-SCHOOL

Name: e-; Date started: //4251P/ Date completed: Task objective:aul-4/ ,-44/.iff,-rn4:42-6-- .2-3- +1 L.44,v-z-el chvar2-0

/0"?-1. quo Materials and Setting:01-1,-ck a -tidevePrda ys 4'71*

Treatment:

I. Cue or instructions: g A.Verbal: ,ompe

B.Non-verbal: Rtede-ntavt-1-- 101.C. 717.4a4G.

C.Incorrect response:"724) ,4-ee-4-i-e-

Criterion level of acceptable behavior: co-m44tAz4a-p714w on

gram. The data demonstrate that after the home skills was quite rapid. Although these kinds of and center program was initiated the child's data have been replicated frequently in this type progress accelerated rapidly. Figure 7 shows a of home-center prugram, the evaluation which graph of a child who is learning to rote count each center must undertake of this type of pro- in a learning disability pre-school; the data indi- gram must be on an individual basis, monitoring cate that after the parents became involved in each child's progress very carefully. The Lunch conducting home programs and helping the child Box Data System allows that kind of monitoring to learn to rote count, the .acceleration of his and evaluating. 43

36 MODIFIED LUNCH BOX SYSTEM request the parent to count the number of temper In the modified Lunch Box System the home- tantrums and the length of each temper tantrum center model as previously described is followed over a three-day period. except that the parent conducts programs with Once the necessary baseline data have been the child that are not conducted at the school. gathered, the procedure for conducting and moni- Another term for this model might be the supple- toring the program is essentially the same as the Lunch Box System, except that since the program mentary or modified Lunch Box Model. . IntakeAgain children are already in the center is not being carried out in the school as wellas receivinginstruction.This modelisusually at home, itis not necessary for the teacher to initiated when the parent approaches the teacher monitor the data daily, although the parents may and states that she would like to workon a pro- request that the teacher do so. Data submitted gram at home which is not being conducted in every three to five days by the parent should be the center. This request should immediately sufficient for the teacher to modify theprogram cause the center to examine the programs which as necessary to insure that the child is making they are conducting with the child, for if the progress. parent is placing such a high priorityon this ad- It should be recognized that if this modified ditional program, perhaps the program should be program requires the parent to teach the child a conducted at the center. However, often this is skill, the teacher should demonstrate it for the not possible; the problem is manifested only at parent and carry out the entire modeling proce- home. dure described in the Lunch Box Model. Further- Delivery of Direct ServicesIn the Lunch Box more, the teacher's written instructions for the parent should be very specific and precise. Model, the collection of baseline data is part of If the routine data-gathering system within the the parent decides to deviate in any way from those instructions, the parent should be asked center. However,in the Modified Lunch Box to consult the teacher. Model, no baseline data have been gathered in the center and therefore the first step in this Liaison and Follow ThroughPeriodic liaison is modified approach must be to gather such data. maintained with the parent on a three-to-five day If the information to be gathered has to do with basis and the programs are modified basedon the acquisition of a skill,it should be easily the data at that time. Certainly if the parent is collected at the center. If an inappropriate be- having difficulty she should feel free to callor to havior is being manifested in the home, baseline contact the teacher and arrange for a conference data will have to be gathered there. The parent so as to make early modification of the program. then will have to be instructed how to do this. EvaluationOn a program-wide scale the number For instance, let us suppose that the child is of these types of programs should be tracked and exhibiting temper tantrums in the home but not examined to determine that there are no deficits in the school. For baseline data the teachermay in the center programming for the children which 44 37 EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS

Imitation of Two, Three and Four Word Chains

Phases: I. Child imitates last word of phrase chain. II. Child imitates last 2 words of phrase chain. III.Child imitates 2 words of phrase chain picture or object presented. IV. Child imitates last 3 words of phrase chain. V. Child imitates 3 words of phrase chain picture or object presented. VI. Child imitates 4 words of phrase chain. VII.Child imitates 4 words of phrase chain picture or object presented. The following are examples of phrase chains to be used when teaching this skill:

Steps: A. Two word chain 1. a boy 10. a car 18. a toothbrush 2. a girl 11. the dog 19. is eating 3. a shirt 12. the cat 20. is washing 4. the dress 13. a house 21. is writing 5. the milk 14. a boat 22. Is dancing 6. the cake 15. a baby 23. is running 7. a bed 16. the candy 24. is sleeping 8. a chair 17. red wagon 25. is ironing 9. red ball

B. Three word chains 1. is a boy 10. is a car 18. have a toothbrush 2. is a girl 11. see the dog 19. man is eating 3. is a shirt 12. see the cat 20. woman is washing 4. is the dress 13. is a house 21. boy is writing 5. is the milk 14. is a boat 22. girl is dancing 6. is the cake 15. is a baby 21 boy is running 7. is a bed 16. is the candy 24. man is sleeping 8. is a chair 17. the red wagon 25. woman is ironing 9. the red ball

38 EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS Imitation of Two, Three and Four Word Chains (continued) Examples of phrase chains (continued)

C. Four word chains 1. This is a boy. 10. This is a car. 18.I have a toothbrush. 2. This is a girl. 11.I see the dog. 19. The man is eating. 3. This is a shirt. 12.1 see the cat. 20. The woman is washing. 4. This is the dress. 13. This is a house. 21. The boy is writing. 5. This is the milk. 14. Ride in a boat. 22. The girl is dancing. 6. This is the cake. 15. This is a baby. 23. The boy is running. 7. This is a bed. 16. This is the candy. 24. The man is sleeping. 8. This is a chair. 17. See the red wagon. 25. The woman is ironing. 9. See the red ball. * Work with a group of 3-5 words at a time, spending a few minutes on each word and going over several word chains in each session. Give phrase; Susie must imitate phrase; do not let her give "jargon" before she imitates phrase.

necessitate these additional programsinthe deficit. Yet, the center was not experiencing a home. On an individual child basis, however, the similar difficulty. When the child first entered the data should indicate the progress of the child center, the first few days were spent bringing and how well the program is working. some inappropriate behaviors under control, but One case study of a child on a modified there was no continual difficulty with compliance. Lunch Box System follows.It illustrates how a Consultation was held with the parent about center should keep individualized data. Figure 8 the difficulty she was experiencing at home. Base- shows data for a family whose child isin the line data indicated that the child was complying Teaching ResearchInfantandChildCenter 40% of the time. multiple handicapped classroom. The parents A program was initiated in which the parert were having difficulty with the child's responding was required to exaggerate the consequences for to commands or instructions. In fact, the child's the child's compliance and for non-compliance. compliance rate was so low that the parent At the time of this writing, the program is con- suspected that the child might have a hearing tinuing but the compliance rate at home has

46 39 reached 82% and the parent is in the process of tunity should be made to utilize these parents in fading theprimaryreinforcersusedinthe the actual instruction of children because, as program (see Figure 8). they learn how to instruct children in the center, the parents will then be able to instruct and THE PARENT AS A VOLUNTEER guide their own child in the home more effec- IntakeOftentimes parents are willing to serve tively. It is a rare parent who works in an effective as volunteers in the child center. Every oppor- child center who has not learned to present cues

Figure 5 (Continued)

Child's Name 1= Correct response Criterion: 5 co-rwee..eztwei 0 = Incorrect response 0-714.44,

Behavior Date Baseline Phases:II //ZS / .28 i.29 V30 .2/3 1. a boy / / 2. a girl gig)/ 3. a shirt Q:Ei)// 4. the dress Gi2) 5. the milk ci:D' 6. the cake / mew 7. a bed CED' 8. a chair 630 9. red ball t*g?) 10. a car / ,c:ii) 11. the dog d 000dS0 12. the cat ci!i) 13. a house / 14. a boat -E-1) 15. a baby_ 16. the candy / 17. red wagon 0 //Awe Teaching Time j-- p,u;,r. /5 yyz.,,t, /.5- wi.,;,, As- 7,24-n. ,,t54A 'rt°,414.

40 47 and consequences properly, who has not learned entation of video tapes of parents at work in the to analyze a task, and who has not seen the center is particularly effective. Emphasis on the necessity for the maintenance of data to insure benefits that will accrue to their own child may more efficient programming of children. "sell" some parents on the idea. A group meeting of parents might be held to Service DeliveryOnce the parents have agreed obtain volunteers. The topic of parents' volunteer- to volunteer, they must go through a training ing should be presented and explained. The pres- period. The limits of this chapter do not allow a

Figure 5 (Continued)

Child's Name 1= Correct response 0 = Incorrect response Criterion: 1/4-3 c#1,1-ce-e 077.4411

Behavior Date 2/3 Gi.,2$ a toothbrush Ow Susie is eating Cam) Susie is washing ic)o.-&i9 Susie is writing moiw Susie is dancing Susie is running Susie is sleeping Susie is ironing

Teaching Time /5-- 7,2442 /5- 7,2-n.

41 FIGURE 6 PROGRESS OF A CHILD IN A HOME-CENTER PROGRAM

SIGHT VOCABULARY

Center Only I Center and Parents

25

20 P

0 15 b..

E

10

Child Mongoloid Age: 71/2

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Weeks

C; 42 49 FIGURE 7 PROGRESS OF A CHILD IN A HOME-CENTER PROGRAM

ROTE COUNTING Center Only Center and Parents

20 (17)

Child EMR (IQ 72) Age: 5 years

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

43 FIGURE 8 HOME PROGRAM FOR INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR TEACHING RESEARCH INFANT AND CHILD CENTER

Name . rAwti Date started/01-e-e4911,4, /3) /973 Date completed/terminated

Task Objective:

%.17244.taAtt, CO-mereidini eeernra:M4141.. -4) 852 je7.44,ee,n, 900 ea,nd, condt444,.... dame. ftc at ae....e4e..dies go&yetel.

Baseline Data: /02//1/ 50% /02//633% /a2/i802.51, X =/D1 /a/ 45-33% /.2//7SO% AO9 407:

Final Data:

If program not completed but terminated, state reason:

Treatment: START DATE FINISH DATE 1.4 .4.4../jord fre- _ea-a cermrsha:pme..e.- /.2/Zop.3 2. 4".4-paioize vii.eprd frt. _tea Co704,11...s.c4.. Re.v.3.4.41 1/03/7 w/1.4.p-pre- 4.e...444d 1;x0 "o-t Acte.4non- e-427,4a 3. 434.;)/0-:e.4 ro/frvzi C07*2.4.4~-4. ///0/71 "t4.)/3 7n4/;:-44te.. -0-at.

44 008 W IIINIMMENIIIIIIM.- MEMMEMMEM ...:mmMS. . Mill . 1111111.1M ME ME EMME IMIIMMEMMEMEMElilt IOMMEMEM

. INIMMEM MMEMMENSIMMEMMEM "MMEMEMIMEMMEMEMMEMMUKUMM 11111MKNEME EM= IIMMEMMWNERMEMMEM . AIM MMEMMUMEMMEMMINIM IMMEWNINNIIIIIIIIKIIIIIIIIIMMINIMIMMI MUMMWM IIMMAIMINEMMEMMEMUMEMEMMEMMEMME ,,1111111111111111111111Mill11111111111111111111 MialIMERUMMEMEMEMMEMMEM11111111111111111111111110111111MERIMI IMIIAIMMAIIMMUMMIIMMEMMEMEMEM MEMMEMM M IMEMMEMMEMEMEMEMMEMMEMMEIE IN MI_ IMMINIIIIIIIIMININIMMIIMMIIMIIIIMMININI complete discussion of the training that should way, and that the recorded data be exam- be conducted for a parent volunteer. However, we ined on a regular basis by the teacher in have found certain rules for training to be effec- order to provide timely updating of chil- tive guidelines. In short, some of these guidelines dren's programs. are: A system of flexible scheduling of volun- Time must be taken to train volunteers and teers must be maintained. The center must the training must be concise and simple. be prepared for volunteers to miss days. A short lecture describing the center, the The scheduling must allow for that pos- things a volunteer must do, and some prin- sibility.It must also accommodate the ciples of teaching is an excellent way to training level of the volunteer. begin. This lecture is followed by observa- For a more complete discussion of the guide- tion and demonstration, and finally, the lines, see A Data Based Pre-School for the volunteer should be placed in a practicum Multiple Handicapped by H. D. Bud Fredericks, situationin which he teaches children Victor L. Baldwin, David Grove, William Moore, under supervision of a teacher or an aide. Charles C. Thomas, in press. Volunteers must be given teaching tasks in the classroom comparable to their level of Liaison and Follow ThroughIdeally, once the training.It will take time for parents to parents have learned these skills of teaching in learn how to teach all parts of the curic- the center, it would seem that they should also ulum. Starting them in one areasuch be able to take those skills and utilize them in as self-help, motor, development, or arith- the home with their own child. If such a parent meticwill allow them to master that area is not already conducting home programs, every before they arerequiredto teachin effort should be made to encourage her to do so. another. She is then ready to move into the Lunch Box A continuous system of feedback as to the Data system. adequacy of the volunteers' performance EvaluationEvaluation of parents' participation must exist. To do this the center must have as volunteers can be done on two dimensions. a system of observing volunteers that al- First, program-wise, a simple count of how many lows center supervisory personnel to moni- parents volunteer is useful. Certainly we would tor the quality of the volunteer's teaching expect at least twenty-five percent of the non- and to give feedback to volunteers. working mothers to volunteer at least one day a A simplified system of communication be- week in the center. tween the teacher and the volunteer that The other dimension upon which the effec- does not require oral instruction must exist. tiveness of parents as volunteers can be mea- The teacher should write down specified, sured is their success as teachers, which can be detailed directions on how instruction is to measured by tabulating their efficiency in dis- be delivered tochildren.Itfurtherre- pensing cuses and consequences, and the way in quires that the volunteer record the per- which they keep data and help manage the formance of the child in some iy41Pmatic children. 4- 46 53 problems. He holds degrees from the University of Kansas and the University of Oregon, and his major professional interests are in experimental analysis of human behavior, parent training, be- havior engineering and children with behavior problems.

BIBLIOGRAPHY H. D. "Bud" Fredericks, Ed.D., is Associate Baldwin, V. L., Fredericks, H. D., and Brodsky, G. Directorof Teaching ResearchinMonmouth, Isn't it time he outgrew this? or A training Oregon. He is the co-author of Isn't It Time He program for parents of retarded children, OutgrewThis?, The Teaching Research Motor Charles C. Thorns, Publisher, Springfield, Developement Scale, and Impact ofTitleVI Illinois, 1973. Series, State of Oregon. Fredericks, H. D., Baldwin, V. L., Grove, D., and Dr. Fredericks has received degrees from Moore, W. A data based pre-school for the Holy Cross, Stanford University, and the Univer- multiple handicapped, Charles C. Thomas, sity of Oregon, and has done research in the Publisher, Springfield, Illinois, in press. areas of the retarded, deaf and blind children, and the emotionally disturbed. Victor L. Baldwin, Ed.D., is the co-author of Isn't It Time He Outgrew This? and The Teaching Research Motor Development Scale, and is pro- fessionally interested in behavior modification, measurement andevaluation, paraprofessional training and classroom management. He is cur- rently the director of the Exceptional Child Re- search Program at Teaching Research in Mon- Oregon, and holds degrees from Kansas State College and the University of Oregon. David N. Grove, Ph.D., is an Associate Re- search Professor at the University of Oregon. He has done research in the areas of physical therapy techniques, parent training and treatment strate- gies for agencies who treat children with behavior

47

A Home Based Potent Training Model By Marsha S. Shearer

Thebasicoperationalpremisesofthe OVERVIEW. AND RATIONALE OF THE Portage Project, as they relate to parents are: HOME BASED PRoGRAM 1) Parents care about their children and want them to attaintheir maximum The portage Project'Operates administratively potential, however gkaat or limited that through a regional- educational agency serving.

potential may be twerity4hree distrietkin toutn-central rural; . 2) Parents can, with instruction, modeling, consin. The Project presently serves 140 children; and reinforcement, learn to be more birth to Schee)! .age;:olo have, been. *Miffed 44: effective teachers of their own children being handicapped inpne or moredevelopmental:: 3) The socio-economic and educational or areas.:Any Preschool child;. with any type' or. intellectual levels of the parents do not severity of handicap residing-,Wfthin, the 3,600 determine either their willingness to .square mite area *led by the agency, quatifieS, teach their children or the extent of for the early intPrm.ent*ProlPct- gains the children will attain as a result In the Portage.Prajtot there is no classroom of parental instruction program. Instead of having children come into a 4) The precision teaching method is the center, we use "home teachers" to visit in every preferred learning model since feedback child's home where they instruct the child's is provided daily to parents and weekly parents how to teach their own child. So our to staff, thereby reinforcing both when model is completely home based, rather than goals are met. Moreover, the method center based and parents with the help of home provides a continual data base for cur- teachers do all the teaching of their own children. riculum modification thus maximizing Three practical factors influenced our de- the likelihood of success for parents cision to have an exclusively home-based pro- and children gram. The first was that we were dealing with

49 such a large geographical area that the cost and The parents implement the actual teaching responsibility of transporting very young handi- process itself, including reinforcement of capped children great distances was prohibitive. desired behavior and reduction or extinc- Second, even when several children were identi- tion of behavior that interferes with learn- fied within a smaller geographical area, such as ing appropriate skills. one school district, the variance in chronological The home teacher records post-baseline ages, functioning levels, and handicapping con- data one week after the baseline is taken ditions precluded the possibility of establishing to determine if the prescribed skills have, classroom programs. Finally, classroom programs in fact, been learned. would have severely limited parent involvement The purpose of the weekly home visit is to because of the geographical and psychological instruct the parents what to teach, how to teach, distances between home and school. On the basis what to reinforce, and how to observe and record of these factors we decided that all instruction behavior. The home teacher instructs the parents would take place in the parent and child's natural (or siblings or parent substitute) during the home environmentthe home. visit. Then, the parents or substitute teach the To implement this program, a home teacher child and record his progress daily throughout the is assigned to each child and family. This educa- following week. tor who may be a trained professional or a trained In this model there are certain practical ad- paraprofessional,visits each of the assigned vantagesnot having to transport children or pro- fifteen families one day per week for one anda vide a center facilitythat reduce the cost of the half hours. Individual curriculum is prescribed program by more than half. But even more im- weekly based on an assessment of each child's portantly, there are inherent advantages that the present behavior in the areas of language, self- Portage Projectstaffhas experiencedinthe help, cognitive, motor, and social skills. Utilizing home-based, precision teaching model. These ad- the parents as teachers,thePortage Project vantages are based on involving the child's first, follows the precision teaching model which is and potentially his best teachershis parents. comprised of these element-:,: The educational assests that we found are: At least three behavioral goals are selected The parent teaches the childintheir for the child to learn each week. The goals natural environment. Therefore, they do not and criteria for accomplishing them are have the problem of transferring learning chosen so that the child, and thus the into the home as they would if the child parent, will achieve success within a one were in a center-based program. week period of time. This model is totally dependent on parent Baseline data is recorded by the home involvement for success. Since one and a teacher on each new task prior to instruc- half hours one day per week is not a suffi- tion to the parent as an additional check cient amount of time for a child to learn on the reatiness of the child to proceed developmentalskillsfromthe home with other learning activities. teacher, parents must be taught to teach

57 7 ;: 50 their own child between home visits. Thus, PARENT PARTICIPATION IN THE INTAKE training parents is more than an adjunct AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS it is absolutely mandatory. After a child has been referred to Fhe Project, Another major advantageinusing the (parents can and often do refer their own chil- home-based precision teaching model is dren) a home teacher contacts the parents and that the home teacher and the parents makes an appointment to visit the home to ex- have direct access to the child's behavior plain the project and meet and screen the child. as it occurs naturally. This situation en- It is at this time that parents are told that realistic curriculum goals that will they will teach their own child and that they will be functionalfor the childwithinhis learn how to teach him by observing the instruc- unique environment. In fact, the differences tion given by the home teacher. The following in cultures, life styles, and value systems are examples of a few typical reactions of parents of parents are incorporated into curriculum and resultant responses of the home teachers at planning, since the parents determine what this point. and how their child will be taught. Itis more likely that the skills that the Parent: "Oh, I've tried teaching Mary, like child learns will generalize to other areas how to walk, but she can't even crawl yet." and be maintained if the skills have been Teacher: "Maybe teaching Mary how to learned in the child's home environment crawl, if she's ready, would be a good place and taught by the child's naturalrein- for us to begin." forcerhis parents. Parent: "We're not trained teachers; we Father,sibling, and in- can't do anything as important as that." volvement becomes a realistic and obtain- Teacher: "You've been teaching Jim all able goal. When instruction occurs in the along. Just look at all the things he can home there is more opportunity for full do. He makes sounds, he's beginning to family participation in the teaching pro- feed himself, he matches objects, he points cess. to body parts. You've taught him a lot!" There is access to the full range of the Parents: "We've given up trying to accom- child's behavior, such as temper tantrums plish anything. He just drives us crazy. You which only occur in the home or hearing teach him and leave us out of it." from the parents that their child is crawling Teacher: "I can't.I need you and so does into bed with them each night. Much of Chris. While I'm here,I'll show you what this behavior could not be targeted for to do and how to do it. I'm not going to ask modification within a classroom. you to try anything without showing you Finally, since the home teacher is working first that it's going to work. So let's give it on a one to one basis with the parents and a try together." child,individualizationofinstructional Parent: "Oh, I don't have time to teach goals for bothisreality rather than an Todd." idealized goal. , )Teacher: "You do spend some time with 5b 51 Todd each day don't you? Okay, all I'm The child is screened during this first visit to asking is that you spend that time working determine project eligibility. All screening is done on these activities,I promise they won't in the home, with parental consent and their help take more than half hour a day. And yell by contributing their knowledge of the child. The any time if you think it's too much," screening inst'ument (Alpern andBoll,1972) Parent: "I have no patience.I don't think which is also used as one of the pre-post meas- I can do it." ures, is administered as a parental questionnaire Teacher: "Sure you can, I'll give you all together with direct observation of the child's the help you need. Give the program a try behavior, when possible. In fact,it couldn't be for a month or so. If you don't think we're accomplished without them. We have found that getting anywhere, you're free to withdraw the results are likely to be more reliable than if at any time. But give it a try first." testing were done without the benefit of parent Parent: "I work all day, don't get home involvement because parents know their children 'till 6:00 and by then I'm exhausted. I fix best. Also, since the assessment instrumentsare dinner for Dawn then she goes to bed. administered on the parent's and child's "home There's just no time for me to work with ground", results are likely to bemore accurate her." thanif the assessment were attempted ina Teacher: "I'll be happy to work with Dawn's strange environment. babysitter andI'llcall you each week to The assessment of the child also becomes keep you posted so you'll know how she's the first step in parent training. During thispro- doing and what to work on during the cess questions are asked by the home teacher weekend." concerning the child's present behavior in five different areas of growth and development. Many But the most frequent reaction to our ap- parents voice surprise at how much they know proach to parents is, "We've never gottenany about their child in some areas and how little practical help 'till now. Every time I take her in they know about their childin others. Parents for an evaluation, we're told nothing. Oh, they make genera! remarks like:"I must have seen tell us Penny will never walk and that she might Johnny go up and down steps hundred of times, be blind. But no one has ever toldus what we but Ijust haven't noticed if he does it with two can do to help." feet on the same step or if he walks down like After five years of working with nearly four I do." If the parent is unsure of theanswer to hundred parents, we have found that the most any question, the home teacher tests the child frequent question asked during the initial visit is, directly.

"What can I do with my child; how can I help Many parents verbalize that they don't know him learn?" Parents are accustomed to hearing if their child can cut with a scissorsor ride a what their child isn't doing, so it isn't surprising trike because they haven't given him the oppor- that they stress the negative too. And this brings tunity. Often, just asking the parents the ques- us to the assessment process. tions gives thern the clue to try. One parent called

52 the office two days after initial assessment to emerging. The parents are given the choice as report that not only could Suzie now cut paper to which behavioral goal they would like to target following a straight line she also took advantage first. of her new-found skill and gave the family dog a haircut! (Fortunately, the mother was laughing.) PARENT PARTICIPATION IN THE In addition to the Alpern -Boll, the Portage DELIVERY OF SERVICES --THE HOME Checklist is also completed (Shearer, Billingsley, VISIT PROCESS Frohman, et at 1972). A complete description of The home teacher writes up an activity chart this instrument along with descriptions of other incorporating the parents' selection of behavioral project components canbe found elsewhere goals (see figures1 and II). The most important (Shearer and Shearer, 1972; Frohman and Schort- point here is for the home teacher to break tasks inghuis, in press). This instrument lists a series down and prescribe only those which are most of behavioral sequences from birth to age five likely to be achieved within one week and can be encompassing self-help, motor, language, sociali- achieved with high degree of probability. When zation and cognitive skills. This checklist aids success on these tasks is achieved the parents the parent and teacher in breaking developmental are immediately reinforced because what was tasksintosmaller steps and then assessing learned by the child was a direct result of parental whether the child exhibits the behavior on entry teaching. The directions are written in simple, into the program. What the child can already do clear language so that the parents can refer to determines what he's ready to learn next. The them during the week. The parents are asked to results of the assessment are discussed with the keep simple records on the activity chart. At first parents. All of the parents' questions regarding recording is uncomplicated and usually involves the assessment are answered honestly and in frequency counts. understandable language without psycho-educa- First the home teacher introduces the activity tional jargon. When we discuss the assessment to the child and records the frequency of correct with the parent, we emphasize what the child can responses prior to instruction. This baseline data do. This is because the curriculum the parent isrecorded on the activitychart. The home will be asked to carry out will be based on what teacher begins the teaching process by following he isready to learnnext. The processitself the written directions on the activity sheet. The sometimes makes parents aware of the accom- home teacher is thus modeling teaching tech- plishments of their children. One father said, niques for the parentsshowing them what to do "You know, up to this point, all I've really noticed and how to do it. After several trials, the parents are all the things Ronnie can't do. Guess he's model for the home teacher. Extra activity sheets accomplished a few things after all." are provided so the parents can practice record- After the assessment is completed the home ing the child's behavior as they work with him teaching process begins. Based on the informa- while the home teacher is still there. The home tion in the assessment, the home teacher often teacher then is able to offer sugestions and rein- points out three or four behavioral goals that are forcement that will maximize the likelihood that

53 FIGURE 1 ACTIVITY SHEET

PORTAGE PROJECT ACTIVITY CHART Child's Name 524:41 Home Teacher's Name Week of /ea.,

BEHAVIOR: Mom a.4,eil ge..ei _44,44cit. y itht.0.94441) .44ti a-.144 u-A4:c4/-4.21 (.5-71k-rit4.7ceetyr)

TWIF35MTI a a a a a DIRECTIONS: DAYS

1. Zia?. 7fturtic6 a-e-peti ar-/u.ctoue.4, titaiadze.-du/4gimz --41-ceeat

2. ra..44,44,t.tot cg.eiaov;frzti; tr oe,-fred at .a.rtoe t t, anal gal 6 A....IL.x.t .dze "ave- ,4,rn4.t.a.et.,72 3. ic3t4t4Agt, /wt. _eetek ,44.4 ,4,11q4:42-44 4. 21,4z. a m 0,24a t4.644444 a.~e

5. 4"..t.c.ftd -7744-7714e .t- ?ru,n4,,te,o i444- xylvn4i 44-244,eadt, ce.y.

54 the parents will work effectively with the child to accommodate individual differences among during the week and then the child will succeed parents. with the prescribed activity. Throughout thevisitthehome teacher Parents Who Cannot Read or Write or Who Are stresses the importance of working with the child Themselves Handicapped. during the week. The home teacher leaves his or One family had eight children, seven of whom her home and office phone number with the par- were in special education classes, The youngest, ents and encourages them to call if any question a preschooler, was at home and had been re- or problem arises during the week. The home ferred to the Project by the county nurse. The teacher returns the following week to collect post- father kept all intruders away from the house baseline data on the previous week's activities. with a shotgun and greeted the home teacher in This helps the teacher validate the accuracy of this manner; however, both parents listened to an the parents' recording and provides the teacher explanation of the Project. The conversation took with feedback concerning the degree of success place on the wooden porch which apparently was achieved by the child and his readiness to pro- not able to hold the weight, and it collapsed! The ceed to the next sequential step. Based on this home teacher was asked to come back the next data, the home teacher prepares a new activity week anu, possibly because there was no longer sheet. On this new sheet the previous prescrip- a front porch, she was invited into the t;ouse tions are altered or new activities are introduced. where she met and screened Joey. Based on the Baseline datais recorded and so the cycle is assessmentit was determined that Joey /vas repeated. At the completion of each home visit, functioning at the "trainable" level. After scme the parent writes an evaluation of the week's discussion; the parents agreed to participate in progress, which often serves as an additional the Project and work with the child. source of information for curriculum planning and There were instances when the home teacher modification. had to teach the mother the skillbefore she Every attempt is made to utilize materials could teach it to her son. Sometimes the learning available in the home; however, there are times occurredsimultaneously. Forexample,one when materials are brought in and left for the mother and son learned to name and discrimi- parents to use. This works well because parents nate between colors together, and both were take care of materials. During the past five years, equally proud of their accomplishments. only two percent of these materials have been Because an activity chart would be of no use lost or broken. to this family, the home teacher relied heavily This is the basic sequence of the home visit on demonstrating the teaching process necessary process. However in reality, sometimes modifica- to implement each prescription, and on parent tions of the process are necessary. Parents are modeling. Recording was done on masking tape not the same, thusitis as important toindi- that was taped on the kitchen table with one vidualize the teaching process for them as itis piece of tape representing each day of the week. to do so with their child. The following are ex- Hash marks were drawn on the tape which indi- amples of how the process has been modified cated to the mother the number of times the

55 FIGURE 2 ACTIVITY SHEET

PORTAGE PROJECT ACTIVITY CHART Child's Name Home Teacher's Name *e&z./ Week of tOSe-e-riilfre /40-4

BEHAVIOR: oCan.n.it, .44:e .4tcycip-a-rie,n3 .44,-catrui AIL-rut/41er Acie2,72,c-t- 3...4GGandA2-,.

TFS5MTINT DIRECTIONS: DAYS 1. Aid on ogo-o-7,-.44.a` o<07t/n-a/ .Ze.t1sA-Wfrt.L.114,t4,teJ.e 4e.rt. ce,nrt.Ct.41.42-1" ari,rutt afouir. Atemar.Itdcze-4 kt.nd airurn-dt ,07741- ILe-e,-Asiek 2. ayeak Apeet ,hAt -zee de4 4 gay ctia.3 afvuett,o zAt.ia,LA-44t4eti 4,71 e

56 activity was to be practiced. The mother circled nearby tavern which was the closest water supply. a hash mark for each correct response. Two older The real payoff was to come at the next siblings were interested in the activities so the home visit. The home teacher had told the mother home teacher involved them inthe teaching that if Annie could recall two facts about each process too. of the stories that had been read to her that she, After one year in the project, Joey was the the home teacher, would get the water for the first child in this family of eight who was able to mother that week. The mother worked with the enter kindergarten. Testing data indicated he child that week and Annie could recall the facts. was functioning within the normal range. The best thing that happened from our point of Parents Who Do Not Work With Their Child view was that the mother was so reinforced by Between Home Visits. her child's success that she no longer needed Annie, the target child, was especially low in to be coaxed into working with her child. Three language skills and so the home teacher wanted weeks later, the mother sail, "It's akay now. You to acquaint the mother (this is a don't have to get my water. I want to work with Annie." home) with the importance of verbalizing to the child. The first prescription was, "Mom will read a story, five minutes in length, to Annie each Parents Who Do Not Record day." The parent could simply record on the Although all the parents need to do is record activity chart, "yes" she did read, or "no" she the total number of correct responses on the didn't. When the mother still hadn't accomplished activity chart, there are so many parents that do the task two weeks later, the home teacher had not record during the first month that a single to think of a system to motivate the mother to example wouldnotbeinstructive.However read to the child. gadgets like clickers, golf counters, and knitting The prescription was modified the following counters are especially helpful. Even though none week so that the mother would read a short story of the parents' data is used to add to or modify to the child daily. The home teacher put each prescriptions, (baseline and post-baseline data story book in an envelope which also contained collected by the home teacher determines that) a small present for the mother, such as a comb it can serve as a major motivator for the parents or a small vial of perfume. She hoped that the because they can see small gains that might present would motivate the mother to open the otherwise go unnoticed. Extra praise and atten- envelope, although this was no guarantee she tion from the home teacher or staying for an would read to the child. extra cup of coffee have been used as a reward The home teacher began thinking of another for the parent who records. In one case the home kind of reinforcer for the mother. She knew that teacher had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get the home was lacking in many modern conveni- the parent to record and the parent had been ences,likerunning water. To get water, the trying, unsuccessfully, to get the teacher to buy mother had to walk one mile every week with a panty hose. They came to a mutual satisfactory sled or a wagon, depending on the weather, to a trade offrecording data for panty hose.

57 SOME "HOW TO'S" OF WORKING The family members will take Johnny into WITH PARENTS the bathroom with them and they will The Project has learned several important model toileting behaviors. lessons, some of them the hard way, as they The mother will place Johnny on the toilet relate to working with parents. A few of these every one and a half hours for no more suggestions are directly related to working in than five minutes. If Johnny performs ap- homes. However, most would be applicable re- propriately, he will be given praise and a gardless of the instructional setting. happy face sticker to put on the bathroom door. Set Weekly Curriculum Goals The mother willput Johnny intraining Choosing the goals and writing the prescrip- pants during the day (not diapers). tions are the most difficult tasks the teacher Johnny willsortblueplastic cars and faces, and.probably the most important. In plan- yellow spoons into two groups. ning individualized goals for a child and the Johnny will dip his spoon into sticky cereal parents, it is important that the chosen goal be (oatmeal) without help, willhold spoon one that can be achieved within one week. There without help, and will guide spoon to mouth may be times that this goal will not be met; how- with minimum aid (slight pressure on his ever,itis extremely important that successes elbow). occur frequently and quickly, especially in the The mother will count the number of tan- beginning. When the child succeeds, the parents trums Johnny has each day (baseline in- succeed since they are the ones who are doing formation). the teaching. The mother will imitate any sound Johnny At this point the teacher knows from the makes and she will count the number of assessment that the child, among other things, times Johnny imitates her. is not toilet trained, doesn't feed himself, has Johnny will stand on one foot without sup- temper tantrums, doesn't imitate sounds, can't port for five seconds. sort primary colors and can't hop. Where to be- The choice of activities would depend totally gin? Begin where he iswith what he can already on our mythical Johnny. He determines the do. It really does help to look at the things the curriculum. The choice, in the beginning, should child can do. rather than the things he can't. He be based as much on the likelihood of success does stay dry for one and a half hours; he can as on the importance of the skill. hold a spoon, dip it and get it to his mouin with help; he does make vowel sounds and some con- Show the Parent What to Do and How to Do It sonant sounds spontaneously; he can sort blue In teaching any new skill, it is important to plastic cars from blue plastic spoons; and he does model the behavior that is expected. For instance, respond to praise and smiles. Now, what could inteaching a child to sort colors, a teacher be appropriate beginning objectives that are likely wouldn't say, "Okay Johnny. sort colors." The to be achieved within a week? Here are a few teacher would show him what to do by doing it possibilities: herself. Adults being taught new skills also learn

58 (66 better when given concrete examples. For in- If these problems can be corrected before the stance, a parent is much more likely to deal with teacher leaves, then the likelihood that the par- tantrums in a certain way if shown how to do it ents and child will succeed with the activity rather than being told how to do it. This means during the week is greatly increased. that the teacher may have to instigate a temper Reinforce the Parents tantrum and then show the parents how to handle Another condition necessary tolearn new it.The teacher finds out what typically sets skills is reinforcement. Just as the child is more Johnny off and then creates the same situation. likely to perform actions that are reinforced, so If the technique suggested by the home teacher are the parents. Let them know; tell them when doesn't work, something else istrieduntil a they're doing itright and be patient. Itis not technique is found that does work. In this way a technique that will work is discovered and the reasonable to expect perfection from parents im- parents are not frustrated by trying something mediately. Sometimes the parent may have to break long-established behavior patterns of his that won't work. Teachers need not be afraid of trying and failing in front of the parents. The own to be able to apply good techniques in teach- teacher is showing the parents that itis alright ing his child. For example, the parent may be used to doing things for the child that he can to make mistakes as long as the prescription is do for himself, ignoring "good" behaviors and at- modified to achieve success. The teacher then, tending to "bad" ones, or not talking to the child ismodeling problem-solving behavior for the parents. The moral then is: there is always a because he never responds anyway. It does take time, practice, and reinforcement to change o;d solution. patterns, and parents should be praised for small Have the Parents Practice Teaching the Skill improvements. Small improvements lead to big The purpose of the home visit is to instruct ones! the parents to teach the child, and one condition individualize for Parents necessary for the parent's learning is the oppor- Some parents have experienced so much tunity to practice. After the parents have seen failure when trying to work with their child in the the teacher work with the child and succeed, past, that they do not want to try again. To change they need to experience the same success, since this "I give up" attitude to an "I did it!" attitude there is a major difference in seeing an activity may mean that the home teacher must offer being taught and doing it yourself. Parents need parents moretangibleencouragements than to know they can teach effectively too in the praise. In one home, for example, the teacher presence of the teacher. Thus, parents will be and parent drank a beer together and socialized more likely to carry out the activity when the after the home visit if the child had accomplished teacher is not there. Also this provides an oppor- the skill. (It was the home teacher's last visit of tunity for the home teacher to spot problems the day!) quickly. For example, the parent might not let This rather atypical example serves to show the child know when he is correct, or the parent that in the beginning, praise alone may not be might be giving too many cues or not enough. enough to motivate some parents. However, once tb b

59 parents see that they can succeed and that their teachers did help the parents plan the curriculum, child can learn as a result of their teaching, you these gains in I.Q. could only have been attained can substitute praise for more tangible rein- through parental teaching. forcers. Success is the greatest reinforcer of all, Another way to evaluate the parents' effec- but in some cases extraordinary measures need tiveness is to test the child after the summer. to be taken just to get the parents involved so vacation since the program does not operate they can experience success. during the summer months. Children whoare Involve the Parents in Planning too young to go to public school and remain in As the parents experience success in teach- the project longer than one year are retested in ing their child, the home teacher should reduce September, and these test results are compared her help and involve the parents in planning to the scores achieved the previous May. In the weekly goals. Thus, the parents do not become past there was no significant difference in the dependent on the teacher but become confident scores although some regression might have been and self-reliant in planning the curriculum for expected. This indicates that tha parentscon- their child as well as teaching it. Some parents tinued to work with the child and reinforce him will reach this stage six months after they begin even though the home teacher was no longer in the program, and some after six years. The making visits. parents should be encouraged to take as much Ninety children were served by the project responsibility as they can, but the home teacher last year and the frequency of parental recording should always be ready to give support, reinforce- over the year's period of time was ninety-two per- ment, help, and encouragement based on the cent. An average of one hundred and twenty-eight parent's needs. prescriptions were written per child overa year's period of time. The children were successfulon ninety-one percent of the prescriptions written. EVALUATION OF PARENT PARTICIPATION This indicates that the parents taught the children There are several ways to measure the degree during the week, and that, based on post-baseline of parent participation. One is to measure the data taken by the teacher, the children did indeed progress of the children. One of the most tradi- learn. tional ways to do this is to compare I.Q.scores. The success of this model also can be meas- The average I.Q. of the children in the project ured by the ability of parents to plan curriculum was seventy-five as determined by standardized without assistance. Approximately sixty percent intelligence tests. Therefore, it would be expected of the parents have been able to plan curriculum that on the average, the normal rate of growth fully and write up activity charts without teacher would be seventy-five percent of that of the child assistance. with normal intelligence. One would expect that Furthermore, we have found that a significant the average gain would be about six months in number of parents are using the teaching tech- an eight month period of time. However, the niques learned from the home teacher to change average child in the project gained fifteen months the behavior of other family members, in addition in an eight month period. Although the home to the targeted child's.

60 The Project has attempted to conduct surveys help. The teacher's expertise is in teachingnot about the program after the program year ended social work, counseling, psychology, or psychi- to determine if a relationship existed between atrybut it is her responsibility to be aware of amount of gains made by the children and the community resources that can serve these other parents' attitudes. However, the parent's com- needs. It then must be the parent's decision to ments were so positive that no relationship could contact or not to contact the suggested sources. be drawn. (Peniston, E., 1972). The option and decision must be left with the We think that one of the most significant in- parents. formal evaluations of our project was the fact Each teacher should set up a scheduled day that the parents fought so hard to make sure it and time for the home visit. If there is a change, was funded. Two years ago (before mandatory parents should be informed. Because a family legislation was enactedin Wisconsin) federal may have a handicapped child or may be in need funds were discontinued for the direct service of assistance does not mean the family must component of the Project. In order for the pro- forfeit their right to privacy. gram to continue, financial support from local The teaching staff members may see homes public school districts was necessary. Most school and family life styles very different from their boards were eager for program continuation and own. Thus, it is vital for the teachers to realize contracted with the agency for service. Where and accept that they are in the homes to aid the there were exceptions, parents organized on their parents to learn teaching skills and not to change own and went to school board meetings request- life styles or value systems. The teacher should ing service. They apparently were quite influential remember that he or she is a guest in each home since four districts in question did opt to pur- and can only maintain the child-parent-teacher chase the program. (One fatI4P told 5 school relationship with the parent's assent. board that if the district didn't buy the Project, he Many educators have, for too long, usurped would move his family to a school district that the parent's role of responsibility in education. would!) This condition may be magnified as more states lower the age for mandatory education for handi- Final Comments Regarding the Portage Home- capped children by providing early intervention as Based Program soon as a problem is identified. Parents of the This modal depends upon a structured, con- children being served need guidance andsup- centrated interaction between the home teacher, port from teachers but it is equally as important the parents, and the child. It is important to be to realize and accept that teachers need parental task-oriented during the home visit. Thereis support and guidanceifthe children, areto much teaching to do, yet there is usually some achieve, maintain and increase behavioral com- time left for having a cup of coffee and social- petence. izing. During this time a parent may talk about The type of program which stimulates direct marital, financial and other personal problems, involvement of parents in teaching their children and the home teacher can, and should, refer the can provide parents with necessary skills and parent to agencies or people who are trained to techniques to become more effective doing what

61 they already do and being what they already are the single most important individuals in their child's lifehis parents and teachers. BIBLIOGRAPHY The parent-teacher relationship is one built Alpern, G., and Boll, T., Developmental Profile, on mutual respect and need for what each can Psychological Development Publications, bring to the child. This relationship with the Indianapolis, Indiana (1972). parents and families may well be one of the most Frohman, A., and Schortinghuis, N., A comparison satisfying and rewarding that a teacher will ever of professional and paraprofessional suc- experience. cess with preschool children. Journal of Learning Disabilities, in press. Peniston, E., An evaluation of the Portage Project, Unpublished manuscript,ThePortage Project, Cooperative Educational Service Agency, #12, Portage, Wisconsin (1972). Shearer, M., and Shearer, D., The Portage Project: A model for early childhood education, Ex- ceptional Children, 36, 1972, 210-217. Shearer, D., Billingsley, J., Frohman, S., Hilliard, J.,Johnson, F., Shearer,M.,Portage checklist and curriculum guide to early education, Cooperative Educational Service Agency #12, Portage, Wisconsin (1972). Marsha S. Shearer is currently the Training Coordinator for the Portage Project, a home-based project for preschool handicapped children in Portage, Wisconsin. Her professional interests include providing training and assistance in the areas of parent in- volvement and precision teaching techniques, and she has done research in developing and refining a curriculum guide for preschool children from birth to five years of age. She holds degrees from Butler University and the University of Wisconsin and has authored an article in Exceptional Children about the Portage Project. She also is a co-author of Education and Care of Moderately and Severely Retarded Chil- dren.

or V . 62 ..'' A Parent Implemented Preschool Program By Ron Wiegerink Vince Fro rrish

RATIONALE other authors (Ora & Reisinger, 1971). Clearly, There are several substantial reasons for in- there are not sufficient preschool services for volving consumers, namely parents, in service handicappedchildren.Even thoughservices delivery systems for handicapped children. To have Increased rapidly since the Handicapped identify a few: (1) parents know their own children Children's Early Education Assistance Program best and this knowledge can be used to good ad- (HCEEP) came into being, at the rate services are vantage by others working with the children; (2) expanding it will be decades before all preschool often parents spend more time with their children handicapped children are provided w;th early as- than do others and this time can be used to work sistance and education at the rate services are with their children in a manner consistent with currently expanding. There are many reasons fur the center's goals; (3) parents can be of signifi- this state of affairs: two principal reasons are cant help to one another in that they share similar lack of fincncial resources to provide programs problems and can identify with and support one for all handicapped children and a lack of trained another; (4) parents can provide the project staff personnel. To accelerate the provision of services with ongoing evaluative feedback which can as- more rapidly, programs are needed which provide sist the program in being accountable and in quality services for handicapped children at low making programmatic decisions; (5) parents can costs and do not rely completely on professionally provide child behavioral data that can be used trained practitioners for all or even a majority of to monitor intervention effectiveness; (6) parents the intervention services. Currently, programs supply a source of manpower not readily avail- funded by the HCEEP (Handicapped Children's able from other sources because of the lack of Early Education Program) are averaging over finar s and training. $3,000 per child served and a ratio of fewer than Each of these points is worth elaborating six children served for the equivalent of each upon and most of them have been explored by full-time,professOlally trainedstaff member.

65 While these costs in terms of money and man- mental health catchment area. Children and their power are not too great for a society to spend to families are referred to RIP by mental health assisthandicapped children,atpresent our centers, pediatricians,general practitioners, society is not willing to make these kinds ofre- public health nurses, welfare workers, parents sourcesavailabletoserveallhandicapped and other agencies when the family is no longer children. Therefore, professionally trained per- able to cope with the behavior and learning prob- sons who have the responsibility for providing lems of the child. The time between contact with services for all handicapped children must de- the project and the beginning of service to the velop and implement service systems which are family ranges in most cases from twenty minutes likely to provide quality services with substantially to forty-eight hours. Thus, RIP is a flexible service lower financial and human resources. system always ready to admit additional families Parents are one source of such human re- on a no-reject basis. If the family feels it can sources. They are readily available. They are profit from the services of the program, itis already engaged in preparing and teaching their always admitted. children and are eager to learn more effective The decision to become this flexiblehas ways to rear their children and prepare them to meant that RIP had to design a system for de- live in society. livering services that is capable of readilypro- A project that recognized this human resource viding for new families at any time. Although early in its inception is the Regional Intervention originally RIP was designed to provide service Program of Nashville, Tennessee. This program through the vehicle of professionals, the utiliza- was one of the first group of projects funded by tion of parents in the service soon becamea the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped matter of necessity and desirability. A consumer- under the Handicapped Children's Early Educa- implemented service system gradually evolved tion Program in 1969. wherein consumers provide all direct service and The Regional Intervention Program, or RIP as monitoring of the program, with the supportpro- it is called, was described by its first airector as vided by five professionally trained special edu- "asocial experiment in which an agency of cators. Designed and implemented as such, it is people, the Tennessee Department of Mental possible for the project staff (made up of parents Health, in cooperation with Peabody College and and professionals)toprovide comprehensive t:le Nashville Junior League, provides the citizens services for approximately fifty additional families of thestate with a permanent organizational during each year of operation. Comprehensive structure, with support for that structure, and services include transportation,intake,parent with continuity of information within that struc- training,individualtutoring,preschoolclass- ture, but the citizens themselves implement the rooms, day care for siblings, medical and be- organization to provide services to their children havioral consultation, home visits,liaison with to their own satisfaction." (Ora, 1972). the social service agencies, placement and follow- The program se,ves developmentally disabled along. Through these services, RIP's one objective and behaviorally disordered preschool children is to pepare the family and the child for the from birth to age five from a twenty-six county child's maintenance and developmental progress

66 "19 FIGURE 1 REGIONAL INTERVENTION PROGRAM STAFF PATTERN

EVALUATION COMMITTEE

RESOURCE PERSONNEL

11 Individual Tutoring

Intake Language Intake Community Classroom Classroom Classroom

Generalization Training Transportation ANCILLARY Day Care Theory Classes SERVICES Home Visits Media Productions

outside of institutional care. This goal is realized who have been served by RIP. The entire project if the child continues to make developmental is monitored and evaluated by an Evdluation progress after being placed in a regular day care Committee consisting of three parents and three program or public school classroom. consultants who are selected by theparents In order tc meet this objective and deliver4 through procedures established by the committee. services, RIP is organizationally divided into func- This committee meets regularly and has the re- tional modules which achieve management ob- sponsibility for approving and generating project jectives (Figure I). Each module is supervised by policies and for evaluating ongoing activities. All a resource person who has had professional train- project personnel meet with the committee at ing, but all the services are provided by parents least monthly to report on module activities and

73 67 individual family progress. of numerous areas of project services such as The committee in turn transmits a monthly intake interviews, child assessment, classroom report, consisting of the minutes of its meeting teaching, individual tutoring, home visits and and its comments on the meeting, to the Coordi- child management. In every case, however, these nator, Preschool Programs Branch, Division of consumers have demonstrated that they can Children and YouthServices, Department of operatewithin a management-by-objectives Mental Health. The Coordinator's office has al- framework and can reliably utilize the data collec- ready perceived that such a system permits ex- tion procedures of RIP. For at the center of all tremely close and politically astute monitoring RIP services is the importance of objectives and with minimum administrative overhead. data-based evaluation. The second level of the program is the pro- Individual factors such as personality style, fessional resource staff which provides a middle- interpersonal skills and interests are also con- management function within the project. Each sidered in determining what responsibilities and staff member in this level has specified areas of functions the parent is to have. These decisions responsibility which are outlined by management are made by the parents who have provided the objectives following the format of Reddin's Effec- new grant with services along with the resource tive Management by Objectives (1971). For ex- personnel. ample, the principal of RIP is responsible for the Demands for a variety of regional treatment overall administrative operations of the program. services, constantly shifting referral patterns, and The professional staff personnel do not provide multiple funding sources over the past five years conventional special education services them- have largely determined the numbers and k;nds selves. They work individually with parents and of clients served by the RIP program. The de- children only for the purposes of modeling and scription of the current program in terms of its training, but most direct services are provided clients and referral base which follows will, hope- by trained parents who these resource personnel fully, be a useful referent to those interested in continu.ausly consult with, train, monitor, evaluate theevolutionoftheRegional Intervention and direct.Essentially, the professionalstaff Program. members are consultants to parents responsible Between June of 1969 and March 21, 1974, for the implementation of the program andpro- RIP served a total of 254 families. At present, ap- viding them with expertise and personal support proximately forty families are actively enrolled in for planning and teaching. the program with an approximate average rate of The third level of the program is delivery of attendance of 65 percent. Thus, about twenty-six services which is totally parent-Iry rented. At families daily participate in the program. These this level are parents who have received training families have an average of 1.6 preschool children to work with their own children and have demon- who attend RIP, bringing the program's daily at- stratedparticularexpertiseinatleasttwo tendance to approximately twenty-six adults and domains: technical andinterpersonal compe- forty children. tence. Their technical competence is, of course, The average RIP child is forty-one months old constantly growing and may be in one or more upon referral and generally will remain in the

68 program for 8.1 months. INTAKE For the past five years, most of the referrals The purpose of the Intake Moduleisto (76 to 80 percent) were males and approximately familiarize new families with the program, to pro- one-half of RIP's current referrals could be classi- vide them with support and understanding to fied as seriously developmentally delayed; that is, determine what are the next steps in providing significant delay exists in the language, motoric help for the family, and to invite the parents to or cognitive areas. The remainder of the children join if they wish. The intake process is designed are non-developmentally delayed, severely be- to be as informal, informative, and supportive as haviorally disordered children who typically have possible. Because prescriptive diagnosis and as- been referred as "brats," oppositional, or hyper- sessment is seen as an ongoing process and an active children. integral part of service itself, there is no need Currently, 24 percent of RIP's families are to collect involved diagnostic data. Instead, the black, having been typically referredby local parent is asked simply to describe what the child Welfare Department social workers, public health does or does not do that is excessively disturbing. department nurses, child development clinics This information is then used to place the family and, occasionally, a private pediatrician. in the correct service module and to identify In the first two years of operations RIP relied parents who have had similar problems and can veryheavily onlocalpediatricians fromthe be of help. MetropolitanNashvilleareaforreferrals(in Following the intake interview, the parents 1970-71, 76 percent of all of RIP's referrals origi- are shown a slide show describing the program nated from pediatricians). However, over the past services and are then taken on a tour of the three years, the pediatric referral rate has stabil- program. It is explained that parents are expected ized between 25 percent and 29 percent as more to devote from six to nine hours a week at the mental health centers, social service organiza- program working with their children. However, tions andhospital-affiliateddiagnostic clinics once a prescriptive program has been designed begin to refer to the program. Thus, the program and implemented for them and their childis is now fairly representative of the general popu- making steady progress, they are expected to lation of the middle Tennessee area with 38 per- commit themselves to an additional six months cent of its families in an income range below of volunteer work with the project helping others $7,000, 51 percent between $7,000 and $13,000, like themselves. and 11 percent above $13,000 annual income. From talking to others who are working, per- Further, as awareness of the program has grown, spective parents, they discover that most parents more families from rural middle Tennessee are enjoy working after their child's intensive train- daily attending RIP. At present, nearly 25 percent ing needs are met because they perform newly of the program's families travel more than fifty acquired functions that give them a sense of miles per day (round trip) for services and some satisfaction and accomplishment. To most par- of these commute over one hundred miles per ents, the opportunity to acquire talents and day. abilities they may not even have known they had

75 69 provides an outlet for self-expression. Also, many A child unable to communicate appropriately of the parents have realized that the program's is assigned first to the Individual Tutoring Module. objectives of helping people to help their children The Individual Tutoring Module's goals are to and each other reflect their own values and be- produce functional speech or other adaptive be- liefs. Only after the parents have had a chance havior in the child and to instruct the parents to acquire all the information they need does about how to develop these skills in their own the family make a decision about whether or not child at home. Training begins at the child's to participate in the program. As soon as they present level of development. For instance,it join, usually within an hour or so of arriving, case may start with getting him to look at people, to responsibility passes from the Intake Module to follow instructions, to imitate motions, sounds or a Training Module. The coordinator, who directs words, or to recognize and name things. the Training Module, immediately assigns other InIndividual Tutoring rooms thechild's parents who are successfully dealing with similar mother begins by learning to record which stimuli problems to provide support to the new family are presented to the child and how many correct until they begin to make friends on their own. responses he or she makes. Within a few daily A training schedule which usually begins the sessions the parent becomes the teacher as welt next day is set up for the child. If the family has as the pupil. The parent presents the training other needs, the Training Module coordinator stimuli to ,the child and reinforces correct re- alerts support modules. In consultation with the sponses, teaches the child at home every day resource personnel the Intake Coordinator can and records the child's responses on a data sheet. immediately activate a massive effor from teams All program training is designed solely to teach of trained workers as well as educational, medical the parents what to do at home. The parent and social services. By the end of the morning, comes in daily to the Individual Tutoring Module the family has a list showing who to call for what to demonstrate progress made in the home pro- and what to do next. More important, they realize gram and to confer with the case manager on that they are no longer alone. People like them- procedures as determined by the parent's and selves whom they can trust are using a carefully the child's needs. Individual tutoring experiences designed system to help them. such as imitation and speech training are used because they have been repeatedly found to be an effective method of teaching parents. Once DIRECT SERVICES skilled in these procedures, most parents can, The family and child are then placed in a after a little demonstration, not only teach skills Service Module, either the Individual Tutoring or like toileting and dressing, but abide very well by Generalization Training Module and a Classroom the program's rule for generalization of learning: Module. The first two modules are designed to "Any desirable behavior that the child learns develop individual programs fo; the parent and anywhere is thereafter required and reinforced child, and the Classroom Modules provide the everywhere." child with group learning experiences and his Some families who enter the program do not parents with group teaching experiences. go into the Individual Tutoring Module because

70 they have other kinds of problems. The Generali- behavior are established, parents are taught to zation Training Module is desigld to take care ignore inappropriate behaviors and praise and of these problems. They seek help because their reinforce appropirate behavior. These procedures child has brought them near collapse with severe normally result in significant increase in praise tantrums, constant crying, whining, and general from the parent Ftnd sharp decreases in opposi- unmanageability. The child may haveupset tional bemvior from the child. Within a three or meals, refused to go to bed, abused himself, four week period most parents are taught new his parents, his brothers and sisters, and his pets; and successful child management skills. destroyed things in the home; or defied all at- White the family is being served in one of tempts by his parents to discipline him. these modules they are also assigned to a class- AssignedtotheGeneralizationTraining room. Both parent and child begin in the Intake Module, these families soon learn that the prob- Preschool. In addition, if the family has other pre- lem does not reside solely in the child. Research school children who do not have day care, they has shown that such behavioral disordersin are included in the classroom programs. toddlers are acute and interactive and unless help The Intake Preschool does not have responsi- is given at an early age, such children are in for bility for the family; responsibility always rests serious problems. with only one module at a time. Nonetheless, the In this module, training for parents and child Intake Preschool is a major training center for takes place during a twenty-minute structured both parent and child. Again, a standard training play session, which is designed to elicit bad be- manual is used by the mothers. When the parent havior from the child. The parent is instructed has demonstrated that he or she can accurately to request the child to change toys every two record a number of dimensions of teacher and minutes. The parent-child interaction is analyzed child s- Troup situations, the parent and by continuous data recording. With the case man- chilu advance it .m the Intake Preschool. Contin- ager, the parent follows a manual of instructions uous data recording shows when the child's be- and videotapes which teach the parents how to havioris acceptable for one ofthree other assume increasing responsibilityfor operating . One preschool isfor tiny tots and the module. As in all the training modules, pro- toddlers who function at the same level. The cedures are primarily designedto teach the curriculum is built around developing gross and parents what to do at home. fine motor skills and saying single words. Another In most cases the parent's request for the preschool is language-oriented and these children child to change toys every two minutes results are usually involved in individual tutoring. How- in a coIsiderable amount of oppositional behavior ever, some brothers and sisters or children from including screaming, throwing objects, sulking, the generalization training module are included and general unmanageability. Parents often re- as language models. The Language Preschool spond to this behavior with almost constant at- works very closely with the Individual Tutoring tention as they try to get the child to conform, Module. Unlike any of the other modules related thus, inadvertently reinforcing the inappropriate to group activities, the Language Preschool some- behaviors. After baselines on the parent and child times assumes responsibility for a family, especi-

71 ally when the primary objective is to provide they have problems. Conversely, the program does extensive language stimulation so that the child not hesitate to call on its ever-growing network of can enter a classroom in the community. parents throughout the regionfor temporary The third preschool is a class designed to be assistance. like those the children will encounter in the com- munity. Teacher-pupil ratios are lower here than in other preschools, and social experiences are PARENT TRAINING stressed. As in all the Program's preschools, how- In RIP, parent training and project services ever, the child is still on an individualized course are the same; the entire project is designed to of instruction; however, he receives lessindi- help parents help themselves and other parents. vidual attention than in the other preschools. The Parents are first taught to collect data systemati- child's progress is evaluated on a day-to-day basis cally, using baseline and multiple baseline record- by recording behavior and comparing itwith ing procedures. .lata for the purposes of titoring instructional objectives. The resulting informa- their child ar"1 01 evaluating child progress in the tion is monitored by the child's parents, by the preschool classrooms is collected by them. Next, teachers and the resource personnei, and by the parents are taught the essential skills of behavior personnel of the Liaison Module who, at this modification, reinforcement, timing, shaping, fad- point, take over responsibility for the family. As ing, stimulus selection, and programming. As they the child proves to be ready for return to com- demonstrate their behavior competencies they munity schools, the issue of an appropriate match begintoreceiveinstructioninthe general between family and community services arises. theories of as presented by Skinner The Liaison personnel already have records on (1953) and Bijou & Baer (1961). They then learn the child from the Program's own community pre- more about child development primarily focusing school, and maintain an empirically evaluated onla iguage development, but also social and listing of placements appropriate for various motor development. children. They investigate possible placements Once their child is making steady progress and consult with the parents about the most ap- and parents have demonstrated competency in propriate placement. When the child moves on to some of the basic skills, they begin to offer volun- another primary educational system, the Liaison teer services which can be the beginning of a personnel (who are a group of parents that help new career for some. If the parents have demon- as they are needed) provide support and consulta- strated mastery in individual tutoring or generali- tion to the new teacher. They may actively assist zation training, they can begin as assistants in a teacher in programming for a child placed in these modules. If they showed interest in one her class. of the preschool classrooms, they could begin an Also, should the family encounter further assistantship there. In some cases, the parents difficulties, the Liaison personnel are the link to teach others to collect basic behavioral data, but the support or intervention systems needed. All if they show programming and decision-making the famiiles going back to community services competencies they can take on more and more know they can obtain help from the program if responsibilities in one of the service modules.

72 78 In most cases parents finish their six months as imitations, verbal behavior, motor behavior, of volunteer service e-4nd leave the service-giving cooperativeness, and attending. The data are aspects of the program but some stay on with the used to determine the functional effects of the program. In some cases they serve as volunteer intervention being employed. assistants but in cases where particular skills Group data are collected primarily by the and interests are shown, they may become paid classroom module. In the Intake Classroom data employees responsible for a service module such are collected to determine both individual and as the Intake Preschool.In some few cases, group performance on the on-task/off-task dimen- having demonstrated a good understanding of all sion. The goal for each child is to be on task 85 functions of RIP, they would take on morere- percent of the time or more for three consecutive sponsibilities such as directing the Intake or days. During specified times children and tasks Liaison Modules or being responsible for parent are observedby twoindependent observers. coordination and assignment. Some of these These observers scan the room at specified time parents may become members of the Evaluation intervals and independently record who is on task Committee, or may, with the additional profes- or off task as well as teacher attention. Percent- sional training, become full-time resource per- ages of on- and off-task behavior are developed sonnel. Within the program allparents learn after twenty minutes of classroom observation. important and valuable competencies which they These data are used to determine individual child have an opportunity to use continuously in posi- progress as well as group performance as a tions of their own choice. measure of program effectiveness. Similar data procedures are used to measure verbal behavior to determine the amount of social EVALUATION play and interaction in the language classroom There are three types of evaluationper- where the goals are to increase overall expressive formed by the RIP staff: individual child progress behavior and in the community classroom. Here, evaluation, group or module evaluation, and the objective is for each child to engage in co- project evaluation. Data are the basis for all operative play behavior at least 40 percent of the decision-making in the program. The success of time during afree play period. The Liaison programmatic interventionis dependent upon Module uses similar procedures to follow-up on valid and reliable data. Therefore, RIP places children as they are placed in other settings and substantialemphasisontrainingstaffand also to describe and evaluate other preschool parents in data-collection procedures that have programs for the purpose of cataloging potential been designed to measure relevant behavior with placement settings for RIP children. reliability. RIP is also constantlyinthe process of Individual data are collectedinindividual utilizing data to determine overall program effec- tutoring, generalization training, the classrooms, tiveness. The Evaluation Committee regularly and by the Liaison Module. Using baseline and evaluates module performance and program effec- multiple baseline procedures the staff observes tiveness. In addition, RIP has been the subject specific behavior in various response classes such of two major evaluations. One was conducted by

79 73 the research cooperative and funded by the In summary, the Regional Intervention Pro- Bureau of Education for the Handicapped. The gramisa servicedeliverysystemcarefully result of this study was the designation of the designed to provide for, and implemented by, Regional Intervention Program as one of twelve parents of developmentally disabled andbe- exemplary programs for children with behavioral haviorally disordered children.Itis a system problems in the nation (General Learning Corpo- which is managed by stated objectives and evalu- ration, 1972). ated by data to serve the best interest of the Another study was conducted at the request children and parents. It is a service through which of RIP staff and on a subcontract basis. The goat parents learn to help themselves and others like of the study was to determine RIP's cost effec- them at costs which are lower than custodial tiveness as a service program. The results of this and institutional care. detailed cost analysis study are published by the General Learning Corporation (Final Report, 1972). These figures, however, do not reflect some of the program's non-monetary benefits: 1. probable prevention of behavior problems in children born to mothers subsequent to the mothers' training at RIP, 2. development of trained volunteers who could prove useful to other community action programs, 3. improved manageability of childrenin public schools, 4. provision of a laboratory for testing novel approaches to keeping family life intacL, 5. possible reduction in juvenile delinquency Ronald Wiegerink, Ph.D., is the director of for children treated in RIP, Developmental Disabilities/Technical Assistance 6. training in marketable skills for parents, System (DD/TAS) attheUniversity of North and Carolina at Chapel Hilt and is the author or co- 7. porlible additional tax revenues resulting author of articles published in Journal of Special from gainful employment of parents who Education and Child Development. He has done may have been unable to work without RIP research in the fields of early language develop- involvement. ment, social development and the effectiveness of special education. Vince Parrish is the principal of the Regional Intervention Program in Nashville, Tennessee and his professional interests include consumer im- plementation and evaluation of human service so programs and parent training.

74 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bijou, S. W. and Baer, D. M. Child development Vol. 1: A systematic and empirical theory, New York: Appleton-Century-Crafts, 1961. Final report. General Learning Corporation, BEH, 1972. Grant No. 0EG-0-8-743242-5656. Ora, J. P. and Reisinger, J. "Preschool Interven- tion: Behavioral Ser-ice Delivery System: American Psychological Association, Wash- ington, D.C., September, 1971. Ora, J. P. "The Involvement and Training of Parent and Citizen-Workers in Early Education for the Handicapped and Their Implication: A working paper for the Council on Excep- tional Children, Invisible College on Early Childhood," San Antonio, Texas, January 20-21, 1972. Ora, J. P. "Final Report for the Regional Inter- ventionProjectforPreschoolersand Parents," December 31,1972. Grant No. OEG-0-9-520320-4535 (618). Reddin, W. J. Effective management by objectives. McGraw Hill, New York, 1971. Regional Intervention Program Slide Show. Com- posed, edited and reviewed by the Regional Intervention Staff from 1970-1974. Skinner, B. F. and human behavior, New York: MacMillan, 1953.

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75 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baldwin, A. L., and Baldwin, C. P. The study of mother-child interaction. American Scienist, November/ December, 1973, 61: 6, 714-721. The authors state the case for research based on naturalistic observations and report on their studies of a large sample of mother-child pairs interacting in a "free play" setting. Their "most striking" finding is that, among the "normal" pairs that have been studied, ". ..free-play interaction shows many similarities across families. There are ethric, social-class, and age differences, but they are relatively small variations on a very consistent theme...."

These findings do not hold, however, in their preliminary data analysis of mother-child pairs in which there is "real [psychological] disturbance."

The authors provide a valuable discussion of some of the methodological and ethical barriers to smooth sailing in this kind of research, matters of obvious concern to professionals who work with young children and their families.

Baldwin, V., Fredericks, H. D., and Brodsky, G. Isn't it time he outgrew this? or A training program for parents of retarded children. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher, 1973. This manual contains specific programs by which parents can develop the types of desired behaviors they wish to see in their retarded child. The parent, without prior training or consultation from pro- fessionals, should be able to implement his own specific programs and measure the progress of his child by utilizing the behavior modification techniques and basic learning principles described in this book.

In non-technical language the book presents detailed explanations of learning principles involved in self-help skills, language development, motor development;' academic skills, and behavior problems.

77 Included is just enough theory to justify the time invested by the parents who will implement these strategies and programs.

The manual is useful primarily to parents, whether in a group or as individuals; however, the book addresses itself also to the professional involved in parent training. The goal is to involve the parents as the principle teacher of their retarded child.

The Exceptional Parent. Boston, Massachusetts: Psy-Ed Corporation. This periodical offers practical information for parents of children with all kinds of handicaps. Day-to- day care and long range planning are issues covered by professionals.

A few of the topics covered are professional information, without professional jargon, on key issues such as psychological testing, visits to the dentist, "fun stuff" to make for parents and kids, general discussions of disabilities, and a parent forum with questions and answers from parents.

This magazine is a forum for the mutual sharing of information by parents and professionals con- cerned with handicapped children.

Jelinek, J. A., and Kasper, A. G. The University of Wyoming communicative disorders and parent train- ing program: Program procedures and activities handbook. Grant Project No. 0EG-0-70-4696 (616), Office of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The Parent Training chapter of this volume is a clear and comprehensive statement of parent training objectives for the program, and includes many of the materials used for training parents.

Johnson, C. A., and Katz, R. C. Using parents as change agents for their children: A review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1973, 14, 181-200. A comprehensive review of studies in which parents were used as agents for changing their children's behavior, the paper covers not only the varieties of behavior to be changed, but the various methods used for training parents to effect change. For instance, the authors criticaly review instructions to parents for their clarity or vagueness; one contribution that will be appreciated by professionals in the field is an estimate of therapist's time invested in all the studies reviewed. As the authors note, "some critical methodological issuesdata collection, reliability of measurement, demonstrations of behavioral control, follow-up, and cost-effectiveness factors...require routine and more careful con- sideration before the efficacy of parent therapists can be adequately assessed."

. V. 83 78 LaCrosse, E. L. Planning for the needs of multihandicapped children and their families. Regional Con- ference for Parents of Deaf-Blind Children, 1973. While this paper will be of interest to all who are concerned with handicapped children, the first half of the paper should be required reading for any professional who works with the children's parents and famines. LaCrosse offers a telling critique of the attitudes of professionals who work with parents, and of the research that has been done on parental attitudes. From there on, he presents a cogent and comprehensive plan for meeting the needs of handicapped children and their families that starts with birth and follows the children into adulthood. For instance: "Along with all of this is a built-in counseling service that is always there to assist the parents in the decisions that have to he made as the youngster growsnot the decisions, but the assistance with the making of decisions, someone to whom you can go and think out loud and receive guidance as to what is available, what is going on, and what it all means."

Marshall-Poweshiek joint County Department of Special Education. Home stimulation of handicapped children. Marshalltown, Iowa. This is a very complete guide for parents to use at home with their children. It is a "how-to" manual that contains many excellent concrete suggestions for ways to stimulate a preschool child at home.

Many areas are covered including: behavior modification, how parents can enhance creativity, dis- cipline, toys vs. learning tools. Each chapter has a learning episode evaluation for parents to complete.

It is written in such a way that it can be utilized by all types of parents either in groups or individually. There is an accompanying guide for use by professionals as they work with parents in groups. It shouldn't be limited to parents of handicapped children.

Marx, 0. H. Physical activities for handicapped children in the home. Iowa City: The University of Iowa, 1972. This manual was developed for use by parents of physically handicapped children attending the Children's Rehabilitation Section at the University Hospital School, The University of Iowa. Activity descriptions and construction information on equipment may be utilized by other personnel such as physical education teachers or special education teachers. Guidelines are given for planning the home program in addition to a major section on suggestions for teaching physical skills: Part Idis- cusses basic developmental activities which progress from head lift to walking skills. Part II describes elementary skills such as catching and self testing, equipment, starting position, and skill analyses. In the subsequent section on braces, information is given on application, removal, and maintenance

S4 79 of braces. Photographic illustrations of orthopedic apparatus and physical education equipment is shown in addition to line drawings for the construction of homemade apparatus. A glossary of terms is include:I.

A mediated training program for parents of preschool mentally retarded children. Instructional Tech- nology Project, Logan, Utah: Utah State University Special Education. This mediated training package is designed to equip parents of preschool mentally retarded children with the techniques necessary to train their children in self-help skills.

The package contains four units; each unit has a participant's workbook and slide tape program. The units are: behavior (analysis of complex behaviors and the synthesis of simple behaviors into an instructional sequence), cues, reinforcement, programming and record keeping. A monitor's manual and script book are also included.

This package could be very useful in teaching parents how to teach their children. It would require a skilled monitor and dedicated parents.

Ora, J. P. "Parents and Citizen Workers," Invisible College Conference on Early Childhood Education and the Exceptional Child. Reston, Va.: Council for Exceptional Children. This 20 minute tape discusses citizen workers as early educators of the handicapped.

Ora discusses citizen involvement in terms of: examples of programs utilizing parents; why parent implemented systems are important; citii ^n workers as a solution to the manpower crisis; and, the role of the professional as developers of automated instructional systems.

This tape presents provocative ideas to stimulate thinking about citizen involvement. The concepts and language are sophisticated but the ideas are excellent and worth listening to.

$75.00 for complete set of five sixty-minute cassette tapes, made by 13 professionals.

Stedman, D. J., Anastasiow, N. J., Dokecki, P. R., Gordon, I.J., and Parker, R. K. How can effective early intervention programs be delivered to potentially retarded children? A condensation of a Report for the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (Contract HEW- 0S-72.2W Washington, D.C., DHEW, December, 1972. In their summary of this project review, the authors state that"Ingeneral,intervention research appears to be a fruitful encseavor but in need of considerable refinement prior to massive dissemi- 8j 80 nation of children's services." The critical words are considerable refinement, suggestions for which pack this condensed report. Of particular interest is a theme that recurs throughout the report: the role of the parents and families of target children. "Early family involvement...[has] a significant impact on a child's development before he reaches his second birthday..." is a major finding of intervention research, say the authors. Yet in programs reviewed, "the factor of varying parentalsup- port has been largely ignored." A panel of early childhood experts consu..ed by the authors cites the varied roles parents play in their children's programs, and they recognize parent involvementas a major criterion for program success. Yet they, too, mention, among other criticisms, the failure of programs to research thoroughly the relationship between parent and child behavior and to develop materials for parents to use in their homes.

Perske, R. New directions for parents of persons who are retarded. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1973.

[Annotation by PCMR Message, January, 1974] Written especially for parents who elect tokeep the retarded family member in their own home or a nearby residential facility. Four sections focuson "yourself, your child, the family, and society." Delightfully illustrated by Martha Perske.

Partners in language - -A guide for parents; Companeros en el itliomagurapars los padres. Washing- ton, D.C.: American Speech and Hearing Association, 1973. This book is concerned mainly with the normal language development of theyoung child, from birth to approximately three and one-half years of age. It was developed to increase parents' understanding and knowledge of early childhood language acquisition; and to provide useful suggestionsto parents for developing communicative competence in young children by utilizing normal, daily activitiesas language learning experiences. Through the booklet, parents are encouragedto remember that every child is a unique individual whose rate of development in allareas is also unique.

Simplified developmental charts are included so that parents will beaware of some broad expectations in children's development.

This booklet has beautiful illustrations that reflect different ethnicgroups. All materials is written in both Spanish and English inisy to read format.

81 Preschool learning activities for the visually Impaired child: A guide for parents. Springfield, Illinois: Instructional Materials Center. This manual isfor parents of blind children to suggest activities and games that will help develop their child's skills and abilities at home. It also gives parents concrete suggestions for daily inter- action with their child such as, "always place the child's tablewear in the same position."

Games and activities are listed according to the types of skills they develop and include: what do I touch, what do Ihear,I use my body, the child looks at himself.

Each section is divided into activities for three-, four-, and five-year olds that have normal deve:.opment with the exception of visual impairment. At the end of each section is a list of suggested materials and where they ::.an be obtained. Most of the items listed are expensive, but moderately priced substitutions could be easily made. Directions and words for songs and games are also included.

This manual has excellent pictures, and the format is easy to follow. It would be a very valuable resource to both parents and teachers.

The Portage guide to early education. Portage, Wisconsin: Cooperative Educational Service, 1973. The Portage Guide to Early Education is a developmentally formulated curriculum to be used with children, either handicapped or normal, between the mental ages of birth to five years. These mater:als can be used regardless of the specific handicapping condition(s), of the instructional delivery system (home, classroom, institution), of the teacher/child ratio, or of the professional status of the instructor.

The Guide comes in two parts: a Checklist of Behaviors and a Card File containing curriculum ideas. These materials were developed and utilized by the Portage Project staff over a period of four years. Professional educators, paraprofessionals and parents have used these materials as a major source of behavioral evaluation and assessment and as'a curriculum guide.

The Checklist and Card File are color coded and divided into five developmental areas: cognitive, self- help, motor, language, and socialization.

Pushaw, D., Collins, N., Czuchna, G.,Gill, G., O'Betts, G., and Stahl, M. Teach your child to talk. Cincinnati: CEBCO Standard Publishing Co., 1969. This training package is designed to provide parents of preschool children with a better understanding of how they can help children learn to talk. S7 82 The complete workshop kit contains: (1) Workshop manual(152 pages) complete lesson plans for 3 workshops (2) 200 35 mm color slidesaugment the workshops (3) 19 minute cassette tape recordingexamples of child's speech (4) 16 mm color moviesummarizes the major points made in the workshop (5) parent handbookgives normal speech guidelines at appropriate age levels. Also included are suggested activities that parents can share with children and a suggested book list. (6) "Teach Me to Talk" bookletcartoon booklet designed for parents of newborn chlidren.

These materials would be useful with any group of parents that are interested in language develop- ment. The workshop is designed in suci; a way that it could be presented by most persons. The Parent Handbook is a useful resource and could be used separately.

Report of First National Home Start Confers 'Ice, St. Louis, Missouri, April 3-7, 1972. Washington, D.C.: Home Start. This report describes the Home Start conferences in narrative form. The focus of the Home Start effort is home-based programs for preschool children; this report contains excerpts from speeches given at the conferences, listings of films used, and descriptions of home-based programs that were pre- sented. It is an excellent resource for information about home-based programs since most of the major home-based programs are represented in this booklet.

Williams, D. and Jaffa, E. Ice cream, poker chips, and very goods: A behavior modification manual for parents. College Park Maryland: The Maryland Book Exchange, 1971. The purpose of this manual is to teach parents the basic concepts and language of behavior modifi- cation; to train parents in the practical application of these techniques with their own children; and to increase the frequency of the parents' use of these techniques within the home.

The basic content of the manual is directly derived from the research literature related to the func- tional analysis of behavior. It covers reinforcers, changing behavior, and maintaining changes.

It is organized a great deal like a textbook; therefore, it would not be appropriate for all levels of parents. However,itisuseful with more sophisticated parents and could be used in groups or individually.

SS 83