Early Childhood Intervention

Working with Families of Young Children with Special Needs

Hanan Sukkar, Carl Dunst, Jane Kirkby, Hanan Sukkar, Carl J. Dunst, Jane Kirkby

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317421153
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psicologia
• Subtopic: Psicologia dello sviluppo

Early childhood is considered a critical but often vulnerable period in a child's development where early identification and intervention can be crucial for improving children's developmental outcomes. Systems and family-centred perspectives are vital to support families and build their capacities to lead normalized lives with improved family quality of life. This book explores the family-centred practices and systems factors which influence families' experiences raising children with complex needs. It also considers the ways in which professionals can work with families to build and support parent and child competence. Conceptual and practical work from Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States present descriptions of and implications for different family system frameworks and early-childhood programs. Contributors in this edited volume bring together contemporary information that bridges the research to practice gap in supporting families of young children with disabilities or delays.

Chapters include:

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• Early Intervention for Young Children with Developmental Delays: Contributions of the Developmental Systems Approach

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• Family Composition and Family Needs in Australia: What Makes a Family?

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• Working with Families in Early Childhood Intervention: Family-Centred Practices in an Individualised Funding Landscape

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• Family Systems and Family-Centred Intervention Practices in Portugal and Spain: Iberian Reflections on Early Childhood Intervention

This book will attract the attention scholars of Parenting and Families; Child Development and Childcare.

Part I
Introduction

The introductory chapter to Early Childhood Intervention: Working with Families of Young Children with Special Needs includes descriptions of why family systems and family-centred early childhood intervention hold promise for making a real difference in the lives of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with special needs and young children with developmental delays due to environmental or biological risk factors and their families. Accordingly, early childhood intervention is conceptualised as a set of different systems-level experiences and opportunities that are expected to offset the development-impeding effects of identified disabilities and risk factors, and family-centred practices are conceptualised as the ways in which early childhood practitioners engage families in competency-enhancing experiences and opportunities in order to have capacity-building and empowering consequences (Espe-Sherwindt, 2008).

The global or universal applicability of ecological systems (Bronfenbrenner, 1994), social systems (Friedman & Allen, 2010), family systems (Cowan, Powell, & Cowan, 1998), and developmental systems (Guralnick, 2001) theories and models as frameworks for conceptualising and operationalising early childhood intervention is based on the fact that children and families throughout the world are themselves social systems embedded in broader-based ecological systems, where the events in these different systems can have either development-impeding or development-enhancing characteristics and consequences. The challenge that early childhood practitioners face when working with family members and engaging families in early childhood intervention is strengthening support systems in ways benefitting young children with special needs and their families. It is also generally recognised that family-centred practices have global and universal applicability, although it has been noted that this approach to early childhood intervention has not yet occurred broadly for a number of reasons (e.g., Bruder, 2000; Dempsey & Keen, 2008; Dunst & Espe-Sherwindt, 2016). Nevertheless, the adoption and use of family-centred practices is now viewed as a type of help-giving approach that can be especially effective in terms of positively influencing families’ reactions and adaptations to a child with special needs, their desire and willingness to be involved in early childhood intervention, and for supporting and strengthening family and family member functioning. Accordingly, early childhood practitioners who adhere to family-centred tenets and employ family-centred practices are more likely to be responsive to family and cultural beliefs and values in ways that have broad-based child, parent, and family benefits.

Contributors to Early Childhood Intervention: Working with Families of Young Children with Special Needs offer different but compatible perspectives of both family systems and family-centred early childhood intervention. The contents of this volume provide readers with both rich and diverse viewpoints for improving early childhood intervention for young children with special needs and their families.

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1994). Ecological models of human development. In T. Husen & N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (2nd ed., Vol. 3, pp. 1643–1647). Oxford, United Kingdom: Elsevier.

Bruder, M. B. (2000). Family-centered early intervention: Clarifying our values for the new millennium. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 20, 105–116, 122. doi:10.1177/027112140002000206

Cowan, P. A., Powell, D., & Cowan, C. P. (1998). Parenting interventions: A family systems perspective. In W. Damon, I. E. Sigel, & K. A. Renninger (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Child psychology in practice (5th ed., pp. 3–72). New York: Wiley.

Dempsey, I., & Keen, D. (2008). A review of processes and outcomes in family-centered services for children with a disability. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 28, 42–52. doi:10.1177/0271121408316699

Dunst, C. J., & Espe-Sherwindt, M. (2016). Family-centered practices in early childhood intervention. In B. Reichow, B. Boyd, E. Barton, & S. L. Odom (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood special education (pp. 37–55). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International.

Espe-Sherwindt, M. (2008). Family-centred practice: Collaboration, competency and evidence. Support for Learning, 23, 136–143. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9604.2008.00384.x

Friedman, B. D., & Allen, K. N. (2010). Systems theory. In J. R. Brandell (Ed.), Theory and practice in clinical social work (2nd ed., pp. 3–20). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Guralnick, M. J. (2001). A developmental systems model for early intervention. Infants & Young Children, 14(2), 1–18.

1 Family systems and family-centred practices in early childhood intervention

Hanan Sukkar, Carl J. Dunst and Jane Kirkby

The purpose of this volume is to share the thoughts of early childhood researchers and practitioners about different ways family systems theories and family-centred practices have informed how early childhood intervention has been conceptualised and practised. Each chapter in the book includes descriptions of various and unique perspectives for working with young children with special needs and their families. The authors consider approaches to early childhood intervention that can enhance the positive outcomes for children, parents and the family as a whole. The reader will experience a rich array of information that can be used to improve the ways in which early childhood practitioners go about their work with young children and their families.

Children represent our future. Promoting their development and wellbeing is now widely accepted as an essential investment and a moral obligation of society as a whole (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004). Research focusing on a wide range of wellbeing indicators shows that some countries fare better than others. As a result, no country has it all, and some countries continue to face serious challenges in achieving positive wellbeing outcomes for their children (OECD, 2015). The How’s Life evaluation, a report that focuses on people’s wellbeing in OECD countries, finds that one child in seven still lives in poverty, 10% of children continue to live in a jobless household and one child in 10 reports being bullied in school. Keeping this in mind and taking a closer look at children with a disability or special needs, a review completed by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health highlights that out of the 190 U.N. countries committed to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), only 19% ratified the CRC explicitly to protect the right of education for children with disabilities or to prohibit discrimination in education based on a disability (Denly, 2014). Therefore, it is apparent that we, as global citizens of the world, still have a long way to go in meeting the needs of children with a disability and improving their quality of life as well as the life of their families.

The birth of a child sees parents and other givers taking on roles as educators, advocates, information seekers and spokespersons on behalf of their children (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004; Dunst & Dempsey, 2007). When that child has disability, the complexities of these roles increase, and often support and resources are required in addition to those that are available within the family (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2004; Barr & Millar, 2003). Families need to understand how their child communicates, interacts and explores their world, which is often different from that of typically developing children (Keilty, 2010). In addition, family members may need supports for learning about the child’s life expectancy, patterns of development and any other number of life issues that may not occur whilst raising a typically developing child (Barr & Miller, 2003; Keilty, 2010).

In many cases, parents raising a child with a disability or special needs are asked or encouraged to have a more of hands-on role in caring for their child. However, this cannot be achieved unless parents and professionals work collaboratively and parents feel respected, listened to and treated as equal partners (Barr & Miller, 2003; Keen, 2007). Through the development of strong and healthy relationships, both parents and professionals come to understand, organise and shape the implementation of effective support systems for the child and their family (Guralnick, 2006). In addition, parents can identify the developmental abilities and needs of their child and guide professionals in creating the learning opportunities that are attuned to the child’s learning styles (Keilty, 2010).

Families’ experiences in raising a child with a disability or special needs

The birth of a child with a disability or a special needs has been found to impose financial, social and physical stress on parents and caregivers, which may include an increase in depression, anger, shock, denial, self-blame and guilt for family members (Heiman, 2002; Lopez, Clifford, Minnes, & Kuntz, 2008). There can be a profound effect on family relationships, including partners’ relationships (Brown, Goodman, & Küpper, 2014; Watson, Hayes, & Radford-Paz, 2011). While some relationships may deepen and increase in strength, others may not survive the pressures of rearing a child with a disability. For this reason and more, parents, other carers and partners need to learn how to engage with their extended family members, friends and community to obtain the most suitable supports for the child and family unit. Furthermore, parents must diligently learn how to identify and engage with service providers that are most appropriate for meeting their child’s needs (Association for Children with a Disability, 2013).

It has been found, however, that service systems are not always attuned and responsive to family needs (Owen, Gordon, Frederico, & Cooper, 2002). Parents often initiate the process that results in the diagnosis of their child’s disability in an effort to better understand their child’s atypical behaviour (Watson et al., 2011). From this moment, professionals are duty bound to improve families’ abilities to access resources on their own account and identify informal support networks (Owen et al., 2002) and access information and other resources as a means of empowerment and control for parents. Building and strengthening parent and family capacity is considered extremely critical for supporting a child with disability or special needs and in maintaining the family unit intact (Dunst, 2009, 2014; McWilliam, 2010; Moore, 2012). When needed supports and resources are available to families, they are more likely to have positive and rich capacity-building experiences, report fewer concerns and experience better child and family outcomes (Dunst & Trivette, 2009). Further, parents seek help, take steps to decrease stress and build parental resilience (Davis, Day, & Bidmead, 2002; Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center, 2007; McWilliam, 2010; Owen et al., 2002). Building constructive and effective parent-professional relationships and partnerships can distinctively improve service provision and provide the child and family with a better quality of life.

Early childhood intervention

There is a significant body of evidence which indicates that intervening early can (1) reduce the effects of a disability and prevent the negative effects associated with poor environmental conditions (Dunst, 2009), (2) provide the foundation and trajectory for children’s lifelong learning, development and health outcomes (Blackman, 2002; Fish, 2003; Guralnick, 2005a; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000), (3) build on and strengthen parents’ skills, (4) promote and enhance parents’ wellbeing, (5) empower parents to make informed decisions and (6) increase parents’ sense of competence and confidence (Dunst & Dempsey, 2007; Dunst & Trivette, 2009).

Early identification and early childhood intervention can be crucial for improving a child’s developmental, health and wellbeing outcomes as well as for improving family members’ parenting skills (Conlin, 2002; Dunst, 2009; Shonkoff & Garner, 2012). Intervening early can encourage parents to engage their children in early learning opportunities in ways that provide the parents authentic control over the types of supports, resources and services they obtain for their child (Dunst, 2009). Early childhood intervention can also promote respect for racial, cultural and socioeconomic family diversity, and provide services that utilise the natural environment and community-based resources to accommodate the needs of children and families (Rogers, Edgecombe, Kimberley, Barclay, & Humble, 2004).

Early childhood intervention locally, nationally and internationally has been found to be effective in improving child, parent and family outcomes (Guralnick, 1997) and generating benefits to society far beyond program or intervention costs (Centre on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2007; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). The latter benefits can include a decrease in welfare expenditure as well as reduction in the costs of education programs and health services, resulting in long-term savings from government investments (et al., 2000; Shonkoff & Garner 2012; Vimpani, Patton, & Hayes, 2002). One question nevertheless remains. What are the benefits gained from different approaches to early childhood intervention? The chapters in this book include descriptions of different social, family and developmental systems approaches to early childhood intervention and the different benefits that are realised from these approaches to intervention.

Family systems and family-centred practices

The ability to both provide children, parents, other primary carers and the family as a whole the supports and resources needed to alleviate or reduce any negative effects associated with the birth and rearing of a child with a disability or delay requires a broader-based perspective of early childhood intervention (Crnic & Stormshak, 1997; Guralnick, Hammond, Neville, & Connor, 2008). The ability to build and strengthen family member capacity as a result of early childhood intervention also necessitates a shift in focus in terms of how family members are involved in early childhood intervention (Korfmacher, Green, Spellman, & Thornburg, 2007). Social and family systems approaches to early childhood intervention have been advanced as ways of broadening the scope of early childhood intervention (Briggs, 1997; Cowan, Powell, & Cowan, 1998; Thurman, 1997), whereas family-centred practices have been advanced as a way of engaging family members in early childhood intervention in a capacity-building manner (Dunst & Espe-Sherwindt, 2016; Epley, Summers, & Turnbull, 2010; Espe-Sherwindt, 2008).

Ecological (Bronfenbrenner, 1992), social (Friedman & Allen, 2010), family (Emery, 2014) and developmental (Guralnick, 2001) systems theories have increasingly been used to broaden the scope and focus of early childhood intervention to include ‘interventions’ (broadly defined) as the different levels and settings of influence affecting child, parent, other primary carers and family behaviour and functioning. Systems theories and models view the family as a social unit embedded within informal and formal social networks, where events in those units and networks influence the behaviour of a family unit and individual family members to improve child and family outcomes (Dunst & Trivette, 2009). Accordingly, early childhood intervention includes activities in those informal and formal social networks and systems to provide or promote the provision of supports, resources and...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures and tables
• Foreword
• Contributors’ biographies
• Part I Introduction
• Part II Foundations for working with young children and their families
• Part III Understanding families and family-early childhood practitioner relationships
• Part IV Working with families and young children in Australia
• Part V Working with families and young children in other countries
• Part VI Conclusions and future directions
• Index