Helping Professionals Understand Families

Abstract

Communication and collaboration between parents and professionals are vital. Pre- and inservice courses are one way of helping professionals develop communication and collaboration skills. A course at the University of New Hampshire attempts to provide this training. As a method of formative evaluation, pre-, post-, and follow-up questionnaires were distributed to students participating in the course during 1988, 1989, and 1990. Responses to the questionnaires indicated that attitudes of professionals and their interactions with parents changed. Greater empathy, increased respect, and significantly more parent collaboration and communication were reported in the follow-up questionnaires. Readings, interviews, and respite provision were some of the factors identified as influential in effecting increased positive interaction between parents and professionals.