Family

Current policies in health and education promote, and at times mandate, collaboration and partnership between professionals and family members. The Family "Discipline" can be defined as "...that body of knowledge about the child/family member with a disability, that is inherent to the family, acquired by life experience and affected by culture and community." (Center for Learning and Leadership, 2006).

Over the past decade there has been an emerging role in LEND programs for a Family faculty member to provide interdisciplinary teams with an invaluable perspective in the scope of their training: the perspective of the family. This role is unique in that the experience of being a family member or parent of an individual with a developmental disability cannot be learned in any university course.

More information on activities of LEND Family Faculty and Family Discipline trainees can be found below.  If you have questions about the Family discipline or LEND, contact Ben Kaufman at AUCD.

Helping Parents, Helping Children: Two-Generation Mechanisms

The Spring 2014 issue of Future of Children, Helping Parents, Helping Children: Two-Generation Mechanisms (Vol. 24, Issue 1), focuses on programs that simultaneously serve disadvantaged parents and children with high-quality interventions. Because the home environment is so important for children's development, many people think such "two-generation" programs can be more effective and efficient than programs serving children and parents individually. The issue discusses six mechanisms through which parents and the home environment are thought to influence children's development: stress, education, health, income, employment, and assets. See also, the accompanying policy brief, Early Stress Gets under the Skin: Promising Initiatives to Help Children Facing Chronic Adversity (Spring 2014), by Ross A. Thompson and Ron Haskins.

Making the Link Between Health and School Readiness

Promoting healthy development and treating children's health issues enhances their readiness for school. The Office of Head Start's National Center on Health released a new interactive online tool, Making the Link Between Health and School Readiness (2014), which is designed to help early childhood program leaders integrate meaningful health strategies with school readiness goals.

Parent Guides on Special Education Dispute Resolution

Four Parent Guides on Dispute Resolution options under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are available from the National Center on Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) in both English and Spanish. The guides are intended for parents of children ages 3-21. The topics covered include mediation, due process hearings, written State complaints, and resolution meetings