UW LEND All Reads Online Book Club for Families as Mentors
- Implemented in 2019
- Submitted by WA - Center on Human Development & Disability, UCEDD/LEND
- Contact Sue Adelman
- Topic: Family Centered Care
Briefly describe the activity and its purpose.
We have had a strong Families as Mentors program that consistently reached 25-40% of our trainees. Seeking to impact more trainees we piloted this on-line book club as a required activity for our 2019-2020 cohort. We chose Parents and Professionals Partnering for Children with Disabilities, A Dance that Matters by Janice Fialka, Arlene Feldman, and Karen Mikus. It is case study based, practical and concise. This book gives real life examples of situations that trainees may find themselves participating in (i.e. providing evaluation feedback or an IEP meeting) from both family's perspective and a professional's perspective, providing valuable insight. Providing insight from both perspectives is rare to find in the literature. After conferring with author Janice Fialka (http://www.danceofpartnership.com) aother LEND network leaders, we decided to use the GoodReads online book club platform for our discussion (https://www.goodreads.com) We implemented the pilot for the fall quarter 2019. This involved:
- Creating an invitation-only GoodReads account for UW LEND All Reads;
- Purchasing the books from Janice Fialka (http://www.danceofpartnership.com/books.htm);
- Introducing the "All Reads" concept and expectations* at orientation;
- Outlining discussion points of the book through GoodReads discussion boards;
- Monitoring and responding to online discussion, encouraging engagement throughout the quarter;
- Planning a Dance Party culminating event, inviting Janice Fialka** to join through Zoom.
