Leveraging Technology to Build Positive and Effective Family/Teacher Relationships
Patricia WrightVice President, Professional Services: Rethink
Creative ideas for using technology to connect with parents and care-providers
Improved understanding of the basic strategies of active listening and how this applies when using technology to communicate
Specific applications of the current research regarding technology and communication with families.
Webinar Focus
Why is this important?
Higher rates of anxiety and depression• 46% of caregivers need more help managing their emotional/physical
stress• 40% of parents need help balancing work and family responsibilities
Increased absenteeism and work limitations• Up to 250 hours in lost work time per year• $3,000–5,000 in lost productivity
Heavy impact on employment decisions• 53% worked fewer hours to accommodate needs of child with autism• 58% did not take a job• 23% did not take a promotion
What do We Know?
Home visiting + text messages and phone calls increased improved parenting strategies and child engagement and reduced children’s challenging behaviors over home visiting alone (Carta et al, 2013)
What do we know? Cellular Phone
What do we know? Training and Coaching Via Internet
Improved the social communication skills of their children with ASD (Meadan, Meyer, Snodgrass & Halle, 2013)
Increased their knowledge of ABA strategies and concepts and improved their implementation of ABA strategies with their children (Heitzman-Powell, Buzhardt, Rusinko & Miller, 2014).
Increased parent learning and improved child behaviors (Vismara et al, 2013).
What do we know? Phone Calls and Email Follow-up email and phone calls
to support AAC integration at home (Sigafoos et al, 2004)
Increased success with functional communication training (Suess et al, 2014)
What do we know? Video Feedback
The Internet offers a variety of opportunities for sharing peer support and consulting professionals (Nieuwboer, Rukkink & Rubins, 2014).
What do we know? Social Networking
Communication
Validation: Acknowledge the speaker’s key points, pain points and feelings. Listen openly and with empathy, and respond in an interested way — for example, “I appreciate your willingness to talk about such a difficult issue. . .” or “I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me…”
Restating: Repeat the speaker’s communication— by paraphrasing not parroting, what you heard in your own words. For example, “Let’s see if I’m clear about this…” or “What I hear you saying is…” or “To clarify, you feel…”
Communication: Active Listening
Summarizing: Summarize the facts and key points of the conversation for understanding and clarity — for example, “So it sounds to me as if . . .” or “… is that it?”
Reflecting: Instead of just repeating, reflect the speaker’s words in terms of feelings — for example, “This seems really important to you. . .” “I can see that this makes you feel…”
Silence: Allow for comfortable silences and slow down the exchange. Give a person time to think as well as talk. Silence can be helpful in diffusing or redirecting unproductive interactions.
Communication: Active Listening
Communication: Active Listening
Validation
Restate
Summarize
Reflect
Silence
Specific Applications
Applications: Social Networks
Helpful? Mostly positive/supportive? High degree of interaction?
Applications: Simple Communication
Email addresses? Skype/ live video interaction?
Applications: Video Learning
On-demand video library of best practices
Applications: Video Upload/Feedback
Asynchronous video review
Applications: Web Access to Child Progress
Asynchronous data review
Take Action\
Communication tools that you could add to your repertoire?
Join a social network? Add to your toolbox with video and/or other strategies?
Take Action: What Can You Do?
Creative ideas for using technology to connect with parents and care-providers
Improved understanding of the basic strategies of active listening and how this applies when using technology to communicate
Specific applications of the current research regarding technology and communication with families.
Webinar Focus
National Business Group on Health: Therapies for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, May 2012. Social Science Journal: Concentration of Adverse Employment Effects on Mothers with Children with Autism, Baker & Drapela, Jan
2010 Carta, J., Burke Lefever, J., Bigelow, K., Borkowski, J., & Warren, S. (2013). Randomized Trial of a Cellular Phone-Enhanced Home
Visitation Parenting Intervention. Pediatrics, 132(Supplement 2), s167-s173. Heitzmann-Powell, L., Buzhardt, J., Rusinko, L. & Miller, T. (2014). Formative Evaluation of an ABA Outreach Training Program for
Parents of Children With Autism in Remote Areas. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 29(1), 23-38. Meadan, H., Meyer, L., Sndograss, M., & Halle, J. (2013). Coaching Parents of Young Children with Autism in Rural Areas Using
Internet-Based Technologies: A Pilot Program. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 32(3), 3-10. Nieuwboer, C., Fukkink, R., & Hermann, J. (2014). Peer and professional parenting support on the internet: A systematic review.
Cyberpscyhology, Behavior & Social Networking, 16(7), 518-528. Seuss, A., Romani, P., Wacker, D., Dyson, S., Kuhle, J., Lee, J., Lindgren, S., Kopelman, T., Pelzel, K., Waldron, D., (2014). Evaluating
the treatment fidelity of parents who conduct in-home functional communication training with coaching via telehealth. Journal of Behavioral Education, 23(1), 34-59.
Sigafoos, J., O’Reilly, M., Seely-York, S., Weru, J., Son, S., Green, V., & Lancioni, G. (2004). Transferring AAC intervention to the home. Disability & Rehabilitation, 1330-1334.
Vismara, L, McCormic, C., Young, G., Nadan, A., & Monlux., K. (2014). Preliminary findings of telehealth approach to parent training in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(12), 2953-2969.
References
Leveraging Technology to Build Positive and Effective Family/Teacher Relationships
Patricia WrightVice President, Professional Services: Rethink