02/23/10 - Book offers guidance to caregivers of children with disabilities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: February 22, 2010
Contact: Deborah Luehrs
deborah.luehrs@siskin.org
423.648.1708, office

Book offers guidance to caregivers of children with disabilities
Nationally released book is the fourth by Chattanooga expert

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- For the first time, professionals that assist families of children with developmental delays can turn to one up-to-date and practical resource to guide their efforts.

The publication, "Working with Families of Children with Special Needs," is edited and partially written by Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., who leads the Siskin Center for Child and Family Research. The book is a new look at how to assist families, and Dr. McWilliam says it is the only source of evidence-based, practical methods for supporting families of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities.

"It can be overwhelming for families to adjust to having a young child with special needs, especially at the beginning of a child's life when development is so malleable," Dr. McWilliam said. "We now have evidence-bas ed practices to help caregivers, so it was time to produce an up-to-date guide."

The book is aimed at teachers, doctors, psychologists and other practitioners that assist the families of children with disabilities from birth to age 6.

"Unlike other general guidelines, this book gives practitioners concrete steps they can implement," Dr. McWilliam said. "Every chapter has a checklist outlining those steps."

In Dr. McWilliam's fourth publicly published book, he and expert contributors reveal how early intervention and early childhood special education can effectively address a wide range of family concerns, which improve a child's development and learning.

The publication offers caregivers useful tools for various functions, such as

• assessing families;
• identifying and capitalizing on their strengths;
• providing information, support and coaching;
• collaborating with parents and teachers to address children's functional needs in the context of everyday routines; and
• coordinating services.

More than a dozen reproducible checklists and forms help professionals immediately implement the techniques and strategies described.

Published by Guilford Press and distributed nationally, the book is for sale online at the following sites:

• Guilford   (SAVE 15% by using promo code 2E at checkout)
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon

About Siskin Children's Institute

Siskin Children's Institute makes life better for children with special needs and their families. Founded in 1950, the non-profit organization achieves its mission locally and nationally through four initiatives: education, outreach, health care and research. The Institute provides early childhood education where children with and without disabilities learn together; family support and professional development programs; developmental behavioral pediatric health care; and innovative research in early childhood development and special education. For more information about Siskin Children's Institute, visit www.siskin.org.

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