Parent-Professional Collaboration: It’s More than a Meeting (continued)

Advice for Parents

1. Communicate regularly and positively with your child’s team (get to know administrators, invite team members for coffee, bring cookies).

2. Understand the different organizations that provide services to families of people with autism and their capabilities (research, ask questions).

3. Determine what services and resources you are looking for and know how to articulate them to professionals.

4. Be aware of “cure” scams. If it’s too good to be true, it is. To keep your wallet and family intact, it’s best to walk away from anyone who offers you a cure.

5. Consider the relevancy of different treatments in relation to your child’s needs.

Advice for Professionals

1. Plan regular, ongoing communication with families and other professionals.

2. Consider what you say and how you say it (miscommunication and hurtful words often are unintentional).

3. Take time to understand families’ needs and priorities.

4. Listen to concerns and address them through the exploration of possibilities.

5. Be a trustworthy source of information and resources.

6. Don’t worry about always having the answer. No one knows everything.

7. Respect the expertise of parents and other professionals.

Positive Steps to Improving Parent-Professional Collaboration

• Learn about each other; build a trusting relationship. 
• Be open-minded—respect the ideas of others. 
• Recognize and affirm different perspectives. 
• Be willing to learn and ask questions. 
• Keep open communication about successes (don’t forget to share the positives) and needs. 
• Share new ideas and strategies. 
• Work together to accomplish goals. 
• Agree to disagree—make decisions based on the data, not on emotions. 
• Make programming choices and decisions based on individual and family needs and preferences. 
• Surround yourself with positive, passionate people who have the student’s best interests at heart.

About the Authors

Laura Maddox, M.Ed., coordinates the Nebraska Autism Spectrum Disorders Network, a project of the Nebraska Department of Education.

Georgann Albin is the mother of three children and the recently elected president of the Autism Society of Nebraska .