The meaning of early intervention: A parent's experience and reflection on interactions with professionals using a phenomenological ethnographic approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe how a parent's partnership with professionals progresses and evolves throughout the service provisioning process. Using a phenomenological ethnographic approach, the lived reality of a family is depicted as the parent walks through different stages of the Individualized Family Service Plan process over a 6-month period. Data concerning parent–professional interactions were obtained via observation notes and document reviews whereas data regarding parent perceptions were collected through multiple individual interviews. Overall, the parent conveyed her satisfaction with actual services especially regarding the professionals’ knowledge and parental advocacy. However, the parent also indicated frustration with the early intervention planning process and “obligated” partnerships with providers. In particular, the providers’ lack of sensitivity was noted, and greater emotional and psychological support was suggested. The overall process of developing partnerships with professionals can be excessively intrusive to the family's lives. Future research directions are offered as a contribution for the development of improved policies for early intervention programs regarding family-centered practice, utilizing the perspectives of families.

Parents’ Experience in Children’s Friendship Training Programme for Their Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Inquiry

“…These experiences provide a better understanding of what would benefit parents participating in parent-assisted therapies [ 37 , 44 ], and their participation is thought to be likely to improve the intervention’s outcome [ 12 ]. The findings also show that parents employed various methods to help their children while taking part in the CFT intervention.…”

“…Second, the themes’ relatedness with Carnall’s coping cycle model provides additional insight towards understanding parents’ involvement in ASD treatment. Previous research has focused on parents’ roles [ 12 ], their experiences with the intervention [ 32 , 37 ], and the barriers and challenges they went through [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. However, in-depth discussions on parents’ psychological processes have not been highlighted in these studies.…”

Validation of the Chinese Version of Family-Professional Partnership Scale in Early Intervention

“…Future study can use the FPPS-C Family and Professional Versions as companion measures to assess the correspondence between parental and professional perceptions by comparing data between parents and their service providers. Although parents expressed high levels of satisfaction, some of them may have experienced frustration with the service planning process or with their "obligation" to develop partnerships with their providers (Lee, 2015). It is necessary to better understand parents' subjective experiences.…”

Providing Emotional Support to Parents and Caregivers of Infants and Toddlers With Visual Impairments

“…For instance, Sakkalou and colleagues (2018) found that mothers of infants with severe visual impairments may be at risk for increased levels of stress in parenting. In a case study, Lee (2015) reported that although a mother of an infant with complex needs was satisfied with early intervention services, she wished that practitioners were sensitive to the family's situation and provided more emotional support.…”

“…Based on required professional competencies (Division for Early Childhood, 2020) early interventionists prepared by early intervention or early childhood special education programs are likely to feel confident and competent to provide informational and material supports to families. However, they may be less prepared to provide emotional support and be challenged by the complexities of family situations (Brotherson et al, 2010; Lee, 2015). Practitioners in visual impairment are trained to serve children of all ages so may not be adequately prepared for early intervention practices (Anthony, 2014; Ely et al, 2020; Ely & Ostrosky, 2018), unless they have had specific training or professional development.…”