Helpful actions seen through the eyes of parents of children with disabilities

Abstract

Parents of children with disabilities interact with a wide range of service providers in order to assure appropriate services for their children. While some actions performed by professionals are viewed as helpful, many are viewed as obstructive. Surveys completed by over 120 parents identified past actions perceived to be helpful and those thought to be unhelpful as well as identification of professionals associated with those actions. Using the critical incident technique, narrative responses were based on actual experiences that parents described. Parents were also asked to articulate specific actions they would like professionals to take in the future. Over half of the responses request desired relationships with professionals that focus on respect, collaboration, communication and information sharing. Implications for pre‐professional training are discussed.