Parents know better than anyone else: caring for a child with a developmental delay or disorder is challenging, intense, and constant.  You need breaks to accomplish the most basic daily tasks. Intervention time might seem like the perfect opportunity to take care of some of the many things on your “to do” list or simply take a well deserved rest.

At Focus, we understand these realities. Still, we require that parents be trained by the Behavioral Interventionist and/or Supervisor to carry out intervention in the home and remain involved throughout behavior intervention sessions. Parent training and involvement in intervention is now considered an essential component of successful intervention programs for children with special needs. Why?

Because you know your child better than anyone else – we need your expertise. While our behavioral staff have specialized knowledge in helping children with developmental delays or disorders, parents always have information and knowledge specific to their child. Without parent input, our assessments, intervention plans, and ongoing interventions are simply incomplete.

Because you are with your child all the time – you provide the most consistent influence on your child. The same reason that parents want and need a break is one of the key reasons that behavioral sessions cannot be break times. By participating in behavior intervention services, parents learn and practice key skills that they can then apply in day-to-day family life, increasing the real amount of help their child is getting. Instead of one or three or six hours of help, your child can effectively be getting help most of the time they are awake.

Because you can help your child learn – you are the most important agent for change in your child’s life. Research has shown that children of parents who are involved in their education and/or behavioral intervention gain more from the help they receive. Including parents in the intervention can also help children achieve greater maintenance and generalization of skills and can help reduce parents' stress levels.

Because your values, priorities, and parenting philosophies are an integral part of the intervention – we need your input. Parental involvement is important to ensure that the family's desired outcomes for the intervention, as well as the family's values and priorities, are considered when developing the intervention plan.

Because learning behavior intervention skills will make your life easier – we need your undivided attention. It’s not magic. The techniques used by Behavior Interventionists are practical tools for helping children with developmental delays or disorders to manage their behavior and learn new skills. When parents have these tools, managing their child’s behavior becomes much easier for the child and the whole family.

Because we won’t always be there – we need you to help us be successful. At some point, behavior services will end. Parents who have actively participated in behavior services will have the tools to help their children to maintain their gains and make new ones as they grow and learn. Services will have the tools to help their children to maintain their gains and make new ones as they grow and learn.