STEP-BY-STEP PARENTING PROGRAM© WORKSHOP
This workshop is intended for anyone who works with parents who have learning difficulties and their children, including: child protection workers, parent educators, family support workers, infant development workers, early interventionists, home visitors, public health nurses, behavior therapists, psychologists, and social workers.
This workshop is offered over 1-3 days. Dr. Feldman presents the Step-By-Step Parenting Program© for Parents with Learning Difficulties. The Step-By-Step Parenting Program© has been used extensively to help parents with learning difficulties improve the quality of the home environment, specific parenting skills related to basic child-care, child health, safety, development, parent-child interactions, and child behavior management. The Program includes an assessment, training, and support model specifically designed for parents with learning difficulties raising children 0-3 years. A 3-day workshop could also cover The Family Game designed for parents with learning difficulties who have older children. The Step-By-Step© model has been developed by Dr. Feldman and his associates over the past 25 years and has been shown to be effective in numerous evaluations published in professional journals and books. The Step-By-Step© model is emulated across Canada, the U.S., Australia, and Europe.
Training typically is offered onsite at a location upon invitation from an agency or agencies in a region over 2-3 consecutive days. However, with face-to-face training not being an option due to the COVID 19 pandemic, online, interactive training now is available that can be spread out over several weeks. In the training, Dr. Feldman will demonstrate parent training checklists, teaching aids and strategies expressly designed for parents with learning difficulties. There will be opportunity for general discussion of issues and for workshop participants to ask questions about specific cases.
Agencies just wanting an introduction to the program can request a one-day introductory workshop that can accommodate up to 100 participants. However, if an agency plans to implement the Step-by-Step Parenting Program©, then Days 2 and 3 of the workshop would be to those staff and supervisors who will actually work directly with families or supervise those that work with families. Days 2 and 3 can accommodate about 10 participants.
THE FAMILY GAME WORKSHOP: BUILDING PARENT-CHILD RAPPORT AND CHILD COOPERATION
The Family Game 1-day workshop is meant to accompany The Family Game Manual which is part of Dr. Feldman’s Step-by-Step Parenting Program©. The Family Game is a fun way to teach parents with learning difficulties to increase positive rapport with their preschool and school age children and to use noncorporal positive behavior support strategies to increase child cooperation and other appropriate behaviors. The Family Game is divided into two training sections: Increasing Child Cooperation and Building Rapport.
The Family Game workshop shows participants how to play the game with groups of up to eight parents, write scenarios appropriate for the group and use strategies to promote learning and generalization of positive parent-child interactions and rapport. The workshop also shows how to evaluate the parents’ responses during the game and generalization to novel situations and in the home. Participants will have the opportunity to practice preparing materials, playing the game and observing and scoring responses and parent-child interactions.
The Family Game Workshop is best offered in person. Dr. Feldman is determining how to adapt the training for an online environment.
COMPREHENSIVE, COMPETENCE-BASED PARENTING CAPACITY ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP
This one day workshop presents an innovative, empirically-supported assessment approach to assessing parenting capacity of parents with learning difficulties. It offers a clear alternative to the current inadequate system of assessing parenting capacity in these parents. This approach can be used for developing family support plans and to inform custody decisions. This workshop is intended for professionals involved in parenting capacity assessments of these parents (e.g., child protection workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, lawyers, judges).
Dr. Feldman has used the Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment model with hundreds of parents with learning difficulties. One judge referred to this assessment approach as a “breath of fresh air.” This approach has the potential to change the way parenting capacity assessments are conducted and interpreted to allow for more humane, just and accurate child custody decisions in families headed by parents with learning difficulties.
The workshop will cover an overview of research and practice with families headed by parents with learning difficulties. Dr. Feldman will discuss foundation principles and present the theoretical model of the Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment. He will discuss definitions of learning difficulties, at-risk status of their children, intervention research and involvement with the child welfare system. He will show how parenting problems by parents with learning difficulties are not just due to their cognitive limitations, but are determined by a host of factors, interacting in complex ways over time.
He will then provide step-by-step instructions on how to conduct this comprehensive assessment will be provided. The Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment approach focuses on identifying personal strengths and needs, as well as environmental factors that impede or support competent parenting. Case studies are used to illustrate the process; assessment materials, results and sample assessment reports are shown. A template for writing the assessment reports will be provided. Dr. Feldman will discuss how to use the assessment findings and recommendations to design a family support plan, how to evaluate the plan and in court testimony.
A free copy of his book describing the Comprehensive, Competence-based Parenting Capacity Assessment approach will be provided.
This workshop can be offered in person or remotely through video conferencing.
