Competency Based Training to Facilitate Improved Quality Interaction Between Parents and Their Handicapped Infants and Preschoolers

A widely accepted characteristic of early intervention programs for handicapped infants and young children is the active involvement of the child\u27s parents. Although the actual extent of parental involvement varies with programs, typically parents are assuming the role of instructor or presenter of developmentally based activities seeking to improve the skill levels of their developmentally delayed children. Simeonsson, Cooper and Scheiner, (1932) reviewed 27 programs focusing on intervention with biologically impaired infants and young children. Seventy percent of those programs specified a role for parents within the intervention for their children. The value of parent involvement is thought to be supported by this trend in early intervention programs