Communication and Policy Change

It’s essential to have good listening skills and good nonverbal communication skills when leading individuals into policy change.  It’s good to be able to articulate speeches and write persuasive documents.  However, if the individual is not aware of what the audience feels or their response in the past to the situation then crucial elements may get left out of the policy.  It is often said that parents and educators that work with children the most know what they need.   In comparison, officials in high public offices do not have a clear of a view as they should of what individuals in the community may need due to their high offices.   I personally believe that being a good listener would encourage an individual trying to push a new policy for early intervention to identify what the parents and educators concerns may be.  Listening to the true issues of the people also shows a certain maturity and growth level.  The understanding often is that the individual that is higher in policy is open to paying attention to what the community and individuals are saying (Helpguide.org, n.d.).

Nonverbal communication is also a very essential communication tool.  When marketing programs are set into place policymakers must be able to read the nonverbal communication signs  of the individual to determine if the person is truly interested in supporting their efforts (Helpguide.org, n.d.).

The 7 C’s of communication are also very effective in aiding  policy makers  to determine what information to keep in any type of communication method and what information to  delete.  The 7C’s of communication can aid with writing the policy as well as communicating the content in the policy.  “According to the 7 Cs, communication needs to be clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous”(Mind Tools, n.d.).

I need to work on my own emotional awareness skills.  I often hold in my feelings regarding certain things due to not offending another person, not wanting to be confrontational and simply hoping the problem will go away.  This is not a healthy way to deal with my problems and could become an issue when addressing a major policy as well.  Its hard for me to deal with constant rejection.  However, I will have to learn to work on managing my challenging feelings in my personal life so that it will be easier in my professional life.  A problem that needs to be solved cannot be solved by an individual that is timid or afraid of the word “no.”  Everyone will not accept my suggestion for policy change and I will have to realize that everyone does not have the same vision (Helpguide.org, n.d.).

 

 

 

 

References

Helpguide.org. (n.d.). Effective communication. Retrieved October 15, 2013, from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/effective_communication_skills.htm Mind Tools. (n.d.). The 7 Cs of communication: A checklist for clear communication. Retrieved October 15, 2013, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_85.htm

 

Social Media and Policy Issues

 

 The first type of social media I would use to enforce my policy idea would be creating a facebook page.  Everyone can create a facebook page no matter how old or young they may be.  The facebook page also opens the door for communications to occur between individuals’ that may have some personal concerns or questions and simply invoice the individual involved.   I would also use facebook because it reaches so many different people all over the world, its nationwide,  and is almost as large as its  own country (Auer, 2011).

I would also use youtube videos as a means to communicate my policy issue.  I would use youtube due to the benefit of having visuals to help parents understand exactly what is going on with their child.  The videos would also be engaging and interesting to other individuals that do not have children  but may have seen a child with similar signs/symptoms.    My focus topic emphasizes the importance of early intervention and I believe if parents are able to actually see how “Autism” manifests the red flags may go up a lot sooner than later and they may start to ask more questions.  The video will simply open the door to determine what may or may not be happening. (Auer, 2011).

The audience I would mainly focus on getting involved would be the parents, teachers and physicians.  They are the ones I would focus on due to their significant involvement in the first year of the childs’ life and how much they are around the child. I would also focus on the three groups to expand their knowledge on the specific topic of autism.

There are multiple benefits to using social media.  In fact, the benefits are evident in areas where laws have been changed as a result of individuals sharing their opinions.  One benefit of social media is the option to gain a worldwide viewpoint from individuals’ all over the world concerning different topics.  A second benefit is how strongly the friends in an individuals’ social network stay together and in contact with one another.  Last, but not least individuals’ are not afraid to be completely honest with their thoughts and opinions.  Not as many people choose to remain anonymous but are open to share with others that they are the ones that shared a particular message (Hong, June, Sung-Min, 2011).

One challenge to using social media is the presence of so many different types of advertisements and advice groups online.  It’s hard to tell who is an expert or who has ever  really tried anything.  Another drawback to social media is the added pressure it puts on the government to make decisions.  Some pressure may be good, but when a major issue is involved it is not good to rush thorough decision making. Last, but not least social media can spread false information related to politics or any issue in the world very quickly.  This is an issue due to the fact that most social media is the opinion of an individual and not a collective group.  Often an individual starts to add fuel to a fire and sometimes the fire can get out of control (Hung et al 2011).

 

Social media is everywhere.  If a policy issue is addressed in this century it is almost inevitable that social media will have to be used in some form or fashion. 

 

References

Auer, M. R. (2011). The policy sciences of social media. Policy Studies Journal, 39(4), 709–736.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

June, P., Hong, C., & Sung-Min, P. (2011). Social media's impact on policy making. SERI Quarterly, 4(4), 125–129.

 

 

Semester Goals

Hello again everyone,

It's a new semester with lots of new and wonderful things to learn.  I look forward to learning more about policies and systems in place for the early childhood field.  These are my goals for this present course.

1.       Gain a clearer understanding of the 5 C’s (Coverage, Clinical Care, Coordination, Consultation, Community Health) and how they relate to my major assessment topic and other issues that I face in the field of early childhood/speech pathology.

 

It is important to have a clear understanding of the 5 C’s so that I can a better understanding of the child and the family dynamic as well as the childs’ general well-being.  If the child is sick all the time then their progress may be impeded.  However, if they have the right advocates that are providing the necessary referrals then the child can get the help that he/she needs and then move on to getting the larger problems and needs taken care of.  With a focus on early intervention knowing and having a background history of this information is very vital to taking steps to help the child (Kagan & Kauerz, 2012).

 

2.       Formulate a clearer, more specific idea/plan of what I can presently do in my community and at the local level to strengthen the special needs/early intervention component of the early childhood system

 

It is important for me to formulate a specific plan so that I can understand the depth of the issues and problems in my community.  I must also formulate a plan so that I will be forced to look at programs from the bottom up and determine what foundational issues may be causing problems.  I must gain a deeper understanding versus a surface knowledge of what is going on. By focusing on the community I will be helping   those individuals’ that have a very large influence on the children in different neighborhoods thus impacting the early childhood system (Kagan & Kauerz, 2012).

 

 

3.       Find as many systems and policies in place that support my topic for the major assessment in varying specialties (psychology, science, education, language, health) and determine Evidence Based Practice for what has worked and what has not worked. 

 

This is an essential step because I must know what has already been researched in my topic area, what has worked, what is in place and what is not in place so I can determine where I need to concentrate the majority of my efforts.  If I don’t know what is already in place I may duplicate a program that has already been tried or try a strategy that may not work in a specific community due to the majority population.  I must also understand the policies in place for early childhood so that I can have a starting point for developing my own policies.  I must evaluate the systems and policies in place to help me formulate a system/policy for my major assessment topic (Kagan & Kauerz, 2012).

References

Kagan, S. L., & Kauerz, K. (Eds.). (2012). Early childhood systems: Transforming early

learning. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Videos on early signs of autism

Hi everyone,

Here is a great video to watch comparing and contrasting the differences between early signs of children with autism versus children without autism.  The videos have voice-over's where
Dr. Landa, the director of the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders is specifically explaining what is occurring. The video is very eye-opening and I invite you to share it with anyone who has questions about their child/another child and autism. The link is listed below

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/2031455/video-this-is-what-autism-looks-like-in-toddlers/

Class Reflections

This entire class has been so very enlightening to me. I have learned new information, examined my own biases and weaknesses and learned about ways to enhance relationships with families and children from different cultures. I connected the most with the book, Anti-bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves. This book is going to be a guidebook for me in the future. I have learned how to avoid embarrassing situations and how to appropriately approach individuals that are different from me.  I also appreciate the content of the book because it helps explain what I should do to eliminate biases with my students as well. I learned that there are many ways to adjust situations so that the children and others in the environment can learn as much and to re-shape negative situations and behaviors into positive life lessons (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).

The information I found somewhat disturbing and surprising was the way in which the US doctors interacted and communicated with the Lee family in, The spirit catches you and you fall down.  The progression of the whole story was very sad and made me realize how ignorant we often are to the beliefs and customs of other cultures. I believe in Western civilization all we know is what we have been exposed to therefore we look at other cultures as if their ways are ridiculous. This was the view of many of the professionals that worked with the Lee's. Sadly, it shouldn't be like that and this book showed me how dangerous having opinions such as those could be (Fadiman, 2012).

The information I learned about autism and early intervention really inspired me to work even more diligently to provide more knowledge to individuals. I was also inspired because of the evident need for more longitudinal research in the field of autism. The more I researched the more I found that parents had to fight to help their children without a wealth of resources available to them. I did not understand or know that parents had limited help as their children became older until I was going through multiple articles and studies. The results were disturbing.

The information I found is vital to me as an early childhood professional because I consistently work with this population. I now know more specific things I need to do when working with the autistic population. I know how vital it is for me to encourage parents to take advantage of early intervention as soon as possible as well as multiple organizations they can visit for more resources.  Last, but not least I now know that every parent is at a different stage of resilience and I must approach each situation with different suggestions, statements, and resources.

References
Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves.

Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Fadiman, A. (2012). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and

the collision of two cultures. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

The interview Process

The interview process has always been very enlightening to me.  I enjoy learning from individuals that have been working with a particular population longer than I have as well as hearing their suggestions of resources to learn additional information.  The interview process is also very motivating to me as a well because I am able to collaborate with individuals that have experienced similar situations to myself as well as hear stories of success.  Lastly, the interview process is a learning tool for me to expand on the knowledge I know and be able to share my knowledge with other colleagues and parents. 

My 2 largest challenges with the interview process were coming up with interview questions that would encompass a breadth of knowledge and information.  There were some questions that I asked that gave me a lot of information but to expand on the questions would have taken hours and hours.  I felt as if I just wanted to keep hearing and learning more and more.  My other challenge was getting together with both of my interviewees.  I wanted to find individuals that were very knowledgeable about my topic.  However, the individuals that I knew were already very busy and involved working diligently to support the population of children with autism.  I loved the fact that they were so actively involved in the autism support process, but it simply made it a little more challenging to schedule times to talk or complete the interview.  Overall, the interview process worked very well and I was very pleased with the thoroughness of the responses given to me by the individuals I interviewed.

One interviewee expressed that “In working with children with autism, the greatest challenges have often been related to finding “a way in”, so to speak.  Because of the difficulties with socialization usually found in this population, finding ways to connect on that child’s terms are both challenging and rewarding”(Personal Communication, 2013).  This statement is very powerful and very true.  In my professional experience I have found that every child with autism is different and what works for one child may or may not work for another child.  As a result, I have to constantly find creative ways to engage the child, get the child to participate in therapy, and get the child to communicate his /her wants and needs.  Many children with autism have challenges with expressing their likes/dislikes and wants/needs so the challenge of finding “a way in” may take awhile.  I have found that some children benefit from sensory activities before starting the therapy session (ex. Jumping on trampoline, swinging) while other children will work diligently for a chance to roll a large ball or squeeze playdough back and forth on the table. Every child is different but once you find “a way in” it’s almost as if a lightbulb goes off and the child starts responding more in therapy.

My research on the topic of autism and early diagnosis and intervention of parents and professionals has been very rewarding thus far.  I have learned a lot from the research articles I’ve been reading.  I have learned that;

-Parents need continual support beyond early intervention and they are burdened by the strain of not finding adequate resources and serving as the primary case manager in most situations.   

-Parents can lean on grandparents for support and possibly involve them in important meetings related to the child so they can assist in relieving some of the burdens off of the parents.
-
Support is needed from the community, parents, social groups and others in case enough government funding is not available.

-We should update and communicate with individuals in our communities about what our children with autism need as well as use students to aid social interactions of children with autism

-Both parents are affected by the diagnosis of autism (emotionally, psychologically, physically) and some families are more resilient due to a strong familial support system.

There is a wealth of information available related to the topic of autism.  However, more longitudinal research is needed.  What kinds of coping techniques have you noticed with different families of children with autism?  What reasons have you found for some families being more resilient than others?

References

Bernstein, R., Brigham, N., Cosgriff, J., Harvey, M. Heilingoetter, J., Hughes, C., & Reilly, C. (2013). A peer delivered social interaction intervention for high school students with autism. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 38(1), 1-16.

Brown, H.K., Quellette-Kuntz, H., Hunter, D., Kelley, E., & Cobigo, V.(2012). Unmet Needs of Families of School-Aged Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 25(6), 497-508. Doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3148.2012.00692.x

 Carter, A.S., & Davis, N.O. (2008). Parenting stress in mothers and fathers of toddlers with autism Spectrum disorders: Associations with child characteristics. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(7), 1278-91

Hoogsteen, L.& Woodgate, R. (2013). The lived experience of parenting a child with autism in a rural area: Making the invisible,visible. Pediatric Nursing, 39(1), 233-237.

Parish, S. L., Thomas, K. C., Rose, R., Kilany, M., & Shattuck, P. T. (2012). State medicaid spending and financial burden of families raising children with autism. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 50(6), 441-51.

Sullivan, A., Winograd, G., Verkuilen, J., & Fish, M. C. (2012). Children on the Autism
Spectrum: Grandmother Involvement and Family Functioning. Journal Of Applied
Research In Intellectual Disabilities, 25(5), 484-494.