Professional Resources

Professional Resources

Comprehensive tools, guides, and training materials for professionals supporting parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities

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Parenting & Family Support

Tips, guides, and supports for parenting, family routines, and peer connections.

Fact Sheets

Parenting Tips (Fact sheets) – Developed by self-advocates based on lived experience; topics include Taking Care of Yourself, Connecting With Your Teenager, Successful Bedtime with Kids, Finding Supports, Advocating For Yourself, Summer Fun and Safety, Connecting with Other Parents, Getting Kids Ready in the Morning, Back to School, Handling Holidays, Attending an IEP Meeting, Staying Connected as a Family.

Guidebooks

Building Support Networks to Reduce the Risk of Isolation for Parents with IDD (Guidebook)

Handbooks

Easy-to-read “How To” booklets – Change People Organization (Handbook) – Easy-to-read “how-to” booklets for parents with intellectual disabilities.

Visual Supports & Apps

Parenting in Pictures (Visual support) – Photos showing how to parent in pictures; a visual support for parents with Intellectual Disabilities.

Understanding Early Milestones (Visual support) – Plain-language list of milestones to help parents understand early child development.

Websites

Proud Parents (Website) – Plain-language resources for parents with disabilities, with a whole section on parenting. Created by a group of parents in Connecticut.

Green Mountain Self-Advocates (Website) – Vermonters with developmental disabilities speaking up for themselves and others, providing a wide range of resources.

Assessment Tools

Accessing the Village: Blending Formal and Informal Supports in Parenting (System improvement checklist) – Helps consider new kinds of informal supports, especially in rural settings.

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Communication & Relationships

Tools and strategies for clear communication, trust building, and professional partnerships.

Learning Modules

Effective Communication Strategies (Module) – Describes effective oral, written, visual, and social strategies.

Using Social Strategies (Module) – How to gain trust and build self-confidence in making changes at home among parents with IDD during meetings.

Trust and Communication (Module) – Techniques including active listening, using plain language, and addressing communication breakdowns.

Handouts

Effective Communication (Handout)

Establishing a Relationship (Handout)

Parent/Professional Partnerships (Handout)

Strategies for Communication Partners (Handout)

Toolkits

Mental Health Toolkit Handouts – Handout 7: Parent-Professional Partnerships

Mental Health Toolkit Handouts – Handout 9: Using Active Listening with Parents with IDD

Mental Health Toolkit Handouts – Handout 10: Motivational Interviewing with Parents with IDD

Communication Boards & Apps

Simply Saying (App) – Free app using pictures, sounds, and glossary for clear conversations about conditions, treatments, and healthcare experiences.

Widgit Health (Communication boards) – Free communication cards and picture/word supports for health conditions and procedures.

The Hospital Communication Book (Communication book) – Guidance for understanding and communicating in healthcare settings.

Free Communication Tools (Communication tools) – Free charts to support patients with sensory or learning challenges.

Communication Access Tool (Visual support) – Helps identify the best way to communicate with a parent with IDD.

Webinars

Increasing Comprehension when People Have Cognitive Difficulties (Webinar) – $10

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Health & Safety

Resources on inclusive healthcare, ADA compliance, mental health, and family safety.

Learning Modules

Inclusive Parenting (Module) – Addresses misconceptions about parenting abilities based on IQ or adaptive behavior.

ADA Compliance (Module) – Navigating ADA requirements in healthcare settings.

Formal/Informal Resources (Module) – Coordinating with community resources for medical home.

Parent Perspective (Module) – Understanding needs of parents with IDD in healthcare settings.

Handouts

Making Reasonable Accommodations (Handout)

Mental Health Toolkit

Mental Health Toolkit (Toolkit) – For providers and therapists working with parents with IDD, including:

Handout 1: A Conversation with Lindsay: Thoughts on Therapy

Handout 2: Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Parents with IDD

Handout 3: Developing and Coordinating Supports for Parents with ID

Handout 4: Eye Movement Desensitization and Processing

Handout 5: Helping Parents with ID Contact Mental Health Professionals

Handout 8: Trauma, PTSD, ACES and Parents with IDD

Safety Resources

Ways to Keep You and Your Family Safe Right Now (Guidebook) – COVID-19 safety, larger font version.

Ways to Keep You and Your Family Safe Right Now (Guidebook) – COVID-19 safety, standard version.

Health Condition Resources

Health Handbooks – Includes:

Make it a family affair – Talking to People with a Learning Disability About Diabetes

Conversation Starter about Epilepsy

Explaining asthma to a child

Help your child gain control over asthma – Easy read booklet

Understanding Cerebral Palsy (with audio option)

Visual Supports

Learning About Diabetes (Visual support) – Printable handouts in English and Spanish with graphics.

Audio/Easy read Epilepsy Education Materials (Visual support)

The USP Pictogram Library (Communication boards) – Standardized images for medication instructions and warnings.

COVID-19 Resources

What You Need to Know About Covid-19 (Video/Fact sheet) – Plain language video by Rooted in Rights.

PTS-Coronavirus-Story-1 (Fact sheet) – Plain language information.

The CoviBook: Supporting and Reassuring Children (Fact sheet) – Available in 21 languages.

Tips For Working With Support Staff During COVID-19 (Fact sheet)

Toolkits

Toolkit to Support Home Visiting Services for Caregivers with Learning Differences (Toolkit) – By Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Maryland School of Medicine.

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Training & Professional Development

Modules, workshops, and webinars to build professional capacity.

Curricula

TASP Curricula (Curricula) – Listing of curricula that can be used to teach people with IDD how to parent. (Free)

Learning Modules – Education

Parents with ID (Module) – Overview of legal and support needs of parents with IDD.

Effective Support Strategies (Module) – Service delivery models that build capacity.

What Self-Advocates Say (Module) – Introduces self-advocates to deepen understanding.

Trainings/Workshops

Working Successfully with Parents with IDD (Training)

Trauma, Parenting and Intellectual Developmental Disability: An Intra and Interagency Puzzle (Training)

Service Model Webinars

Building Formal and Informal Support Teams to Assist Parents with IDD (Webinar) – $10

The Concept of "Good Enough Parenting" (Webinar) – $10

Intersectional Identities and Parents with IDD (Webinar) – $10

Bridging the Gap: Cultural Differences (Webinar) – $10

My Journey from Adoption to Advocate (Webinar) – $10

Service Delivery Webinars

Building Formal and Informal Support Teams (Webinar) – $10

Effective Support Strategies for Parents with IDD (Webinar) – $10

Peer Navigation Support for Parents with I/DD (Webinar) – $10

Reduce the Risk of Isolation For Parents with IDD (Webinar) – $10

Partner Training Resources

Addressing the Overrepresentation of Parents with Disabilities in CPS (Module) – Free module by Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.

Service Delivery Handouts & Tools

Effective Support Strategies (Handout)

Effective Support Strategies for Parents with IDD — Webinar Companion (Guidebook)

Developing Informal Support Groups (Handout)

Peer Navigation (Handout)

Setting Parents Up for Success (Handout)

Preventing Crisis Situations (Handout)

Cultural Competency Resources

Cultural Humility (Handout)

Strength Based Perspective Handouts - Overview, Identifying Strengths, Let's Meet Maria

Handout 6: Activity — Putting the Pieces Together (Toolkit handout)

Assessment Training

Competence-Based Parenting Assessments (Webinar) – $10

A Comprehensive Approach to Assessing the Strengths and Needs of Parents with IDD (Webinar)

Checklists

Check for Understanding (Checklist)

Keep Families Together (Checklist)

Put Protective Factors in Place (Checklist)

Assessing My Own Beliefs (Checklist)

Self-Assessment Tools

TASP Organizational Self-Assessment (Self-assessment)

System Improvement Checklist (System improvement checklist)

Videos

Prevention — Supporting Parents with Developmental Disabilities (Video)

Seizure First Aid (Video) – With posters in multiple languages.

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Research & Policy Insights

Articles, case studies, and policy papers for evidence-based practice.

Research Articles

Research Summary and Seminal Peer-Reviewed Articles on Parents with ID and Their Children (Research article) – By Dr. Maurice Feldman.

Enhancing Social Connectedness of Mothers with ID (Research article) – McConnell, Feldman, Aunos, Pacheco.

Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children (Research article)

Safeguarding the Rights of Parents with Intellectual Disabilities in Child Welfare Cases (Research article) – Convergence of social science and law.

The Americans with Disabilities Act and Parents with IDD (Research article)

Exploring Professionals’ Practices and Perspectives on Supporting Parents with Intellectual Disabilities (Research article)

Parents with Intellectual Disability and Their Reflections About Relationships and Support (Research article)

The Intersection of Child Welfare and Disability (Research article) – Newsletter with comprehensive articles.

New Ways of Thinking About Parents with Intellectual Disabilities (Research article) – How attitudes and approaches have changed.

Case Studies

Case Studies: Success Stories in Parenting with IDD (Case studies) – Based on actual cases with family consent.

Assessment Resources

Comprehensive, Competence-Based Parenting Assessment for Parents with Learning Difficulties and Their Children (Handbook) – By Maurice Feldman, PhD, and Marjorie Aunos.

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Have a Resource to Share?

If you know of a valuable resource that would benefit professionals supporting parents with IDD, we'd love to hear from you! Contact us at info@achancetoparent.net to suggest an addition to our resource roadmap.