What you need to know: The Role of Parents and Families

Parents can do a lot to encourage their children/teenagers/young adults to become the best they can be. One of the most important things parents and family members can do is to have high expectations! They can focus on their family member's interests and abilities; help family members learn how to accentuate their strengths, with or without accommodations; and encourage them to learn about their disability and what they need to succeed.

Parents can encourage their child to be independent in activities of daily living, facilitate interactions between child and health care provider; and encourage their child to actively participate in determining what his/her future should look like and what goals he/she wants to achieve. They can also encourage their child's active problem-solving and decision-making as he/she moves toward those goals.

Families can support youth as they learn how to navigate their way through many situations, take risks, and move forward. And most importantly - remember that a young person with a disability is a person first. Although he/she has a disability, he/she also has interests, abilities, dreams, and the same needs as any other person his/her age.

Try some of these resources to learn more about issues, supports, and options for the future:

• Making it Work: When Families that Represent a Service Population Become Employees
  http://www.ichp.edu/#PPA
  
• Family Village: A Global Community of Disability-Related Resources
  http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/index.html
  
• Center for Self-Determination
  http://www.self-determination.com/publications/community2.html
  
• National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
  http://ici.umn.edu/ncset/publications/parent/mar02.html
  
• Health Care Transition for Youth Digest ListServ ( Institute for Child Health Policy)
  For youth and young adults with special health care needs, their families, and professionals with whom they interact
  http://mchenet.ichp.edu/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=transition

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