A unique opportunity where families are the teachers and students are the learners!

Through monthly phone contacts and four visits with a family, students learn what life is truly like for a family that has a child with a disability. UPLink students have participated in a variety of mentorship experiences in homes, schools and communities. They have attended school field trips, therapy sessions, doctor’s appointments, music practice, adaptive horseback riding lessons and gymnastics class. Some have eaten with families at local restaurants, played at children’s museums and playgrounds, and attended ballgames to watch siblings play. One student attended a parent support group with her mentor and another joined the family in a meeting with their builder to discuss adaptations and accessibility issues in their new home. Students have discovered that interacting with a family in the context of their daily activities and routines is a valuable educational experience that could not be gained elsewhere.

Sample responses from recent participants:

Student Comments
“As professionals, we should be sensitive to the fact that parents and siblings, while they love and appreciate all the uniqueness of their child, may experience situations in which they hurt for themselves and/or their child.”

“Both my O.T. and UPLink classes have enforced the importance of the family as team members, and I have to question why this is not being done and why Mom’s voice is not being heard.”

“Rather than inappropriately generalizing from this family to others, I have learned to listen and to ask questions in order to develop an individual picture of each family and their priorities, concerns and aspirations.”

“I think I will come away from my family mentorship experience feeling both disappointed and excited; disappointed that our systems for helping children are so flawed, but excited about all the progress there is to make, and about the difference I can make in children’s and families’ lives.”

Family Comments
“Finding times to meet was a challenge, but it worked.”

“Just sharing our everyday lives was a joy.”

“They know a lot of things from books and we, as parents, know a lot of things from life. It was nice to compare and share.”

Graduate Comments
“I learned about the importance to families of having a positive relationship with the professionals working with their children. Professionals need to remember that parents also want to be parents and try to have a ‘typical’ lifestyle.”

“Families who are ‘armed’ with as much knowledge as possible are more satisfied with their care and health care providers. When families are involved in developing the intervention plan they are more invested and tend to have more positive outcomes.”

“The greatest thing I learned is that one of the most important things you can collaborate with the parents on is supports for them as caregivers. I have more respect for my families’ opinions and concerns during the IEP/IFSP meetings and in general.”

“We often don’t take into account all that goes on at home — and the big picture outside of our discipline. I learned that each family is so different and it is important to take into account the home life for therapy to be successful.”