Transcript - slide 7

Employment should be the first choice.

Parents need to have hope for their sons and daughters who have disabilities.

Help parents celebrate each success their son or daughter has.

Interviewer: Suzie, in closing, what is your advice to organizations about working with parents?

Suzanne: I think the most important thing we can do as we work with parents is to be respectful of parents. Not to look at parents as a pain in the neck. But as a critical part of the individual’s support system. While we are doing that; we have to constantly reinforce the fact employment should be the first choice. Should be in many cases, the only choice for people with disabilities. We should be reinforcing from the start that people with disabilities need to be asked "What do they want to be when they grow up." They need to have clothes like everyone else has. They need to really be treated just like every other child. Early intervention programs need to start from the very first with those kinds of things.

Our job coaches or employment specialist actually will go to the homes of the children we serve and talk to the parents about the types of jobs that they have found for individuals with disabilities. Parents need to have hope for their sons and daughters who have disabilities the same way they have hopes for the rest of their children. At this point, they have not had a whole lot of people coming to them saying "Hey, your son or daughter can be a star." "Your son or daughter can accomplish a lot if you help them."

So, I think that we need to respect parents. We need to reinforce their commitment and love for their son or daughter. We need to help them make that change that helps them understand that from the time that child is their precious little baby to that child is their precious adult. And, that they [should] have the same wants needs and desires for that son and daughter as for everyone else. I think that if we can help them celebrate each success their son or daughter has, it will be easier and easier for them to begin to understand that we are there for them; that employment is a possibility that their son or daughter should have the opportunity for; and that we can work together to make it happen and to make it happen successfully.