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Beach Center launches online Community of Practice
The Beach Center on Disability at the University of Kansas has launched an on-line community to collect insights from families of children with disabilities and special health care needs as well as from researchers, practitioners, and policy leaders. The Early Childhood Family Support Community of Practice (CoP) is an innovative on-line communication tool. The CoP has grown to more than 390 members since it launched nearly a year ago. Family members, practitioners, and researchers from around the world are connecting on-line to discuss Early Childhood Family Support.
Discussions on the CoP especially relevant for families of children with special health care needs have included such topics as: (a) airline travel with a child who has complex healthcare needs, (b) tips for parents as they prepare for IEP meetings, (c) the complexity of third party insurance coverage for Part C (Early Intervention) services, and (d) emotional supports that improve family quality of life. The “Real Stories” section of the CoP is very popular. Here, families share their struggles with service systems, cultural differences, and decision making as well as the strategies that helped them resolve issues and succeed. These stories offer both information and inspiration. One key feature of the community is that members can join a conversation as it is happening or read, reflect, and add comments at a more convenient time. Each member is considered an expert on the CoP; everyone is invited to share experiences, discuss research, pass on tips, and discuss policy issues. Once a discussion concludes, the ideas shared by the members are then transferred to a wiki to create a tip sheet or they are highlighted in the CoP Blog, where they will hopefully lead to further discussion. To become a part of this fast-growing community, enter through the main Beach Center website (www.beachcenter.org). Click on Communities of Practice and then select Early Childhood Family Support. Video tutorials are available and explain how to become a member, navigate the CoP, sign in and out, start a new discussion, and reply to an exiting discussion. To watch the tutorials, click on V-tutorials under the bulletin board in the Spreading the News section on the front page of the CoP or click HERE. Please join us and share your valuable insights with the community as we work to enhance quality of life for families who have children with disabilities and special health care needs. For more information about the Early Childhood Family Support CoP, please contact George Gotto (CoP) Administrator, ggotto@ku.edu. |
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