1. Going Deeper With Coaching Conversations: Use of Empathy, Reflective Questions and Partnership in Early interventions Cristina Hargitt Peggy Miksch 31 st Annual Conference Wichita, KS February 28,2013

2. What to Expect Interactive Conversation We will start the conversation with the story of Cristina and the Jones family. Our hope for the session is that we all share our successes, our challenges and tools and strategies to use as we communicate with families. What does it “look like”.

3. Reflection: Your Own Positive Experiences Think of a family that you have served when you believe the partnership went well. What went well? Why do you think it went well? List 2-3 things that contribute to good partnerships with families.

4. Reflection: Your Own Negative Experiences Think of another family you have served when partnership was challenging. What made it challenging? List 2-3 of the most challenging things.

5. What Is Important to Families? “The feeling of being deeply understood reinforces a sense of connectedness between the practitioner and... family… The aim is for... the family to feel heard, and ultimately, to be respected for his/her unique perspective and past experiences.” (Geller, 2012, p. 208)

6. What is important to families ? Partnership Communication: Empathetic communication is tuning in to the feelings, thoughts, and actions of another by taking his or her perspective and then communicating that you understand and care o No judgment or criticism of the person o Deep understanding of the person’s unique perspective What is the role of reflection/reflective questions?

7. Where Do Early Interventionist Learn How to Communicate with Families? Tools: Rush & Shelden Reflective Questioning Mahoney Responsive Parenting Zero to Three

8. Story of One Family – One practitioner Journey from first visit to today Share video examples/interviews Strengths Challenges

9. Discussion Questions for Cristina Discuss in small groups... What can I do on Monday to enhance my communication with families? Jot down 2 ideas you will try next week