What are the critical periods in the family life cycle in which parent training is the most beneficial? Why is parent training most beneficial during these periods?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

There are three critical, but not exclusive, periods during the family life cycle in which parent training and family counseling are most beneficial. The first occurs during the child's infancy and toddlerhood, when parents are coming to terms with the child's disability and may need assistance in learning ways to provide adequate stimulation of early language formation and similar developmental skills. A second critical time is during the preschool and school years, when parents often want to know more about the best way to teach their child basic academic and social skills. Intensive programs, which demand a considerable amount of the parents' time, are usually best suited for the preschool years, when the family is most focused on child developmental issues (Brown et al., 2008). Finally, parental concerns resurface during the child's emergence into young adulthood. At this age, the child is no longer eligible for funded schooling, and new issues of housing, employment, relationships, and financial planning associated with independent living become concerns.