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The Parent to Parent Model of providing support to parents who have a family member with a disability is a systematic approach of matching experienced or "veteran" parents of a family member with a disability with new or "referred" parents who are just beginning to meet the challenges of a disability within the family. Through this one-to-one match, the veteran parent is often able to provide the referred parents with meaningful emotional and informational support. Because veteran parents have "been there" and experienced the many intense emotional responses that accompany a diagnosis of a disability and have adjusted to and come to understand the disability, they are in a unique position to establish a meaningful bond with referred parents and to offer something other support systems cannot--shared common experiences.
For most parents of children with special needs, the early period following the diagnosis is a time of emotional crisis. Parents may feel overwhelmed, guilty, angry, and/or depressed. Because well-meaning relatives and friends are sometimes afraid to reach out, many parents of a child with a disability also report feeling an enormous sense of isolation. For these parents, the weeks and months following the diagnosis are ones in which they are often left alone, caught in a vicious cycle of disbelief, anger, depression, and fear of what the future holds for their child and family.
Transition times are also often stressful ones for families with a child having special needs. Moving from an early intervention program into an early childhood special education program, or transitioning into the public school system or to a supported living/employment setting brings a whole new set of unknowns to the family.
Parents call Parent to Parent or are referred by Parent to Parent through a variety of sources: medical personnel, social service practitoners, disability organizations, other parents, etc.
The one-to-one match between a veteran parent and a referred parent is usually based on similarities in disability, age of child, location, and similar family experiences. Once the initial meeting has occurred, usually by phone, the on-going relationship develops according to the needs and preferences of the referred parent. Some matches are short-term, consisting of only 2 or 3 contacts. Others evolve into lifelong friendships.
Because Parent to Parent programs facilitate one-to-one matches between veteran parents who through their empathetic, sensitive, and skillful listening offer friendship and shared experiences to the referred parents, the Parent to Parent approach is a truly viable one that is easily adaptable in a variety of settings. Families of infants in neonatal intensive care units find the same quality of support through a Parent to Parent match as do families with young adults making the transition from special education settings to supported employment or families coping with the challenges of caring for a head-injury survivor. Through any Parent to Parent match, opportunities are created for a unique sharing of information and emotional support, and these shared experiences are the very foundation of Parent to Parent support.
The Parent to Parent Model originated formally in 1971 as the foundation for the Pilot Parents Program in Omaha, Nebraska. Because this model meets a great and meaningful need it has grown to include 30 states with some variation of a statewide Parent to Parent organization. The exact model used in each state depends upon the individual needs and history of the state and the parents who have established the organization.