Establishing a Parent to Parent service.
A Parent to Parent service has been established in Auckland to provide assistance to parents of children with disabilities. Parents who themselves have children with special needs undergo training to prepare them to support other parents. The Auckland scheme is a telephone counselling service which has been set up through cooperation between parents and professionals in the field of special education. Steps in the establishment of the scheme are described, the training course is outlined and various issues regarding the scheme are discussed. After 3 years of operation the Auckland Parent to Parent Service is well established and has developed a model of operation which has been used to set up similar schemes in various other centres around New Zealand. It is intended that this article be of assistance to other groups considering setting up Parent to Parent schemes.
D002648:Child; D003376:Counseling; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D010290:Parents; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D013689:Telephone