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Building Parent
LeadershipPEAK Parent Center
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ABC’s Of Parent Leadership
Course
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• Families of children with special needs often
recognize that in order to be successful parents and
advocates for their children, they need to embrace
leadership roles.
• Because every family is unique, parent leadership is
also unique.
• Parent leadership looks different at different points in
their child’s life.
What is Parent Leadership?
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• Parent leaders recognize that parents are their
children’s best resources, that no one loves their
children the way that they do, and that parents
are their child’s strongest advocates and
decision makers until the child can assume this
responsibility.
• Parent leaders place a high value on building
and strengthening communities.
What is Parent Leadership?
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• Parent leaders work on many different levels.
• Parents might express their leadership by:
• advocating for one’s own child and family;
• being available to provide support to other parents
and families;
• working on broader levels on behalf of all children
and families in a community, in a region, in a state,
throughout the country or the world.
What is Parent Leadership?
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Who is a Parent Leader?
“ They are parents who take active roles
to better their family or community, who use their
skills to serve in meaningful leadership roles and
who represent the “parent voice” to help shape
the direction of families, programs or
communities.-They’re all around us! ”
Diane Autin
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• There is no guidebook for parents of children with special needs to learn how to be leaders.
• Parents have observed that they learn leadership skills through a variety of ways.
• Through their children
• From others
• Volunteering
• By getting involved in systems level change efforts
• Through invitations and opportunities
How Do Parents Learn to Be Leaders?
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Building New Leadership
• Nurture leadership
• Have a plan to:
– Identify and recruit potential leaders
– Build capacity
– Allow mistakes
– Provide support
– Listen, respond
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Leadership Lesson from Legos®
LEGO bricks don’t join with others simply by chance.
Likewise, the best connections don’t happen by
accident. Pouring out a box of LEGO bricks will not
produce a castle; you will just have a pile of bricks.
Similarly, relationships at their best are designed,
intentional, connected, and built.
Successful leadership requires the ability to connect. Toy Box Leadership
Dr. John C. Maxwell
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How Does it Work?• A course offered in two parts: 2 days with an
overnight and then 1 day a month later
• Parents apply and commit to participation in
all 3 days
• Peer-to-peer mentoring with experienced
parent trainers as guides
• Small stipend provided to cover childcare and
travel costs
• Follow–up listserv and support in actualizing
personal leadership plan
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Course at a Glance
Day 1
• Illustrate personal milestones using a life
map
• Identify essential leadership skills
• Explore individual communication styles
• Share family symbols
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Course at a Glance
Day 2
• Explore experiences in various life roles
• Identify one’s support systems
• Identify and practice specific communication skills
• Learn best practice information on parents rights
and responsibilities
• Set personal leaderships goals
• Clarify assignment for next month
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Course at a Glance
Day 3
• Update on leadership goal progress
• Gain knowledge of problem-solving steps
• Learn collaboration strategies
• Discuss team building processes
• Put course pieces together and share
individual plans with the group
• Discuss strategies for personal renewal
• Celebrate!
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Key Activity: Life Maps
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Key Activity: What is a Vision?
• A personal statement
• Builds on experiences, skills, & values
• Gives direction & purpose
• Reflects long-range hopes
• May begin as an effort to improve life for family members, but will likely improve life for others, too
• An opportunity to think deeply about priorities, values, & choices
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Goal
Step
Step
Steps
Key Activity: Leadership Goal
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Goals-Set and Met:
Jessica - Rifle
Set up a program with doctors’ offices to provide support to parents in a rural area of Colorado.
Roxanne - Delta
Set up a 501c(3) support group that is now sponsoring trainings and fundraising events.
Claudette - Castle Rock
Took idea of parent resource notebook to school board and was awarded funding to provide the notebooks to families.
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Goals-Set and Met:Kylie - Colorado Springs
Work with hospital to provide support for families who have oral facial cleft support needs.
Chresta – Ft. Collins
Set up private fundraising organization to provide funding to families with children with rare disorders.
Jim - Ft. Collins
Video resource for families in Colorado. Made sample DVD for follow-up meeting.
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Goals-Set and Met:
Valerie - Pueblo
Cookbook for fundraising for her local support group with family stories on pages. Had sample available for follow up meeting.
Darlene - Denver
Talking to students at her son’s school about her son’s disability. A very big step for her!
Leland - Denver
Presenting at Six Flags about working with employees and customers with disabilities.
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Strategies for Sustaining Leadership
• Find an experienced family member or provider to mentor
• Stay in touch with other families
• Involve other parents to ease the burden of representing the consumer perspective
• Have patience, courage, and a sense of humor
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Strategies for Sustaining Leadership
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•Evaluate goals and priorities frequently
• Are you meeting them?
• Is the time you’re investing making a difference?
• Put your family first
• Apply the 20-year-rule: Will this have mattered to my family twenty years from now?
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Where are they now?
• Director of the CPRC in Denver
• Past co-chairs of our state ICC
• Members of our state ICC
• Members of Special Quest State Team
• Spanish outreach coordinator for Down
Syndrome Association
• Teaching an in-depth parent leadership
course
• And much, much more! 22
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Lessons Learned
• Parents bring incredible resources to
contribute
• Parents will lead with encouragement and
opportunities
• Parents need many ways to contribute
• Parents will drive their leadership
• Peer-to-peer model is a key ingredient
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“This training has been
life changing for me. I’d
recommend it to all
parents. I learned so
much about myself and
was inspired by all the
parents who
participated.”
-Colorado parent
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“This was the most
amazing training.”
“I feel more confident
in myself.”
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“It was so empowering to
me! Exciting to meet
others and to share
stories and concerns. It
was so much fun!”
“I am motivated to take
the first steps to reach
my goal.”
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1-800-284-0251
719-531-9400
www.peakparent
For more information, please
contact us at:
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