Families Together offers support class

Jana Mathia, Gazette Reporter | Feb 08, 20180

An Attachment and Security class for families with children with additional needs age birth to three years will be in Colfax beginning this month.

“If you feel like you’re struggling, then this class is good for you,” said Karen Nelson, outreach director at Families Together which puts on the free class.

Families Together supports families with children with disabilities and difficulties. One way it accomplishes that is with parenting classes like the attachment and security one beginning Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.

“Really helping parents understand their rights and their child’s rights,” Nelson said of the class.

Additional needs can be medical, trauma, diagnosed disabilities, developmental delay, behavioral or parents just struggling with their child.

The class centers on empowering parents and families who in-turn empower their children.

Helping parents understand their rights so they can better advocate for their child is one of the biggest things.

Nelson explained one common example is that a lot of parents realize they can make changes to the Individual Education Program (IEP) at the school districts.

She said a lot of parents do not understand they can ask certain things of the school within reason for their child.

While some districts, especially rural schools, may not have the resources to do everything, Families Together helps find ways to bridge the gaps.

Sometimes a parent just needs to know about resources already available in the area, like where to have a child tested for autism.

The agency helps convey parents’ needs to professionals for the betterment of the children.

The program is not a one-size-fits-all as it looks at individual families and how the parents and child play and interact to figure out the best answer.

In the birth to three years old age bracket, the parent-child bond is most important, Nelson noted. Strengthening that bond can be difficult for parents when their child has a diagnosis that is unexpected or hard to understand.

Nelson has experienced that first hand which led to her designing the class. She had a child in NICU who was born with additional needs. She struggled and so did other parents at the Ronald McDonald house.

“I saw the struggle,” she said. In some cases, there were parents who would not come see their children because they were struggling so much with their diagnosis.

“That can be quite an adjustment,” she said of parents who have their image of a normal, healthy baby broken with a different reality. “We’re just here to make that adjustment easier.”

The program includes three class discussion groups, a home visit and two play sessions with the child. Child care is provided at all Families Together events. Nelson encouraged families to register so there can be sufficient staff on-hand: karen@familiestogether.org. She said there is always the first class, but the subsequent ones are canceled if there is no interest.

Families Together also offers positive parenting for challenging behaviors classes. Those are usually once a year in Colfax, but are more often in Pullman. Nelson said if a group requests the class, one can be put on about anywhere. That class focuses on challenging behaviors and how to change them. It is designed to find the cause of the behavior to figure out how best to modify the environment or reactions and give parents tools to cope and overcome.

The organization regularly has family events which are free and open to all. The events help create a community and camaraderie among families.

“Those are some of your best resources, to just talk to other families,” Nelson said.

There is also a parent support group every other Saturday at the Eastside Marketplace in Moscow at 10 a.m.

“We love it when families contact us,” Nelson said.

The class is funded by Umpqua Bank, Strengthening Families Washington and Women’s Guild at Pullman Regional Hospital; Families Together receives additional support from the Colfax and Community Fund.

“We’ve been funded by some great programs that believe in what we’re doing,” she added.

To contact Nelson or Families Together 208-874-7720 or familiestogether.org.