It was a morning of inspiring and uplifting stories, mixed with good cheer as parents, staff from the Department of Public Health and the Parent Leadership Project gathered for the 4th Annual Hausslein Early Intervention Parent Leadership Awards Ceremony (Hausslein Awards) on June 17th at the Holiday Inn in Worcester.

The Hausslein Awards are named in honor of one of the most influential parent leaders in the Massachusetts Early Intervention System, Evelyn Hausslein. When her youngest son was diagnosed with a developmental disability years ago, the Early Intervention program did not exist in its present form. As a parent pioneer, Evelyn took her strong values of family-centered care and worked tirelessly to develop services for her son, while also paving the way for countless families who would follow through her efforts and advocacy for children with special needs.

The Early Intervention Parent Leadership Project, through generous funding by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, created the Hausslein Awards to give families an opportunity to take leadership roles in creating supports at their Early Intervention Programs within their communities.

This year, six parent teams received Hausslein Awards of up to $1,000 to implement their projects. Darla Gundler, director of the Early Intervention Parent Leadership Project and Suzanne Gottlieb, director of Family Initiatives at the Health (DPH), commented that the high quality of work by this year’s award recipients reflects the commitment that families bring to a service system on behalf of their children.

After welcoming the parents, Evelyn Hausslein, shared anecdotes and insights on parenting her children and on becoming an advocate for children with special needs. Evelyn congratulated the award winners after their presentations. Each parent team was also presented with a certificate in recognition of their achievement, as well as a flowering plant, to thank them for their hard work.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) welcomed the parent teams. Ron Benham, director of the Division of Perinatal and Early Childhood Health (DPH), commented that the high quality of work by this year’s award recipients reflects the commitment that families bring to a service system on behalf of their children. After welcoming the parents, Evelyn Hausslein, shared anecdotes and insights on parenting her children and on becoming an advocate for children with special needs. Evelyn congratulated the award winners after their presentations. Each parent team was also presented with a certificate in recognition of their achievement, as well as a flowering plant, to thank them for their hard work.

Evelyn encouraged the parents to take the skills they learned from implementing their projects to others in new service systems in the community, such as a Special Education Parent Advisory Council. Accordint to Evelyn, "parent leadership can happen anywhere, anytime, any how if you have an idea, keep knocking on doors and try hard."

The projects that received Hausslein Awards were as varied as the communities served by each Early Intervention Program:

Creating a "Chain of Learning" -- Skillful Parenting Workshops at Boston Metro Early Intervention The Parent Team from Boston Metro Early Intervention Program in Roslindale, represented by Susan Batson, had the concept to start a chain of learning for parenting skills. Acknowledging that, "the only people who find parenting to be easy are those without kids," Susan and the parent team members used their Hausslein Award to fund a six-week workshop series on "Skillful Parenting". The workshops covered topics including understanding challenging behaviors, setting limits and building self-esteem. Parents in Early Intervention and from the community were invited to attend. In turn, it was hoped that parents would share the information with other parents. Childcare was also provided at Boston Metro Early Intervention Program. Parents learned new skills and techniques that they were able to try out at home between sessions, and had the opportunity to share what worked, as well as their challenges.

Building a Meeting Place for Parents -- The Maverick Street Reading Room at Lipton Early Intervention Parents from Lipton Early Intervention in Leominster have a new place to meet thanks to the vision and hard work of parent team members Susan Lowthers and Sheila Corrado and others. They used their Hausslein Award to purchase shelving and supplies to transform an unused room at the center into a warm and welcoming place for parents to meet each other or to bring siblings while their other children are receiving group services. Parent volunteers have used their new space to hold a Saturday morning play group with a different theme each week The Maverick Street Reading Room also contains a bulletin board where parents can learn about upcoming events at the center and in the community, as well as a lending library for books and videos on topics including sign language and child development.

Parent Mondays at Cambridge-Someville Early Intervention Program Parents can be a tremendous source of information and support for each other, but finding a way to connect parents can sometimes be a challenge. Parent team members Cindy Caplan and Kathy Kelts (who is also a Social Worker at Cambridge-Somerville Early Intervention Program) created "Parent Mondays" as a fun and informative way to bring Early Intervention parents and caregivers together. The Hausslein Award was used to provide dinner for participants, honorariums for speakers, as well small stipends to help parents with the cost of childcare. The first Monday of each month, was designated as the time for the Parent Advisory Council to meet to plan programs for parents and to ensure that parents have a voice in the operation of the Early Intervention program. Parents' Night Out was held on the second Monday of each month, featuring lectures on topics of interest including "Promoting Healthy Sleep Habits", "Speech and Language Development from Birth to Three", "Alternative Therapies for Children" and "Positive Discipline for Young Children". Parents enjoyed meeting and networking with other Early Intervention parents. The fourth Monday of the month featured a Parent Support Group where parents could share their stories, successes and challenges of parenting a child who has special needs. The Support Group was facilitated by a social worker who is also the parent of a child receiving Early Intervention services.

Wrightslaw "Boot Camp" Special Education Law Seminar-Reach Early Intervention Program and the Down Syndrome Resource Group of Western Massachusetts Parent team members Marie and Tom Flaherty, Amy Dorval from Reach Early Intervention Program, in collaboration with the Laurie Houle Isham, president of the Down Syndrome Resource group of Western Massachusetts received a Hausselin Award to help fund a seminar on Special Education laws. The two-day seminar featured attorney Peter Wright and Pamela Wright, a psychotherapist who are authors of "Wrightslaw: Special Education Law" and "Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy-the Special Education Survival Guide." Parents, educators and advocates learned about Special Education laws including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) writing Smart IEP’s (Individualized Education Programs) and Tactics and Strategies for Effective Advocacy. Over 170 people from several states attended.

"Cape Ann Web" --Reaching out to Families through Cyberspace Families at Cape Ann Early Intervention Program have a new way to access information about Early Intervention services, program and community events and to communicate with each other. Parent team members Susan Ross, Jayne Gordon and Martha Levine created Cape Anne Web" as a central place for parents, caregivers and community members to learn about opportunities and to facilitate communication of information. The website contains information on services, a "message board" for parent to parent support and advice, a lending library for toys and books, links for legislative updates and for the Parent Advisory Council (PAC). Perhaps, best of all, parents can surf the site on their own schedule. Parents who don’t have a computer at home can access the website from a computer that has been donated to the Cape Ann Early Intervention Program. Visit them at www.nsarc.org/capeann/frame.html.

Building Bridges for Communication -- Riverside Early Intervention Program at Needham One goal of Early Intervention is to teach children the skills they need to actively participate in community activities. For toddlers who are non-verbal, active participation may be more challenging. The Parent Team represented by Deborah Marcus, designed a two-part program to teach parents and childcare providers in the community strategies to bridge the gap in communication skills so that non-verbal toddlers can be active participants in circle time or other classes. Part one of the workshop included a presentation by a speech and language pathologist and a special needs teacher on sign language, gestures, and using props (toys and pictures) for circle time. Participants learned how to sign some common songs including "Mr. Sun" and "Monkeys Jumping on the Bed". On the second night, parents got down on the floor and participated in a lively demonstration circle time by a provider of pre-school programs in the community. Using props, such as bells, puppets and stars, participants learned a variety of ways to actively engage non-verbal toddlers during circle-time or playgroups in the community. Parents also learned how community providers can make simple accommodations so that all children can actively participate in programs.

In a fitting tribute to the parents who received Hausslein Awards this year, Darla ended the ceremony by reciting the "Power of One"