Staff of a rape crisis agency recognized the need for counseling services for survivors of sexual assault, but were unable to provide on-going counseling on a regular basis due to a staffing shortage. A support group for adult female rape victims was formed to reduce individual therapists' caseloads, to provide counseling services to a greater…

The practicum developed a four-part program to promote a community support network to meet the needs of head injured children and their families. A primary goal was to increase the membership in the head injury support group and provide a network of community support for this population. A second aim was to increase the awareness of head injuries…

To explore the relationship between prenatal parental stress and pregnancy outcome, this study investigated the hypothesis that parents of infants with defects would report greater amounts of stress in the year prior to their infant's birth than would parents of normally developing infants. Data on levels of parental stress were obtained from 37…

Because early childhood educators were minimally knowledgeable about and uninvolved in state legislative activities affecting their profession, an experienced child advocate developed a practicum to increase practitioners' knowledge and involvement. To attain practicum objectives, an advocacy handbook was developed and an advocacy project support…

Five elementary special education students were mainstreamed to a regular classroom for portions of their school day. A support team, consisting of the school psychologist, the principal, and the guidance counselor, was established to monitor their progress and provide assistance with both behavioral and educational problems. Peer tutors were…

There was a need for the teenage parents (in the teen-age parenting support group) to be accepted by their peers and to be able to comfortably communicate and express their feelings and concerns about parenting. There were many programs to help teenage parents before the birth of their child, but none after the birth when the stress of having to…

The practicum described in this report addressed the expressed need and desire of parents of special needs children in Marblehead Massachusetts to participate in a support group to help solve mutual problems and discuss shared frustrations. A series of four workshops for parents was developed. Goals of the practicum were (1) to have parents take…

This practicum describes a method developed to address a high school problem involving grade 9-12 students who verbally and/or physically abused other students. In order to enable these students to interact appropriately, without abusive behaviors, a structured support group curriculum was written, the high school administrative staff and a…

This practicum was designed to alleviate feelings of isolation experienced by parents and extended family members of 17 primary students with severe emotional disturbance (SED). Practicum activities included biweekly educative and social support workshops for the parents and extended family members; an educative newsletter; pre-implementation and…

This practicum report describes the design and implementation of a program in Puerto Rico to facilitate the transition process for seven deaf preschoolers from a restrictive hospital environment to a mainstreamed regular school setting. The program stresses parental involvement by helping parents to accept their roles, not only as primary…

For implementation prior to and during the first few weeks of field practice, a preservice orientation program was developed to provide student teachers with appropriate philosophical and practical information as well as affective/social support. Students were affiliated with a community college laboratory school and varied widely in ability.…

No effective system existed in an Illinois state child welfare agency to provide post legal education and training to every parent who had adopted a sexually abused, attachment disordered child through this agency. Adoptions were failing because post placement support and training was not available to parents who had adopted special needs…

This practicum paper reports on a project undertaken to enhance the knowledge of age-appropriate learning for parents of 3-year-old preschoolers. The project implemented a variety of techniques and strategies to improve parent knowledge, including parent education classes, a monthly newsletter for parents that addressed current research on…

This paper discusses a practicum designed to address young teen mothers' lack of knowledge, experience, and skills needed to appropriately care for their infants. It documents that increased knowledge, enhanced interpersonal relationships, and augmented parenting skills made a difference in the teen mothers' approach to parenting. Parenting…

This practicum report describes development of a system of family support services for 56 parents of preschool handicapped children (ages birth to 3) in an early intervention setting. A preliminary survey was administered to determine family needs. A family support group was then developed which met monthly for fellowship, networking, work…