What about
Dads?
Joseph Anderson &
John Hoffman
What about Dads?
Welcome
Participants will listen to and engage in
a dialogue with two fathers about their
unique perspectives on what Early
Intervention has meant for their
families:
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Its Rewards,
Challenges and
Hopes
In the early intervention system, home and community.
What about Dads?
Plus an opportunity to talk about the
cultural aspects of recognizing the
importance of fathers and the roles that
they play within the family structure.
Ground Rules
Normal is only a cycle on a
washing machine
“The Quotable Dad”
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On Becoming a Father
If you ever become a father, I think the
strangest and strongest sensation of your life
will be hearing for the first time the thin cry of
your child. -LAFCADIO HEARN-
 A Hard
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Profession
Like any father, I have moments when I wonder
whether I belong to the children or they belong
to me. -Bob Hope
Insanity is hereditary; you can get it from your
children. -Sam Levenson-
Types of Fathers
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Biological Fathers  Traditional
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Non Custodial Father  Divorced.
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Nuclear Family.
Has visitation rights or joint custody
Father Figure  Grandparents,
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Primary role model or live in boyfriend
Incarcerated Father - Imprisonment
????????
Our Stories
The beginning
 Birth’s and Diagnosis
 Medical response to our families
(positive/negative)
 What was helpful or not.
 Expectations
 Obstacles
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This is how Hope started her
journey into the world
Love my smile?
Family Centered supports and
services
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All people need support and encouragement.
All families have hopes, dreams and wishes for their
children.
All people have different but equally important skills,
abilities and knowledge (strengths).
Families are resourceful, but all families do not have
equal access to resources.
Families should be assisted in ways that help them
maintain their dignity and hope.
Families should be equal partners in the
relationships with service providers.
Providers work for families
Lynda Cook Pletcher and Sue McBride 1998
This slide was edited by NECTAC due to copyrighted material it contained.
It contained pictures, from a newspaper, of the Anderson family.
Love My Smile?
What about Natural Environments
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Natural Learning Opportunities
Participation in families everyday
activities, places and relationships
IFSP as an going FAMILY document
Integrated supports and services
Location
Activity
Opportunities
Adapted from Carol Trivette 1998
Location
Activity
Opportunity
What is the Natural Learning Opportunity?
WHAT YOU TEACH FROM BIRTH TO THREE IS
WHAT WILL MATTER MOST TO ME
Location
Activity
Opportunity
Barriers/Stereotypes of Fathers
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Men are not sensitive to issues of Children.
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Majority of people working in the Early Childhood field
are women.
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Poverty or working class mentality ( Looking at what
roles the father plays -Nature vs. Nurture)
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Not believing in the importance of reaching out to the
opposite sex.
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Men don’t take initiatives in their child/children's care.
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Moms are more accessible.
Philosophy of Culture
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We must first understand our own culture, and the
values and beliefs we have about others we see as
different from ourselves.
All families and individuals are unique – influenced, but
not defined, by culture.
Families and professionals must work together to find
common ground in order to design services that meet
the needs of children/families and show respect for
families. (Mutual Respect and Honesty)
Professional and parent partnerships are vital to
increasing cultural competencies.
Professionals have a responsibility for helping families to
understand/interpret programs and services so that they
can better advocate for their children.
Culture
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Culture refers to a system of values, beliefs,
attitudes, traditions and standards of behavior
that govern the organization of people into
social groups and regulate both group and
individual behavior. Culture is created by groups
of individuals to assure the survival and wellbeing of group members. Culture is learned and
is more complex than either ethnicity or race.
Institute for Human Services, Revised 2001
Culture
Culture is an integrated pattern of human
behavior which includes but is not limited to
- thought, communication, languages,
beliefs,values, practices, customs, courtesies,
rituals, manners of interacting, roles,
relationships, and expected behaviors of a racial,
ethnic, religious or social group; the ability to
transmit the above to succeeding generations;
dynamic in nature.
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Institute for Human Services, Revised 2001
A model for Developing Cultural
Sensitivity
INTEGRATION
ADAPTATION
ACCEPTANCE
MINIMIZATION
DEFENSE
DENIAL
As a culturally competent individual, I
am capable of interacting positively
with people who do NOT
believe like,
live like
act like,
talk like,
look like,
ME!!!
Source: Multnomah County Department of Health.
think like,
Developed by the NCCC, 2002
The Community of Man
“All “men/women” are interdependent. Every nation is an
heir of a vast treasury of ideas and labor to which both the
living and the dead of all nations have contributed.
Whether we realize it or not, each of us lives eternally ‘in
the red.’ We are everlasting debtors to known and
unknown men and women. When we arise in the morning,
we go to the bathroom where we reach for a sponge which
is provided for us by a Pacific islander. We reach for soap
that is created for us by a European. Then at the table we
drank coffee which is provided for us by a South American,
or tea by a Chinese, or cocoa by a West African. Before we
leave for our jobs we are already beholden to more than
half of the world.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
For further information
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Joseph Anderson (765) 254-9985
anderson2280@comcast.net
www.CoordinatedCommunityServices.com
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John Hoffman (952) 838-1364
Jhoffman@pacer.org
www.pacer.org