Parents of Retarded Children as Teaching Assistants for Other Parents

Graduates of a community based training course for parents of developmentally disabled children were recruited as training assistants. Over time, their pattern of participation was modified. The final model eliminated some counterproductive aspects of using volunteers and exploited their unique contributions. Outcome was formally measured in terms of the following: (a) cost effectiveness as savings of professional staff's time resulting from an investment in training and supervising parent teaching assistants, (b) by direct observation, the evaluation of changes in training outcome as a function of introducing parent graduates as teaching assistants, and (c) an evaluation of problems and limitations encountered in the use of parent volunteers. The results strongly support the continued use of parents as teaching assistants.