2018 Inclusion Collaborative Conference

T. Berry Brazelton’s concept of “Touchpoints” represents opportunities for clinicians and educators to help parents and children through difficult and predictable phases of development. Developmental growth spurts become opportunities for hope and confirmation for parents caring for children with developmental delays, disabilities, or differences. As a child approaches a spurt, he or she often experiences periods of frustration and disintegration or regression. This is likely to be an anxiety-laden time for parents. If parents understand the underlying reason for their child’s regressive behavior, they can support and comfort their frustrated child, and not just be baffled by him.
Clinicians, educators and other family-facing providers can join with parents in their struggle to understand their child’s development by anticipating these predictable periods of behavioral disorganization. Each bio behavioral shift or “Touchpoint,” which occurs just before a new spurt in development, becomes a powerful opportunity for entering into the system of the parent and infant or young child. As providers and parents grow closer in their efforts to understand the child's behavior, they can share their dreams and fears for the child’s future and face differences in beliefs about what a child with special needs will need to learn and grow with comfort, confidence and mutual respect.