Just for Me

Just for Me provides an opportunity for you to take a step back from the content and apply it to your own professional practice. The activity below is designed to help you develop a deeper understanding of the importance of:

• Eliciting functional information about the child from families;
• The unique contributions of each team member to the COS process;
• Anchoring COS discussions of children’s strengths and needs in age-expected development; and
• Collaborative decision-making on the COS ratings.

Directions for the activity: Click on the "Launch Video" button to view Maryland's Engaging Families in the COS Process video. You will be asked the following three questions during the video:

1. What did Gretchen (the Special Educator) do to prepare the parent for the COS discussion? Why is it helpful to share this type of information in advance?
2. ​How did the professionals demonstrate that they valued the parents' contributions to the team discussion?
3. ​What unique perspective did each team member bring to the discussion?

Type your responses directly into the video interactive window. You will have a chance to save or print your responses at the end of the activity. Note: This video is approximately 6 minutes long, but please plan for 10 minutes to complete this activity. 

Acknowledgement

A special thank you to the Maryland State Department of Education's Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services for giving us permission to use their Engaging Families in the COS Process video, of which Part 1 of 2 was used. Click here to view the video in its entirety.