Throughout my placement, I was able to take part in both individual and program consultations. In Toronto, the way consultations work is that childcare centers can put in requests through the “Every Child Belongs” website. Once a request is received, the resource consultant will follow up and determine the center’s needs. With individual consultations, it would begin with the initial service plan meeting where we would explain to families about resource consulting services, and what we do. Following this, we would visit childcare centers, make observations, and connect with the early years staff. Based on the information collected, we would let the families and staff know what we observed, and then an individual support plan would be developed for the child and their family.

 

I am grateful that I was able to witness and take part in a number of individual consultations. Participating in these consultations have taught me the importance of working in a team, and the use of active listening and effective communication (McKague, 2022). I also learned that there can be many factors that can affect the consultation process. Factors such as, delays in hearing back from families, or families that did not see the need for RC services (McKague, 2022). Every case had its challenges, and it was a good learning experience to see how my supervisor addressed them.  

 

One case that I experienced was a family that was reluctant with resource consulting services. As a result, we had limited information from the family, and had to rely on information from the early years staff. This was an interesting case as we had to do things differently. Typically, the ASQ and Sensory Behaviour assessments would be completed by the family. In this situation, the educators had to fill out most of the assessments. The child's mother was able to provide some information during pick-up time. My supervisor also used this as an opportunity to have me complete the ASQ-3 and ASQ-2 assessments while we observed the child in the program.

 

From this experience, I learned the importance of positive relationships, and open communication (McKague, 2022). Due to the family’s limited involvement, the educators became the primary source of information. We had to work as a team to determine how we could support the child, and meet their needs. The consultations took place over the course of a couple of weeks. During these meetings, we would sit down with the educators and supervisor to talk about the child’s progress, the center’s needs, and the child’s needs. We would provide resources to the program, and the educators/supervisors would also contribute their own ideas. This was a positive experience as I got to learn how an interdisciplinary team works. I also learned how to write a consultation summary, and develop resources for the child and the program. I will carry on what I've gained from these experiences into my practice.