"Press On, Continue On": Rural Parents' Experiences of Transitions Within Early Intervention

Although all families experience a variety of transitions over time, families of children with exceptionalities tend to encounter more transitions during their children's earliest years. Transitions can be stressful and often include changes as part of early intervention or special education services. It is important to understand these transitions because the support families receive can influence child and family well-being. Therefore, we interviewed parents ( N = 28) across a rural state about their experiences of transition over time. Using thematic analysis, three common themes emerged: (a) change is constant, (b) positive relationships support changing needs and priorities, and (c) parents need more support, information, or access to services or providers. Parents reported relationships and collaboration with providers to be important, yet insufficient, in supporting transitions. Rurality added some challenges to parents' experiences with transition. Recommendations include empowering families, providing more access and/or removing barriers to services, and building family efficacy through family-focused services.

Kalli B. Decker et al, "Press On, Continue On": Rural Parents' Experiences of Transitions Within Early Intervention, Rural Special Education Quarterly (, ) pp. . Copyright © 2022. DOI: 10.1177/87568705221097080. Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. Users may also download and save a local copy of an article accessed in an institutional repository for the user's personal reference. For permission to reuse an article, please follow our Process for Requesting Permission.

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