A Reflection from Claudia Quigg

(from Baby TALK Dialogue, Spring 1996)

. . . our basic assumptions and ways of dealing with parents will not change at all, but rather have been affirmed by our touchpoints experience.

Baby TALK has long been influenced by the work of T. Berry Brazelton and others at the Child Development Unit at Boston Children's Hospital, but more so since Dr. Brazelton introduced the concept of "Touchpoints." Participating in training in Boston in January 1996 as one of three pilot sites for this model has brought the power of this approach to life for me and for my Baby TALK colleague, Jan Mandernach. We were both renewed by this experience and more convinced than ever that including anticipatory guidance in relationships we can build with parents has the potential for making a real difference.

We were inspired by the openness and affirmation we received from the "Touchpoints Team" members, those professionals who are working in Boston to find ways to assist others in providing this sort of approach to families. We were also inspired by new colleagues we met from Greenville, South Carolina and Napa, California who experienced the training with us and who are equally committed to serving families in their communities through opportunities which may be different from our own.

Since our return, it has been a joy to share what we learned with the Baby TALK staff who are fine-tuning their own programs in light of new insights from Touchpoints. Each staff member is setting new goals for herself and for the families she serves. Local program partners interact with Baby TALK with a new vigor as they share our excitement. And Baby TALK workshop participants are enjoying an added "Touchpoints flavor" as those concepts are integrated more into Baby TALK training.

The most common question I have been asked since our return from Boston is this: How will Baby TALK change because of Touchpoints? The truth is, our basic assumptions and ways of dealing with parents will not change at all, but rather have been affirmed by our Touchpoints experience. Instead, Touchpoints has given us some tools to use to do our job better. Some of these tools include the following:

The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale, created by Dr. Brazelton, is a tool to demonstrate the amazing capabilities and unique characteristics infants bring into the world with them. We are learning to administer the scale as a way to assist parents in coming to see their babies as capable, unique individuals.

An important Touchpoints concept is that of "going for the jugular" with parents-finding the issues which are most important to families and addressing them. Our staff is becoming more adept each day at trying to uncover what parents really need for their task.

In an effort to provide more seamlessness in our encounters with families, we are using more descriptive documentation of each encounter to enable us to "hold" families in our minds between visits.

We are incredibly grateful to the Touchpoints Project for their contributions to families. To me, the most exciting thing about Touchpoints is this: some very fine professionals have explored the summits of their disciplines-medicine, psychology, education, public health-and have come down to the realization that the most important thing we can do is build relationships with families.

Best wishes,