Listen to the Heart Before Trying to Fix the Child... Tongmyong University Offers Parent Education for Developmental Disabilities

Expansion of Support for Parents as "Co-Mediators"

Eight-Week Program to Launch in Yangsan This September

Support for children with developmental disabilities is shifting from a treatment-based approach to one that emphasizes communication in partnership with parents. As the perspective of viewing parents as the closest communication partners and co-mediators gains traction, Tongmyong University is drawing attention by providing practical education programs for parents of children with developmental disabilities.

Tongmyong University (President Lee Sang-cheon) announced on July 11 that Professor Kim Kijoo from the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology recently conducted the "Reading Our Child's Mind" parent education program in partnership with the Gyeongsangnam-do Disabled Family Support Center and the Gimhae Disabled Family Support Center. The program was held as a four-week course for parents of children with developmental disabilities at each center.

This program was designed as a participatory initiative, based on the principle that "communication starts with listening rather than speaking," helping parents to understand their child’s behavior from a communication perspective and to implement this understanding in everyday life.

Recently, the field of developmental disability support has been expanding its approach to view parents not as mere assistants in treatment, but as the key communication partners and co-mediators who spend the most time with their children. Both domestic and international studies have confirmed a range of positive effects when parents learn responsive interaction and communication support strategies, including reduced parenting stress, increased parent-child interaction, improved communication behaviors in children, decreased problem behaviors, and greater social participation.

This education focused on helping parents understand the meaning behind their children’s behaviors and learn natural ways to communicate in daily life, based on these research findings. It went beyond simply delivering information, providing practice-oriented education that aimed to transform parents’ perspectives and interaction styles.

Professor Kim Kijoo explained, "What children with developmental disabilities need most is not techniques to make them speak, but a parent’s willingness to listen to their child’s mind."

Professor Kim further noted, "Instead of trying to change the child, the connection between parent and child begins—and true communication occurs—when parents make an effort to understand the intent behind the child’s actions."

One parent who participated in the program shared, "I realized that while I was saying too much to my child, I was not actually listening to my child’s mind. Now I first think, 'What is my child trying to say with this behavior?' and I have directly experienced that when the parent changes first, the child can also change."

Based on the high level of satisfaction, this program is scheduled to expand into an eight-week course at the Yangsan Disabled Family Support Center this September.

The Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at Tongmyong University is also continuing community-based parent education and specialized training programs for speech-language pathologists nationwide. On July 18, the university will co-host a professional training session on "Understanding and Intervention for Speech Sound Disorders" with the Paradise Welfare Foundation, and plans to further expand industry-academic collaboration activities that connect educational and research achievements with the local community.

'Reading Our Child's Mind' Parent Education Session.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.