The book presents a comprehensive and well-organized overview of the family-centered care approaches for child disability, and provides multi-professional contributions from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and rehabilitation science. The volume is divided into three main sections, that highlights the theoretical basis, research evidence, and clinical implications of the family-centered approach to child care. Active engagement of parents in the therapeutic and rehabilitative journey of their children with disability is key to the success of early interventions and their long-term benefits. Research and clinical experiences in healthcare services around the world suggest that early supportive programs may promote childrens development at its best, with both clinical benefits and economic advantages for the healthcare system. This volume will appeal to a wide readership, from clinicians and researchers in child disability and rehabilitation, to students and professionals in the fields of  psychiatry, psychology, and rehabilitation science.

 

Dr. Livio Provenzi is a psychologist, psychotherapist, and researcher in the field of infant research and developmental psychobiology. As a clinician, he works with families of children with disability, integrating principles of infant research, collaborative consultation, and therapeutic assessment in family-centered parenting interventions. He has published more than 60 papers in the last five years, and his main research topics include preterm birth, child disability, neuroendocrine and epigenetic biomarker of stress, parenting interventions, and parent-infant interaction.
Dr. Serena Grumi is a psychologist, researcher, and adjunct professor in the field of developmental psychology with a particular interest in family relationship and parenting in contexts of risk for child development. As a psychologist, she worked in the field of child protection and domestic violence. As a researcher, she is working on family-centered interventions delivered through telemedicine approaches for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Her main research topics include parenting interventions, child disability, risk and protective factors for parenting and child adjustment, and parent-infant interaction.
Prof. Renato Borgatti is a full Professor of Child Neuropsychiatry at the Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy. He is the director of the Child Neuropsychiatry Unit at IRCCS Mondino Foundation, and the director of a day care center for learning disabilities and adolescent psychiatric rehabilitation at the same institute. For over thirty years, he worked first as a doctor and then as the director of the E. Medea Neurorehabilitation Scientific Institute. In recent years, he has conducted many studies in the field of telemedicine, especially about cognitive and behavioural disorders. He has authored more than 200 papers in international scientific journals and 12 international book chapters.

 

Prologue: Parenting as primary prevention.- Theory: Beyond infant research: The dyadic dance and child disability. Calming cycle theory and child disability. What does it mean family-centered in childhood disability? Ethics of parenting interventions in child disability: The weak bonding.- Research: The inner world of parents of children with disability: Emotions and Representations. Fathers engagement in child disability. A neuroscientific perspective on parenting in the context of disability. Technological support interventions for parents.- Practice: Assessing parent-child interactions in the context of developmental disability. Supporting psychomotor development through parenting interventions: From education to video-feedback. The collaborative consultation model. The use of the Still-Face as an assessment tool for parent-child interaction.- Epilogue: Educating the next generation of healthcare specialists in child disability.