Individuals with severe disabilities require services from many different providers to address their wide and varied needs. This journal self-study discusses the principles of interprofessional collaborative practice and why this approach may be the most appropriate way to provide services to those with severe disabilities. The articles discuss how interprofessional collaborative practice can improve outcomes for children with severe disabilities and describe specific examples of this type of practice, including suggestions about how SLPs can work with parents and other professionals to improve services for this challenging population. The articles utilize case studies to help illustrate key concepts.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• describe the principles of interprofessional collaborative practice
• discuss how to improve acceptance and use of interprofessional collaborative practice
• discuss at least three strategies and approaches that can be used to incorporate interprofessional collaborative practice with people with severe disabilities
• explain how SLPs can operate within the interprofessional collaborative practice framework
• describe how parents can be included in team collaboration

Contents

The following articles are included in this course:

• Addressing the Communication and Other Needs of Persons With Severe Disabilities Through Engaged Interprofessional Teams: Introduction to a Clinical Forum, by Billy T. Ogletree
• The Trifocus Framework and Interprofessional Collaborative Practice in Severe Disabilities, by Susan M. Bruce and Susan M. Bashinski
• Effective Team Practices: Interprofessional Contributions to Communication Issues With a Parent's Perspective, by Karena Cooper-Duffy and Kerri Eaker
• Comprehensive Literacy Instruction, Interprofessional Collaborative Practice, and Students With Severe Disabilities, by Karen A. Erickson
• Cotreatment as a Vehicle for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: Physical Therapists and Speech-Language Pathologists Collaborating in the Care of Children With Severe Disabilities, by Lorraine Sylvester, Billy T. Ogletree, and Karen Lunnen
• Mary's Case: An Illustration of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice for a Child With Severe Disabilities, by Billy T. Ogletree, Nancy Brady, Susan Bruce, Evan Dean, MaryAnn Romski, Lorraine Sylvester, and David Westling

Learning Assessment
Online, multiple-choice exam