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Empowering Culturally Diverse Families of Young Children with Disabilities: The Double ABCX Model

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Abstract

Many culturally diverse families and their young children with disabilities or delays are not provided appropriate early intervention/early childhood special education services, especially not in a culturally sensitive and meaningful context. Families with diverse backgrounds often feel helpless and stressful because their values are not respected, concerns are not identified, and therefore their needs are not met due to the lack of support from appropriate resources. The purpose of this article is to provide a positive strategy to empower families of young children with special needs and who are from culturally diverse backgrounds through a family-centered, strength-focused family system model: Double ABCX model. Procedures of implementing the double ABCX model was described and discussed. Supported by previous research and the current case studies, the double ABCX family adaptation model has found to be an effective approach to serving diverse families of children with disabilities.

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Correspondence to Yaoying Xu.

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Xu, Y. Empowering Culturally Diverse Families of Young Children with Disabilities: The Double ABCX Model. Early Childhood Educ J 34, 431–437 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-006-0149-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-006-0149-0

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