Pediatrics

The first collaborative step in the MDTP process involves parents, teachers, guidance personnel, and the entire staff of MDTP. Initially, a student is referred to the program by their families, teachers,schools, health professionals, and/or state and local agencies. Parents, teachers, and other school personnel are required to provide important information about the referred student including academic, medical, and family histories. The input is invaluable in the screening process, which occurs among the MDTP staff. The staff collaborates in order to make decisions about what evaluations may benefit each student that has been referred. This practice allows engagement in an interactive process using diverse expertise to generate creative solutions to a mutually defined problem, as identified by the parents and schools of the student in need (Vargo, 1998).