Parenting Information Resources

8 Common Issues Faced by Parents

These freely downloadable information handouts address the 8 most common issues faced by parents. They are Microsoft Word documents available in English and Spanish.

Additional Online Resources

Below are links to many available online resources. Some lead to services while others provide information on common issues (often in various languages). We have looked carefully at all of these and the descriptions we’ve included highlight contents and languages available. No single site has everything a parent might need (and parents with concerns surely benefit from looking at information presented in alternative ways). We’ve divided our voluminous list into two parts: Sites that cover a wide-range of issues; and sites with a narrower focus (e.g., specific disabilities). If your practice has a website you are welcome to place any of these links within.

Sites/Services Addressing Common Issues

Kids’ Health

From the Nemours Foundation, this site has a well-visit guide for each age, anticipatory guidance information, and an easily searchable database for handouts (in English and Spanish) on health and safety, emotional and social development and positive parenting for babies through adolescence.

American Academy of Pediatrics (information for families)

The AAP has numerous handouts that can be downloaded for free and available in multiple languages.  Provides information on a variety of topics including health conditions, safety and prevention, mental health issues from birth through adolescence.

American Psychological Association

has a psychology help center that includes brochures (one copy is free) and articles for a variety of situations including health and emotional wellness, work and school, and family and relationships.  It has information on how to find a psychologist.

Mayo Clinic

One of the best one-stop-shots for information about various conditions include diseases and behavioral issues. Easy to read, the site is useful for both providers and parents.

National Association of School Psychologists

NASP provides handouts and materials in a variety of languages  focused on resilience, school readiness, coping with crises, diversity, child behavior, etc. The site also explains the role of school psychologists and what to expect from a referral to public school special education services.

Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Has a lovely publication called “10 Guidelines for Living with Children” that should be recommended reading for all parents of children 12 months and older). The site also has information about vision and hearing screening and services, information about feeding difficulties, and enormous set of links to autism specific sites and other disability specific information including the Social Security Administration. Many information handouts are also provided in Spanish.

Text4Baby

a free cellphone text messaging service sending crisp age-paced messages on health, safety, and developmental-behavioral issues. For children birth through 36 months, parents who register can opt for texts in English or Spanish.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

AACAP was one of the first professional organizations to develop handouts for families. These are freely downloadable and cover a wide range of topics as divorce, sleep problems, specific mental health diagnoses, help for military families, and how and where to find a psychiatrist. Handouts are written in many different languages including Spanish, Malaysian, Urdu, Arabic, Icelandic, Polish, and Hebrew. Other site research reviews for professionals, video clips, and links to other resources.

American Academy of Pediatrics: You and Your Family

The AAP offers purchasable child-care books, videos, hand-held health records, waiting room magazines, etc. The site has a “pediatrician finder” by specialty and zip code.

British Columbia Council for Families

Provides advocacy and information focused in large part on family issues such as marital issues, divorce, cohesion, extra-martial affairs, as well as child-rearing, especially raising adolescents. The site provides thoughtful articles (for providers and parents with good literacy skills) and a bookstore offering the acclaimed “Nobody’s Perfect”.

Center for Effective Parenting

Funded by the US Department of Education, this site offers freely downloadable information in Spanish and English on promoting academic skills, chores, selecting a day care enter, dealing with a death in the family, self-esteem, TV issues, etc.

Specific Patient Information in Asian Languages (SPIRAL)

hosts parenting and health information in Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Hmong, etc.

Wellness Proposals

Is an information consolidator drawing from multiple federal sites and so has a plethora of downloadable posters, information handouts, and a newsletter on health, mental health, etc. The site also addresses health care insurance issues, the common questions families have and facilitates insurance quotes (and comparative information about carriers).

Sites Focused on Specific Skill-Building or on Disabilities

Reach Out and Read

Offers parenting handouts on how to share books, literacy milestones, and guidance for professionals.  Tabs within the site include:  Parents and Educators Home, Importance of Reading Aloud, Literacy Milestones, Reading Tips, Books for Children, and Books for Parents

The U.S. Department of Education

Includes helpful guidance (in English and Spanish) This site provides guidance for families (in English and Spanish) on how to help their child learn to read, how to help with homework, how to collaborate with teachers, along with helpful information about selecting post-secondary schools and financial aid for college age students.

Kentucky Center for School Safety

Houses downloadable information on cyber-bullying, sexting, internet safety, social networks, gangs, etc.

Black Dog Institute

Focuses on depression and bipolar disorder, this site offers interactive tests, self-training information, charts for monitoring progress, fact sheets, etc.

Centres for Clinical Interventions

Focused on anxiety, excessive worries, procrastinating, etc., this site uses cognitive-behavioral research as an approach to intervention and includes worksheets, handouts, and manuals for mental health practitioners

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Self-Help Resources

This website is for providers and families. Within are computer-based interactive training, self-help resources, therapy worksheets and written information focused on a range of mental health issues including eating disorders.

Dolls and Associates

A website from a mental health and consulting service includes handouts and links to resources for mental health, children and adolescents, school resources, and family and marriage.

Motivational interviewing

This site explains how to interview families in a way that encourages them to avoid substance abuse, comply with medication and treatment recommendations regarding obesity management, diabetes, and other health and mental health issues. Freely downloadable worksheets and purchasable books are housed on the site.

At Health

Provides information for providers (and sophisticated parents) on an enormous range of health issues that often have mental health consequences (e.g., acne, psoriasis) as well as issues such as bullying. The site includes downloadable handouts, newsletters, practitioner directories, treatment center directions, resource centers, and a bookstore.

Autism Speaks

Is an enormous repository of current research, policy statements, and other information for families and adults coping with autism spectrum disorder. The site provides email updates on current issues and the organization is a major force for ASD advocacy.

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities

This site offers brief fact sheets on specific disabilities and offers tips for parents and teachers and connects you with related information and organizations with special expertise in that disability. It also has a Spanish version.

Here to Help

Focuses on substance abuse and mental health. Downloadable information exists in multiple languages including Russian, Chinese, Persian, Korean, French, Japanese, Punjabi, etc. The site also has wellness modules and links to other helpful resources.

Adults and Children Together Against Violence

The purpose of this site is to mobilize communities and educate families to create safe, nurturing, healthy environments that protect children and youth from violence. It includes a variety of resources: articles, books, handouts.  These resources come in English and Spanish.

Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health

Devoted to training professionals across various disciplines, advocacy and standards of care in diverse settings, the MI-AIMH publishes the Infant Mental Health Journal, newsletters, training DVDs. The site hosts a lending library and links to national services.