Parent - Child Interaction (PCI) Feeding & Teaching Scales

Photograph by permission of friends & whānau

Parent-Child Relationship Programs

Parent-Child Interaction Feeding & Teaching Scales

The NCAST Parent - Child Interaction scales (Feeding & Teaching) assesses parent/caregiver's sensitivity to infant's cues, response to infant's distress, social emotional growth fostering, cognitive growth fostering and baby's cues and responsiveness to parent/caregiver utilising either a feeding interaction or teaching interaction.  Pivotal to the scales is the understanding of infant states and infant engagement and disengagement cues (subtle and potent). The NCAST PCI scales are not a one-time assessment. 

 The scales can be used as an assessment only tool or as a way to inform an intervention plan with the family and assist the clinician in offering anticipatory guidance, instructional feedback and /or psycho-education.  The scales offer the opportunity to find the portals of entry with the dyad, validating the positive attributes of the interaction, while allowing the opportunity to explore concerning issues.  

Part of the training is how to utilise the information gleaned from the scales to facilitate the enrichment of the relationship and to scaffold the child's developmental agenda. 

 The advantage to the teaching scale is it provides an opportunity to observe the dyad in an unpractised and therefore slightly stressful situation. The teaching scale also is for infants aged 0 - 3 years. 

The Parent - Child Interaction (PCI) scales (Feeding & Teaching) are a reliable and valid means of observing and rating caregiver - child interaction for the purpose of assessing both the strengths and the difficulties in the interaction between the infant and the primary caregiver. The results from the assessments can assist the practitioner to identify communication patterns, which if left unaddressed, have the potential to lead to significant developmental difficulties for the child in all domains. The scales utilise either a feeding interaction or teaching interaction.  Pivotal to the administration of the Feeding and Teaching Assessment Scales is the understanding of infant states and infant engagement and disengagement cues (subtle and potent). The goal of the training is to teach microanalytic observational skills to enhance the practitioner’s comprehension and aid in the task of early detection and intervention.   

Next trainings:

Feeding Scale - 27, 28 Feb & 1 Mar 2023 Teaching Scale - 29,30,31 March 2023

Cost: $1650 for both $900 for individual scales

 Service Delivery

Training can be offered virtually or in person (depending on location)

We have delivered PCI training via video link to New Zealand, and overseas - so location is not a problem.

 Incredible Tool for Learning How Babies Communicate!

An informative set of 59 cards including 52 colored photo cards that illustrate and explain the behavioral cues commonly seen in infants and young children, plus a fold-out instructional booklet and seven sorting cards. Each card includes a different photo with an explanation on the back explaining what the cue means, along with text that gives the parent/caregiver ideas about how to interpret and respond to their child’s cues.

Available from: https://www.pcrprograms.org/product/babycues-a-childs-first-language-cards/

US$38 plus P&P

We have a few available NZ$70 plus P&P

Testimonials

  • “NCAST [PCI] Training was so beneficial. We know that relationships are about goodness of fit. NCAST [PCI] provides a language to explore the relationship in a non-judgemental way with the parent. The parent can evaluate their interactions and see the already-existing strengths. It also focuses on the child capacity for cueing and responding and how the child may be contributing to the relational difficulties, thereby bringing in the critical interactional aspect of the relationship.” A Psychologist

  • “Both Heidi and Sarah have a supportive and friendly teaching style that made the training easy to follow and highly interactive. The complex information was broken down into manageable sections with a lot of video-taped examples to make the material come alive. Since completing the training, I have used the NCAST Teaching scale with a number of the families I work alongside – it is a great framework to share with parents as it provides such clear feedback of both strengths and areas they can further develop”. Clinical Psychologist

  • “Dear Sarah & Heidi. It has been such a privilege to learn about the feeding and teaching scales, to learn new concepts and language (to observe). You have both been incredibly patient and inspirational in the delivery of this course. I will be forever grateful and find it an immense privilege to work in this field. In gratitude.” A Nurse

  • “The training is a springboard to understanding the parent-child interaction. I am finding it is important to keep up the evaluation to maintain integrity to the model.” A Psychotherapist

  • “Just to acknowledge how inspirational your work and teaching is. I was so inspired! Huge gratitude” A Nurse

  • “I have used the Teaching scale with a dyad – mostly to show mum her numerous strengths but also to look at difficulties she has in attending flexibly to disengagement cues. I am now using the Baby Cue Cards to look at this a bit further.” A Clinical Psychologist

The people we serve are experts by experience

Photograph by permission of friends & whānau