PATH

PATH – PLANNING ALTERNATIVE TOMORROWS
THROUGH HOPE

One very successful method of establishing a long-term plan and in determining appropriate
approaches is the implementation of a PATH (Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope)
with the child’s team (Kincade & Fox, 2002). The PATH is a document that results from a
meeting among all relevant adults in the child’s life. The parents are considered to be the team
leaders in that they are to discuss their long term vision for their child without judgment by
other team members.

Once the long term visions have been identified, it is up to the team as a whole to determine
the steps necessary to head toward those goals. In essence, it is like a road map in which the
destination is identified and then the route is created. It is often useful to back up in increments
of five years, one year, six months and three months in order to identify the skills that should
be acquired to reach the shorter term objectives. Once the short term objectives are
identified, the team can decide which available methodologies would be best used to meet the
child’s unique needs.