This training manual presents a family-centered approach to early childhood special education and demonstrates how a family-centered approach to intervention is an extension of a child-centered approach. The manual offers a "hands on" approach to building relationships between professionals and families that lead to effective intervention. The training shows how establishing rapport with families can lead to understanding their point of view, which leads to Individualized Family Service Plans that are real and to strategies useful to the family. The trainer first models a collaborative partnership with the participants at a training site when the training goals are being developed. The trainer demonstrates listening and responding skills in interacting with the staff, which the staff will later use in their interactions with families. Sections of the training manual address: (1) developing the training (information gathering and sharing, and tailoring the training); (2) interpersonal communication skills (self-awareness and clarification of beliefs and values, understanding family variables through rapport building, listening and responding, and interviewing); (3) family-centered process (partnerships, collaboration, and goal attainment scaling); (4) understanding family variables (influence of beliefs and values, life events, family strengths, and self-awareness of teaching style); and (5) understanding the law and building a family-centered agency. (Contains 63 references.) (JDD)