Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Models
Within the practice of multidisciplinary teaming, the child is evaluated independently by different team members in their particular area of expertise (Bergen& Wright, 1994). Each team member presents results of his/her evaluation to other team members. Interdisciplinary
teaming assessments are also conducted independently by members of various disciplines; however,results are shared and discussed among all team members. In both of these models, boundaries among team members prevail in sharing of results and intervention planning. Parents are responsible for bringing their child to the assessment, are spectators during the
assessment, and often listen passively to results. Medical models of teaming have typically been based on multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary interaction (Bergen& Wright, 1994).
Multi- and interdisciplinary approaches have been problematic when used in assessing young children(Bergen, 1994; Foley, 1990). Family members are required to interact with a variety of different professionals,providing each with the same background information.The family may become confused by jargon used by professionals and conflicting information in reports.
Because recommendations are not integrated across disciplines, parents may be overwhelmed by lists of recommendations that appear to be unrelated. Although team members strive to cooperate, the lack of a common vision and language often results in fragmentation in intervention planning and service delivery (Foley, 1990; Woodruff & McGonigel, 1988). The transdisciplinary approach to teaming addresses these problems by providing a comprehensive and coordinated assessment system.