Dr. Darbi Haynes-Lawrence, Professor of Child & Family Services
Welcome!
I'm Dr. Darbi Haynes-Lawrence, but everyone calls me Dr. Darbi. I joined WKU in 2003, and joined the Department of Applied Human Sciences in 2004. I am the co-unit leader of the Child & Family Services program, and the director of the Family Home Visiting Certificate.
I absolutely love my work at WKU and our students are my pride and joy! Aside from
teaching and conducting research, one of the favorite parts of my position at WKU
is designing research projects, writing and publishing with students. If you are new
to WKU and have a topic that you are passionate about studying, please contact me.
There are opportunities for grants where faculty and students can work together. One
of these grant opportunities is called the FUSE grant.
Whether you are a prospective student looking for your home university and major, or you are a current student, please never hesitate to ask me questions. Please complete the form to the right, and I will reply to your questions as soon as I receive your message!
You can locate the course descriptions by searching here.
- FACS-180 Foundations in Family and Consumer Sciences:
- FACS-292 Diversity in Early Childhood Programs
- FACS-395 Child and Family Stress
- FACS-494 Parenting Strategies
- FACS-496 Addressing Challenging Behavior in Young Children
- FACS-497 Family Home Visiting
Some of my research interests include:
- Families with Multiple Sclerosis
- Service dogs and families
- Gardening and preschool children
- Benefits of childrens books in explaining chronic illnesses
- Parenting styles and strategies
One of my favorite things is to write and publish research with students! Students
interested in conducting studies or writing with me should email me at Darbi.Haynes-Lawrence@wku.edu. There are opportunities for us to work together and get student funding (FUSE grants!), conduct studies, and publish! I have a long history of writing with students, so
please let me know if this is an interest of yours.
A little bit of my community service work includes:
- I am a proud member of the MSF Lived Experience Advisory Panel
- I am the parenting expert for the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (MSF)
- I designed and present a service dog and disability awareness program to elementary schools
- I also review manuscripts for journals prior to their publication, review textbooks, and serve on many committees at WKU.
- The publications I'm most proud of is the line of children's books I've written for the MS Foundation. This series is called "A Conversation About..." The books can be found by clicking on the image below, which is the first book (and the Spanish translation) in the series.
- Haynes-Lawrence, D.J. & Lawrence, S.J. (2022). A Conversation about Disabilities. MS Foundation, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
- Haynes-Lawrence, D.J. (2019). Along Came Jae: A Conversation about Service Dogs for People with MS. MS Foundation, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
- Haynes-Lawrence, D.J., Soult, N., West, A.R., & Lawrence, S.J. (2017). A Conversation about M.onkey S.not: M.aking S.ense out of M.S. MS Foundation, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Have questions? Please feel free to contact us at any time!
Some of the links on this page may require additional software to view.