By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

Dana Childress, M.Ed. — Wed, 14 May 2014 11:51:01 +0000

I really appreciate your last sentence, Jennifer – it all depends on the family. I think it can depend on the situation too as far as how much support a family will need. Regardless of the family or situation, your perspective is “right on” for service coordinators and, really, all EI providers. Thanks for the great example!

By: Jennifer S.

Jennifer S. — Tue, 13 May 2014 20:45:02 +0000

I think that the “middle” few ideas/points are especially important to remember – our role as the Service Coordinator is not to fix things or to do things FOR families that we can help them do for themeselves. I think that this is challenging for a lot of early intervention providers, as most of us have huge hearts and when we see a problem we want to jump right in and solve it, to “help” the family, when in reality solving the problem FOR them doesn’t help as much. It’s a fine line to balance between helping the family to do things for themselves, and supporting them in doing so, versus doing it for them. I also think that this “line” can be different for each family….some families may need a bit more support and hand-holding than others, and there’s no way of knowing until we have built that rapport with them.

A good example is applications for preschools/Head Start programs – some families are fine if you give them the website -they can look it up, find the application, print it, complete it, send it in, etc, some families ask you to mail them the application, some families may need assistance sitting down with them to complete it, and follow-up to support them in turning it in and helping them get the required documents to the school. It all depends on the family.

Comments on: Basic Needs Come First…Early Intervention Comes Second

By: Dana Childress, M.Ed.

By: Jennifer S.