Early social and emotional development includes the ability for young children to “form close and secure adult and peer relationships; experience, regulate, and express emotions in socially and culturally appropriate ways; and explore the environment and learn — all in the context of family, community, and culture” (Yates et al., 2008, p. 2). This describes the way infants and toddlers understand and communicate their emotions to build healthy relationships with those closest to them.

When you think about social and emotional development, all of the words above may come to mind. Each word is a critical component of social and emotional development. In early intervention, all practitioners play a key role in supporting the emotional well-being of every young child and their family.

Why and What You Can Do

“Social and emotional experiences with primary caregivers as well as interactions with other children and adults early in life set the stage for future academic and personal outcomes, and undergird other areas of development” (Darling-Churchill & Lippman, 2016, p. 2). You have a unique opportunity to nurture the connection between the caregiver and child and promote successful outcomes for each child you serve.

Here are eleven easy strategies you can implement to support social and emotional development:

1. Boost the parents’ confidence. This is a hard time for many parents. Parents may feel responsible for their child’s developmental delay. Building their confidence empowers them to feel competent. When someone feels good, it makes them happy. This helps promote positive parent-child interactions.

2. Support the child’s self-esteem. Children tend to avoid difficult tasks. After all, nobody likes failing. Boosting a child’s self-esteem gives him/her confidence to explore and try new things.

3. You can never give too much information. Explain what you are doing and why you are doing it. This helps parents understand the reasoning behind the intervention strategies you suggest or model.” Give parents plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

4. Focus on increasing positive parent-child interactions. Many children may resist demands placed on them. A positive parent-child interaction removes the feeling of a demand and makes the interaction playful and fun. It enhances the bond between the caregiver and child.

5. Read cues and intervene before a child is in his/her red zone. There are four stress responses a child may experience: Green zone, red zone, blue zone, or combo zone. Click here to read the checklist that identifies different behaviors associated with each zone. Positive emotions are associated with the green zone and negative emotions are associated with the other stress responses. Children are more likely to come back and stay in the green zone when parents are attuned to their moods and feelings. Becoming a detective for your child’s stress cues can be a great tool to improve attunement.

6. Model the behaviors you wish to see. We can help parents learn to model behaviors they want to see in their children as they grow into adults. Children learn how to manage big feelings in large part by watching their adults manage big feelings.

7. Explain the importance of comfort. Comfort is a big part of secure attachment. So often parents get mixed messages about comfort from society – sometimes it seems as if comfort is the same as creating a weak child. We can bust that myth by sharing the information we know about the role of comfort in early brain development.

8. Provide structure and routine. Routines are the safe walls around a child’s day. There is no RIGHT kind of routine but whatever it is, the more predictable for the child, the better. Routines that are repetitive for a child help them make sense of the world. They will always have another chance to practice the things they struggle with most.

9. Use positive behavior supports. A positive and proactive approach to supporting behaviors helps reduce parental stress and increase positive behaviors in children as they aim to please their parents. These strategies decrease reactivity and should be individualized for each child and situation.

10. Label emotions. Language is a major learning tool for children and during the young toddler and preschool years, we learn and use language as a way of making sense of the world. Putting words to feelings helps children learn that feelings are generally transient and aren’t a permanent state of being. This is something we should be regularly talking about with our parents.

11. Increase parent responsiveness. Parent responsiveness nurtures a safe, secure attachment allowing a child to explore and thrive in their environment as the child becomes more resilient and independent. Wonder with the parents about what their child may be feeling or thinking so they can respond in an intentional and positive way. 

What challenges or barriers do you face as an early interventionist supporting social and emotional development?

What other strategies would you add to support each child’s social and emotional development?

Additional Resources:

DEC Child Social-Emotional Competence Checklist

Supporting Social and Emotional Development: What ALL Early Interventionists Can Do Handout

References

Darling-Churchill, & Lippman, L. (2016). Early childhood social and emotional development: Advancing the field of measurement. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 45, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2016.02.002 

Yates, T., Ostrosky, M., Cheatham, G., Fettig, A., Shaffer, L., & Santos, R. (2008). Research synthesis on screening and assessing social–emotional competence. Retrieved from Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/documents/rs_screening_assessment.pdf

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During the past year, our world has overturned with public health concerns, teleworking from home, social distancing, and childcare facility closures.  As this shift has occurred, we as EI providers have naturally adjusted to our new reality. However, some of these exact safety measures meant to keep the public safe has created a daunting reality of under-reported cases of child abuse or neglect.

Statistics show a drastic decline of child abuse reports since the start of the pandemic:

According to The Washington Post, “In the nation’s capital, hotline reports of abuse and neglect between mid-March and mid-April were 62 percent lower than in the same period last year, according to the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency. Reports to child protective services in Maryland have fallen just as far, and in Virginia, referrals from school staffers have dipped by 94 percent.” (Schmidt & Natanson, 2020)

It is easy to overlook such a scenario, because decreased child abuse reports are a good thing, right? On the contrary, experts will tell you otherwise. Children without routine encounters from childcare providers, health professionals, and other social advocates lead to emergency room visits due to severe injuries from abuse. Fewer cases are brought in for immediate medical attention until the severity of their injuries are no longer concealable.   

As EI providers, we must be more alert towards the signs of abuse and neglect in our client’s homes. For some families, our tele-therapy sessions are their only lifelines for social support.

How Can We Help?

How can we help those children who are isolated, cut off from childcare providers, social contacts, or protection services?

As mandated reporters, we have a duty to uphold when we see suspected abuse or neglect in the children we serve. During this time when face to face visits are at a halt or at limited capacity, it is even more important to check in with our families through virtual sessions or over the phone.

What to do if you witness a parent display abusive or aggressive behavior towards a child during a telehealth session?

• Avoid judging remarks or facial expressions
• Re-direct and diffuse the conversation in a positive manner not to escalate the situation
• Discuss what positive behaviors that you have observed from the child to highlight their strengths
• Offer positive reinforcement strategies for challenging behaviors
• Check in with the parent to see if they are in need of community support or other resources

If you suspect or witness child abuse or neglect, call your local department of social services or child protective services. If there is evidence of immediate harm or threat to the child and/or family member, CALL THE POLICE.

Share some strategies or tips below in the comments about how you check in with the child and family’s wellbeing during your EI telehealth visits. 

Resources:

Virginia Department of Social Services

Virginia Child Protective Services: 1-800-552-7096

Out-of-State Child Protective Services: 804-786-8536

SCAN of Northern Virginia (Stop Child Abuse Now)

Reference:

Schmidt, S., & Natanson, H. (2020, April 30). With kids stuck at home, ER doctors see more severe cases of child abuse. The Washington Post.

Sarah Kim has been an occupational therapist for over 12 years. She currently works in early intervention for the Infant and Toddler Connection of Fairfax- Falls Church. She also volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for SCAN (Alexandria/Arlington). Email Sarah at: sarah.kim2@fairfaxcounty.gov

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You’ve worked really hard this year. You’ve stretched to fit into a mold of providing early intervention (EI) that was unlike any you’d ever experienced before. You struggled, you persisted, and you succeeded. You did it because you love what you do. You also did it because you love the families.

This new video, Parents and Early Intervention, from the Early Intervention Training Program at the University of Illinois is like a gift to all EI practitioners for the hard work you’ve done this year. It reminds us about the power of high quality intervention and how important our partnership with families can be. I know you know this, but it sure is nice to hear it from a family. Now, take 7:59 minutes to meet the Warren family and hear their story. I guarantee it’ll make your day.

See, doesn’t that do your heart good?

So yes, this may have been one of the most challenging years we’ve faced as a field, but when other businesses and services closed, EI did not. You continued to support families, reaching them virtually, checking on them by phone, and working together in ways that were new, different, creative, and inspiring. Now, as you reflect on this past year, ask yourself:

When you think of families you have supported, what do you hope they say about their EI experience?

Type your reflections in the comments below.

*Thank you to EITP and the Warren Family for sharing their story!*

For more videos featuring families’ experiences, visit the Families’ Experiences in EI page on the EI Video Library.

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When talking to parents and caregivers, it can be helpful to ask them what they know about temperament and assess their understanding of how their temperament matches (or doesn’t match!) their child’s. Parents may be able to talk about their child’s response to different environments, sensory preferences or reaction to change and may not have thought about their own response. Parents and caregivers may not be able to recognize ways in which their own temperaments impact the behavior of their child.

What is Temperament?

Temperament is generally defined as consistent individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes. One key concept to remember is that temperament is biologically based, not made up of characteristics that are chosen. As such, an individual does not have the ability to change their temperament but rather use their knowledge to adapt to the environment. As an example, for individuals who become overwhelmed by noise, the volume of the television or radio could be turned down, voice tones can be adapted and strategies for calming in loud environments can be taught. Conflict can arise in the parent-child relationship when a parent perceives a child is acting in a particular way “on purpose” or “to make them (the parent) upset.” It is important to recognize that a child’s behavior is often a reflection of his or her temperament. Like many other developmental skills, parents need to be able to teach their children how to appropriately respond to their internal triggers.

Parent and caregiver understanding of how to support a child’s temperament style is crucial in the development of social-emotional skills. When parents can help children adapt to their environment and understand their own preferences, children will be better prepared to adapt to different environments using coping skills and resources available.

Having Conversations about the Parent’s Temperament

I often get questions about how to have conversations with parents and caregivers about temperament. Beginning by asking questions can be a good place to start. Helping parents to gain insight about their own temperament can help them to be more in tune with the actions of their child. Oftentimes, parents have insight into their child but may not have thought about their own preferences or strengths. Parents may not recognize the role that their temperament plays in the dynamic of the relationship with their child. Some questions that could be helpful to ask parents include:

• How do you manage your emotions?
• What are your sensory preferences (e.g. light, sound, etc.)?
• How do you respond to change?
• How do you communicate your wants and needs?

When parents and children have mismatched temperaments, strain in the parent-child relationship can be magnified. Parents may incorrectly attribute differences in interaction style to a child’s developmental delay, ascribing intent behind behavior or believing a child can simply change his or her temperament. Parents may not be aware of their own needs or have the capacity to understand how to adjust in order to have their needs met. When mismatched temperaments are not understood, parents may expect more of their child or believe that their child can change their behavior independently. This can lead to frustration and increased stress for parents. In addition, parents may feel as though they do not have the ability to meet their child’s needs or parent effectively. Children rely on their parents to be emotional co-regulators. This means that especially when children are young, they look to their parents to model how to manage uncomfortable emotions, changes to routine and internal triggers. When parents are calm, children can de-escalate more quickly. As children learn to understand their own temperaments, they can build their abilities to navigate different situations and interactions and become more effective in developing social-emotional regulation.

Talking about the Child’s Temperament

As providers, when parents talk about the ways in which they interact with their children, we can then begin to ask questions to help identify children’s temperament styles and explore which interventions are available to build family capacity. Once a parent can begin tuning in to the child’s unique temperament, the parent can then work to develop strategies for supporting the child’s needs. Here are some questions that you could help the parent to consider when trying to understand their child’s temperament:

• How does my child express their feelings?
• How does my child engage in play?
• How does my child respond when they experience discomfort?
• How does my child react to change?
• What does my child do when going through transitions?

When parents are in tune with their child’s temperament, they are able to support their child’s behavior more effectively. Parents can then understand their child’s needs to provide opportunities for learning new coping skills.

When children are young, it is important for parents to give a lot of support in helping their work through challenges. As children get older and can understand their own temperament style and what they need to be successful, the interactions become more balanced. When parents and caregivers are able to understand the ways in which temperament plays a role in the behavior and interactions of their children, stress is reduced and successful intervention strategies can be realized.

Now that you have some more tools to understand temperament, how can you help parents recognize and respond to their child’s unique characteristics?

Share your ideas by leaving a comment below!

For more information about this topic, check out Naomi’s 2-part webinar series on the VA Early Intervention Professional Development Center:

Foundations of Social Emotional Development: Temperament – Part II

Foundations of Social Emotional Development: Attachment – Part I

Also, be sure to visit the Social-Emotional Development topic page!

Naomi Grinney, LCSW has worked in early intervention for the past five years. Prior to working in EI, Naomi worked as a community-based mental health crisis response provider, as social worker in a psychiatric hospital and as a behavioral interventionist at a residential treatment center. Naomi is passionate about supporting the social emotional development of children and building family capacity and has worked with kids and families for twenty years. As the parent of a child who received Early Intervention services, Naomi brings a unique perspective to her role in providing tools and resources to empower parents in supporting their child’s development. Naomi can be reached at naomi.grinney@fairfaxcounty.gov. 

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Many of you have been providing early intervention services via virtual visits for nine months now. That’s a long time….I probably don’t need to tell you that because you are living it. It’s been a long time since you sat in a family’s living room, since you held a baby, since you blew bubbles with a toddler, since you guided a parent’s hands as she helped her baby learn to stand, or since you got one of those amazing toddler hugs. Many of you have become grounded in tele-intervention and, while you undoubtedly miss in-person visits, you have embraced this incredibly unique opportunity to grow as professionals.

What Are You Thankful For?

Take a deep breath, look out of a window, and pause. Think about the past nine months and ask yourself: “What has this experience of providing tele-intervention given me? What am I thankful for?” Somedays, you might answer that this experience has given you a headache from staring at the computer screen all day long. Other days, you might find yourself joyfully celebrating progress you got to see by “joining” a family during an activity you might never have been able to observe before.

While I am not seeing families via tele-intervention, here are a few things I’m thankful for when I reflect on our field’s experience this year:

#1: I’m thankful for the new door we’ve opened.

Being launched into tele-intervention as the only way of reaching families has likely changed our field forever and in a positive way. Many states are advocating for the flexibility to continue to offer tele-intervention as an option to families. Being able to offer tele-intervention to families who prefer it for privacy, flexibility, distance, or other personal family reasons… having the option available to support families of some of our most medically-fragile children…offering virtual visits in areas with provider shortages – all of these could really be game changers. I’m grateful for the door that’s opened so we might be able to continue to leverage technology to further individualize EI services and reach more families.

#2: I’m thankful for the coaching practices that were already in place to help us *really* support caregivers.

I’ve heard over and over that practitioners who were already using coaching practices found the shift to tele-intervention more natural – still challenging and still with a healthy learning curve, but overall, a more natural fit. I’m grateful that we have been practicing coaching and routines-based, family-centered intervention here in VA for years now. Sure, what this looks runs the gamut, but the adoption of this practice made it easier for practitioners to support caregiver and child learning from the other side of a webcam. No one said it was easy to make the shift to virtual visits, but having some great practices in your back pocket seems to have helped.

#3: I’m thankful for you.

Yes, that might sound cliche but hear me out. I’m thankful for EI practitioners and leaders like you who embraced virtual visits when you had no other choice. You put new policies in place, built new systems of support and payment, adopted new technology, and walked families through how to login with kindness and patience. I’m thankful that you pushed through the awkward transition of figuring out where to place the camera and how to manage audio, how to observe and manage silence during visits, and how to teach a parent without being able to model like you’re used to. I’m grateful for the EI teams who experimented and figured out how to use technology to conduct eligibility determinations and assessments, who shared their screens so families could understand their rights and see the IFSP as they joined team members to write it. For all of you who continue to dedicate your time, energy, and bandwidth to children and families receiving early intervention, I see you and I am proud to be part of a field with you in it.

Now it’s your turn. What are you thankful for?

Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

For more information about tele-intervention, visit these resources:

COVID-19 and EI Tele-Intervention Updates (VEIPD)

Provider and Educator Use of Technology (ECTA Center)

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Several years ago, I found that my EI caseload included a couple of families with stay-at-home dads. This was a first for me, and I found myself struggling to connect with family caregivers, which hadn’t happened to me since I was new to the field.  Both men were quite nice, but I stumbled when I tried to make conversation to build rapport.  What did I have in common with these men? With moms, I could build rapport around so many shared experiences being moms and women.   One dad was a former football player and the other was a fitness expert.  My idea of working out was to walk from the couch to the bookshelf. 

So, I did what I always do when I’m unsure- I read and researched.  I searched and searched for good information on working with dads.  I found almost nothing except for a few articles on how men and women communicate differently.  I had to muddle through mostly on my own, but we all made it through together.  These experiences helped shaped my later academic research. 

3 Key Strategies for Building Relationships with Dads

Here are some of the key strategies I used to build successful relationships with dads.

Talk side to side rather than face to face.

I can’t remember the source anymore, but the one tip I did garner from searching for books and articles was that men are socialized to talk with each other and others while they are engaged in a task or standing side by side, while woman are socialized to look at each other while talking. This strategy was immediately helpful! When the fitness expert dad offered to make me a fancy coffee, I took that opportunity of having his back to me to ask some deeper questions about what his hopes for his daughter were and what he wanted from EI.  It worked! This became part of our weekly routine.  He would make me a fancy coffee and I would use this time while he wasn’t looking at me to chat and build rapport.  With the other dad, I started positioning my body angled from him instead of looking directly at him.  This also worked immediately.  He opened up a little more when we weren’t looking directly at each other and I realized we could connect over our similar senses of humor.  He hasn’t been a client in years, but our relationship became strong enough that he sends updates on his son’s progress several times a year. 

Explicitly invite dads into therapeutic activities.

I learned to do this based on anecdotes from my own work in EI and the dads in my research verified it’s really important.  Many dads aren’t sure about what EI is supposed to be, especially if they aren’t the primary caregivers of their children. They hang back and watch or wait for their wife or partner to give them a summary of what happened.  Extend a direct invitation by saying, “Hey, we’re going to work on motor skills.  Come on over and help me make an obstacle course with the couch cushions” or “One of our outcomes that your kiddo can communicate her wants and needs.  Let’s take her in the kitchen and work on some strategies to get her communicating for snack time.” This signals that the dad is an important part of what’s happening and that you want him to participate. 

Be really clear about what you are doing and why.  Provide this information in writing, too.

Both the dads I worked with and the dads in my research wanted clear explanations of why their EI providers were giving them and their children specific tasks.  They wanted to know exactly how doing an obstacle course was related to motor development or how giving a choice of two items at snack time helped with communication development. For many of EI providers this information is so much a part of what we do, that we don’t think to explain the connection.  The dads in my research didn’t always feel comfortable asking providers these questions or they asked the questions but didn’t remember the answers after the provider left.  Make sure to provide written explanations that address the what and the why.  Remember, a quick text (if allowed by your program) counts as being in writing (just make sure you send it to mom AND dad).

Have you tried any of these strategies? Have one we haven’t thought of? Or maybe want some advice about a tricky situation with a dad?

Leave a comment and let us know!

For more information about working with dads, you can check out the Dads Matter! Webinar Series (external website) on the VA Early Intervention Professional Development Center (external website) site. Scroll down on the page to find both archived webinars.  

Megan has over a decade of experience working with fathers as an early intervention developmental specialist. Currently, she is an assistant professor at Salem State University, where she teaches future early interventionists and researches dads’ experiences working with early intervention programs. Megan lives in Salem, MA, with her husband, daughter, and two exceptionally naughty cats.

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Technology is great when it works, right? It’s such an embedded part of most of our lives when we are not in the throws of a global pandemic that many of us hardly think about it. Now, though, when early interventionists are chin deep in trying to navigate tele-intervention, figuring out how to connect through technology is essential.

I’ve been picking the brains of amazing EI practitioners and local system managers to find out what they are doing to make the technology work, not only for themselves but also for the families they support. I’ve organized some of the great ideas I’ve heard into the list below.

A big THANK YOU to the practitioners and leaders from Fairfax, Norfolk, Prince William, Danville-Pittsylvania, Southside, Roanoke Valley, Rockbridge Area, Central VA, Cumberland Mountain, Middle Peninsula-Northern Neck and others who shared their experiences with me!

7 Technology Tips

Here are 7 tips for managing technology when preparing for or providing tele-intervention:

1. Prepare yourself first – Before you contact the parent, make sure you have an understanding of what tele-intervention is. Watch the TelePractice in Early Intervention webinar for a fantastic overview and tons of strategies. Watch a video such as A Home Visit with Zander, Providing Early Intervention Services through Distance Technology, or Tele-Intervention – Coaching during Family Chore-Laundry to see how coaching works during tele-intervention. Educate yourself about the technology so you can answer parents’ questions as best you can. Larry Edelman has prepared a great resource document about technology: Planning for the Use of Video Conferencing for Early Intervention Home Visits during the COVID-19 Pandemic (PDF, New Window)– check it out!

2. Touch base the “usual way” – Reach out to the parent using your typical means of communication – phone, email, or text, depending on what’s permitted in your program or preferred by the family. Check in about the family’s welfare first, then ease the conversation into virtual options for connecting.

3. Explore and explain options – Without making any assumptions about family preferences or capability, explore the available options for video visits or phone contacts for service delivery. Explain how each option could work and paint a picture of what it might look like. If the parent is interested (or even unsure), share a link to the video, A Home Visit with Zander, so he/she can watch a visit and hear from a parent about how tele-intervention can work. Be sure to invite the parent to ask questions, share any worries, and think through the possibilities with you.

4. Share your vulnerability – It’s okay to let the parent know that this is new for you too. Assure the parent that you will figure it out together and that, if the parent chooses the high tech option (aka video confererencing) and something goes wonky, you always have a low tech option as Plan B (aka phonecall).

5. Schedule a tech check – Before the actual video visit, schedule a 15 minute tech check. This may be a non-billable activity, but it’s worth it. Send the parent the video conferencing link with detailed instructions about how to connect. Get online together, check video, audio, lighting, etc. and talk about where the device will be positioned so you can see the family the best. Plan together for what the parent wants to do during the actual visit and how the technology can be used so you can observe and collaborate. If you or the parent has tech problems, remember the #1 rule of thumb with troubleshooting: when in doubt, back out and try again. Log out of the video conference and try to log back in. If that doesn’t work, log out and restart the computer. If that still doesn’t work, try another browser. Persistence will pay off, I promise.

6. Problem-solve Wifi issues – Here’s where practitioners are getting creative. I’ve heard of folks parking in the family’s driveway for the video visit so the family can access the practitioner’s hotspot, then holding the visit using technology with the practitioner parked outside. What an idea! Some schools are offering hotspots for older children – can the family use that connection for the visit? If there are limitations on data or bandwidth, schedule the visit at a time when issues should (hopefully) be at a minimum, like in the afternoon after older children are finished with online learning.

7. Let the parent decide – If a parent is unsure about either option, encourage him/her to try a phone or video visit then evaluate how it went. If the parent declines, that’s okay. Parents can put their services on hold at any time; just be sure that they fully understand their options, privacy, and the support you can provide. Be sure to document your discussion and check back in with the family often in case they change their minds.

Once everything is in place and your fingers are firmly crossed, schedule that first visit and go for it. Take a deep breath before you connect with the parent and enter the video call with confidence. Expect some hiccups, be flexible, practice your patience, and exercise your sense of humor. This will get easier and both you and the family will adjust, together.

You’ve got this.

What strategies are you using to prepare families for tele-intervention?

What creative ideas are you using to help families manage technology needs?

Let’s hear your best ideas! Share them in the chat and let’s continue to support one another. J

For more information, videos, webinars, and online training related to tele-intervention, visit these sites:

COVID-19 and EI Tele-Intervention Updates – VA EI Professional Development Center

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – ECTA Center

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We are all in this together. Early interventionists are exploring and learning new telehealth options. For many, this may mean learning new technology platforms, navigating limited wifi access, and simultaneously focusing on providing exceptional service delivery through telehealth. Teleflections©, a new resource, provide reflections from early interventionists who share their own experiences including their successes and challenges. Each week new videos are posted.

There are a variety of ways to access the Teleflections© series. Follow us on:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube (Teleflections© Playlist)

During this time of uncertainty, it helps to normalize our experiences and laugh (maybe sometimes cry) about them together. You can also check out the COVID-19 and EI Tele-Intervention Updates page for the latest resources.

Let’s take a look at some of the recent Teleflections©.

In Teleflections© 2, Julie Vaughn (SLP) was honestly states, “I won’t lie. It’s not my thing. It’s just not my thing, but I am making the best of it. I have learned a lot this week about computers and technology.” Coming out soon, Julie shares a new video with her successful update on how she has grown over the past two weeks. This is something new and we have to give ourselves time and patience as we all learn together.

In Teleflections© 4, Missy Rose (PT) shares her experiences as a physical therapist who relies on her hands to gain information about a child. Make sure you do not miss her fancy doll she uses to support families learning different positioning techniques. Many of us are nervous about not being in the home, but we are all learning we can still coach families to support their child’s development in naturally occurring routines and activities. We have even heard so many successes about coaching families and seeing a larger variety of routines as we navigate this together.

In Teleflections© 5, Stacie Jackson (LSM and SC) shares her experience waking up at 3:45 the morning of her first intake. It is safe to say many of us have experienced restlessness or disrupted sleep. After all, we’re all experiencing similar responses together.

The latest Teleflections© 6, Dana Carroll (OT) shares her experience from a mother who was really nervous at first. Dana describes the mother as being “over the moon” by the end of the session. Many families may be worried about how they will continue to support their child’s development during this time and it is a great way to remind them that we are all in this together.

Check out Teleflection©s by following our social media. We would love to hear about your experiences.

What has been your biggest success (or challenge)?

Share your experiences in the chat below!

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Let’s get right to the point. You are not trying to engage an infant or toddler on video for 45-60 minutes during your virtual visit. Re-read that last sentence and let it sink in. Take a deep breath in and breathe out any expectation you may have had about playing with the baby you see on video. When we step back and let our anxiety about tele-intervention settle, it’s easier to realize that there is very little chance of a 2-year old interacting with you on video for more than a moment or two – and that’s okay. You can still do early intervention without that interaction when you focus on engaging the parent (or other caregiver) who will then engage the child. If you think about coaching and the Mission of EI, that’s where your focus should be anyway. You’ve probably already been doing this and if not, you can do it now.  

Okay, you might be asking yourself: If I’m not interacting with the child, what do I do instead?

Let’s answer that question.

What Do You Do?

Now, more than ever, early interventionists are using their coaching skills to engage parents during virtual visits conducted using video conferencing technologies. Interventionists have been thrust into the world of tele-intervention (you might know it as telepractice or telehealth) with often little preparation or experience. The whole world has shifted and it feels like EI practice has shifted along with it (and they have).

Here’s what hasn’t changed, though: You are still a coach to the parent/caregiver. Your primary mission is to support caregivers so they learn ways to interact with their children during everyday routines and activities to encourage development. Whether you are sitting in their home or yours, you are still a coach. You did not coach the child before tele-intervention; you coached the parent. You probably did spend time playing with and engaging the child, practicing stretches, prompting for sounds, and challenging the child’s problem-solving or social skills. You probably modeled the use of strategies in these activities for the parent. Now, you have to figure out how to let go of your need to directly interact with the child and embrace the golden opportunity you have to support the parent’s learning.

Here are 10 strategies for focusing on parent/caregiver learning during tele-intervention. You can do this!

10 Strategies for Engaging Parents during Tele-Intervention

Before the Visit:

1. Prepare with the parent – Touch base by phone before the virtual visit to discuss technology needs and answer questions. Plan for how to connect, what device the parent will use, and how it will be positioned so the parent can see you and you can observe the parent-child interaction. Plan for how the parent will access the link you will send to the virtual meeting platform. Consider different types of devices and how access might look different (a quick google search for instructions can be helpful if needed).

2. Prepare yourself – Before the virtual visit, collect your thoughts. Remember that you don’t need toys because you are not trying to engage the child. You may need a prop, such as a doll or teddy bear to model movements for the parent, but you can put your bubbles away.

3. Preparing for what to do – Chat with the parent about ideas for what to do during the visit. Be prepared to follow the parent’s lead and let her know she can take you with her in whatever she and her child do during the visit. You can also plan for activities, like if you are going to work together on the child’s feeding or encourage play skills with siblings who are also home. Just like any visit, though, preparing can go right out the window if another opportunity arises or the family needs the visit to go in a different direction. Prepare when you can, but go with the flow when you need to.

During the Visit:

4. Take time to check in – Just like any other visit, touch base on how the family is doing and check in on child progress. This check in time may take longer now and that’s okay. Remember that everyone is adjusting to the new normal so approach this relationship-building time with ease.

5. Use your voice to join in (instead of your body) – Join the activity you planned or search for opportunities based on what you see. Observe that feeding session, watch the siblings play, and use your coaching skills to share your observations, ask reflective questions, and provide verbal guidance on how to use intervention strategies. You have to use your voice to join in so be gentle with your suggestions and always ask the caregiver what she thinks, how it feels, etc.

6. Be descriptive and specific – When you provide guidance, share observations, or give feedback, be specific and describe what you see and what you suggest. Following verbal directions might be harder to process for the parent who is used to watching you, so take it slow and check in frequently.

7. Be flexible – If the visit is a little shorten than usual, that’s okay. Be sure to document why. If what you planned with the parent falls flat, try something else. If you end up discussing development more than observing it, especially on your first visit, that’s okay. Use the “show me…” prompt to move from discussion to observation and support; it’s a great tool on an in-person visit and it’s your best tool now.

8. Keep your focus on the parent, who facilitates learning for the child – This is key. This is also best practice in EI whether you are face-to-face or on video. What you can help the parent practice during the visit with the child is more likely to continue between visits. Use your coaching skills to keep the focus on parent learning, which extends learning to the child.

9. Write down the joint plan – Plan with the parent as you always do, but create a written version of the joint plan at the end or after the visit. Email or text the plan to the parent as a reminder and follow-up on that plan at the start of your next visit.

During and Between Visits:

This last strategy might be the most valuable right now:

10. Cultivate patience for the parent and yourself – Providing intervention this way might feel wobbly nowand that’s okay. Both you and the parent are in the midst of significant change, and not just for the EI visit. Being patient with the family will help them feel comfortable with this new way of interacting with you. Being patient with yourself means giving yourself permission to feel nervous and stumble, laugh about it, learn, pat yourself on the back, and try again next week.

Consider this: Your relationship to early intervention and with the parent has changed because of the pandemic and tele-intervention, but maybe that change is for the better. This way of supporting parents (and children) might make you a better coach. Give it time, approach intervention with openness, and take a deep breath. We will all be okay.

What strategies are you using before or using your tele-intervention visits to engage parents?

What’s working well? What’s challenging you?

Share your tips and experiences in the chat below and let’s support each other. 🙂

For information, videos, webinars, and online training related to tele-intervention, visit these sites:

COVID-19 and EI Tele-Intervention Updates – VA EI Professional Development Center

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – ECTA Center

For technology tips and links to video reflections about tele-intervention, check out these posts:

7 Technology Tips for Tele-Intervention

Introducing Teleflections©: We’re All In This Together

The post 10 Strategies for Engaging Parents (not Children?) during Tele-Intervention appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

So far in this series, you’ve learned about the importance of two interventions associated with positive outcomes for children and families. In Part 1, we explored strategies that emphasize caregivers’ awareness and interpretation of their own actions. In Part 2, you learned how to help caregivers identify and use everyday learning opportunities to enhance child development. Now, let’s focus on the third intervention: supporting caregivers’ responsiveness to their children (Dunst & Trivette, 2009; Mahoney, 2009; Swanson, Raab, & Dunst, 2011). For some caregivers, responsiveness comes naturally, especially when there is naturally a good fit between how the child interacts and communicates and how the caregiver parents. When it doesn’t come naturally or the caregiver struggles with responsiveness, it can have a significant impact on the parent-child relationship and the child’s development. Let’s think more about what this looks like and what you can do to support responsive interactions.

Supporting Caregivers’ Responsiveness to their Children

Responsiveness – how a parent or caregiver responds to and meets the needs of a child – has been found to have significant connections to communication and social-emotional development during early childhood (Mahoney, 2009). Responsiveness is one of those concepts that we know when we see it. We know it when we see a mother who reads her child’s cues, even the subtle ones, like when he shifts his gaze to make a choice about which book he wants her to read. We see it when a father hears his baby cry and immediately picks her up, bounces her and pats her back while soothing her with his voice. We see it when a childcare provider uses a warm expression and voice to calm a toddler then invite him into a turn-taking game of blowing bubbles. All of these interactions teach young children that they are important, that adults care, and that their attempts to communicate and engage with others and the environment have meaning.   

Responsiveness is also something that jumps right out at us when it’s not there. Think of the grandmother who ignores her grandson’s vocalizations because he “doesn’t make sense” and who swats him when he acts out from frustration. Think about the mother who misreads her daughter’s arching back and gaze aversion as a personal offense, which negatively impacts their attachment to each other. Or, consider the father whose depression makes it hard for him to respond to his child’s needs consistently or at all. There are many factors that can interfere with a caregiver’s ability to be responsive, and truthfully, we are not always able to mitigate them. We can, however, keep our eyes on responsiveness and encourage it, celebrate it, teach it, and praise it whenever we have the opportunity.

What Does This LOOK Like in Practice?

Here are a few strategies you can use to support responsive interactions between caregivers and children:

Label it when you see it – When you notice a parent being responsive, talk about it. Describe what you saw the parent do and how the child responded. Ask the parent questions to help her identify responsiveness and the impact, such as “What did you do that made Elena smile?” or “What did Elena do after you smiled at her?” Point out the delight the child showed when her parent interacted with her and praise the parent’s efforts.

Model and facilitate contingent interactions – In the context of interacting with the parent and the child together, model contingent interactions that are responsive to the child’s communication and social cues. Talk about what you are doing and why. Coach the parent to notice the child’s communication attempts, movements, or behaviors and help him/her interpret them with meaning. Point out what the child did before and after the interaction and talk about what the parent could do to respond, keep the interaction going, help the child be successful, etc. Just be careful to turn the interaction back over to the parent after modeling so he/she can practice engaging the child. You may be great at using a responsive strategy but that only matters if the parent can learn from you and use the strategy successfully with the child.

Use your voice and facial expressions – Affect is an important part of responsiveness (Mahoney, 2009). Using a warm voice and expressive facial expressions that convey that you are present, engaged, interested, and enjoying the child send an important message. Talk about the importance of affect and provide specific feedback to parents when they are using their affect in responsive ways. This is especially important when interacting with children who struggle with social-communication or who have sensory differences.

Encourage imitation and turn-taking – Use imitation and turn-taking as the vehicles for building responsiveness. When a caregiver struggles with responsiveness, help her understand the back-and-forth nature of interactions and communication. Use simple turn-taking games to entice the parent and child into interactions. Look for turn-taking games that they can enjoy and sustain (for a reasonable amount of time depending on the child’s age and developmental level). Start small, with the parent imitating the child’s actions or sounds, and shape these interactions into turn-taking. Help the parent look for ways he can take a turn whenever the child does something and vice versa. Encourage the parent to expect, wait for, and prompt the child to respond whenever there is an opportunity. Responsiveness is reciprocal but the parent sets the tone.

All three of the interventions you’ve learned about in this series have responsiveness at their core. When caregivers are more aware of how important their own actions and interactions are, understand the learning opportunities they can facilitate during daily interactions, and recognize how to engage and respond to their children to facilitate development, you increase the chances of intervention happening everyday. You also help build stronger parent-child relationships that last well beyond EI. Like I said before, that’s powerful stuff.

Now it’s your turn.

What is your favorite strategy for supporting caregiver responsiveness?

Share your ideas in the comments below!

References:

Dunst, C. J., & Trivette, C. M. (2009). Using research evidence to inform and evaluate early childhood intervention practices. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 29(1), 40-52.

Mahoney, G. (2009). Relationship-focused intervention (RFI): Enhancing the role of parents in children’s developmental intervention. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 1(1), 79-94.

Swanson, J., Raab, M., & Dunst, C. J. (2011). Strengthening family capacity to provide young children everyday natural learning opportunities. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 9(1), 66-80.

The post 3 Interventions Every Early Interventionist Needs to Know – Part 3 appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.