Early Intervention Strategies for Success

Sharing What Works in Supporting Infants & Toddlers and the Families in Early Intervention

 

I was making a visit late in the afternoon in a neighborhood that had a history of safety issues. It was unusual for me to visit at this time of day so I was a little apprehensive. I parked in front of the home, got out, and went to put my purse in the trunk …

Miguel is 19 months old and lives with a large family that includes his parents, three older siblings, an aunt, and his grandparents. He qualified for early intervention due to delays in gross motor development and low muscle tone. He’s also showing some slight delays in his expressive communication. During his assessment and subsequent intervention …

During the assessment, the professional team members notice some soft neurological signs in Seiko’s development, such as an indwelling thumb, slight scissoring of her legs, and low muscle tone in her trunk. Seiko was referred to early intervention by her pediatrician because she is 14 months old and not yet sitting or crawling. According to her …

Tyler is 20 months old and instead of playing with his toys or using his spoon to feed himself, he quickly throws them as soon as he picks them up. Tyler’s parents tell you that it’s really hard to manage during playdates or when they go out to eat. Tyler also rarely stays still to …

Is this you? Are you learning about using the coaching interaction style and finding that you’re stressed by what you think you’re supposed to be doing? How many reflective questions should you ask? Which question is the right one? Am I allowed to make suggestions or even interact with the child anymore???

First, take a deep …

Imagine that, without warning, you lost your job. Without your paycheck, you’ve gotten more and more behind on paying rent until you’re served with an eviction notice. You have two more days until you must leave your apartment and you don’t have enough money for a deposit on a new one. You have no family …

The answer to this question is that we really don’t know. There isn’t any research in our field that firmly states that a certain level of EI service frequency is most effective. When you think about it, it’s not difficult to guess why this might be. We don’t believe in a one-stop shop mentality; in …

We’ve written about professional boundaries several times from the perspective of how to maintain your own boundaries when working so closely with families. Here’s a twist…how do you manage boundary issues when you see them happening between a colleague and a family? Let’s consider an example.
The Babysitter
Alexis has been working with Enzi’s family for almost a …

What do you say when a parent asks if she should bite her child back? That’s an easy one for many early interventionists – no, definitely don’t bite the baby back. Knowing what to DO about toddler biting, however, can be more tricky. Let me tell you a story about my son’s first bite…

When my …

Do you know what that means? When you are a mandated reporter, that means that you are in a profession that is among those mandated to report suspected child abuse or neglect. It is an aspect of your job that, hopefully, you don’t have to think about very often. Reporting suspected child abuse or neglect …

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