Early Intervention Strategies for Success

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

 

You’ve been working with Brenda, Emma’s mother, for several weeks now. She is a mother who, from the very first visit, seemed hungry for adult interaction because, as she says, she’s “stuck at home all day with her kids and no one to talk to.” At each visit, you hear about her relationship with her …

A day in the life of a service coordinator: Jenni arrives at work early to prepare for an initial assessment, making sure the paperwork is ready in case an IFSP is developed too. After the 2-hour assessment and IFSP meeting, she drives 40 minutes to her next visit with a family and their OT. The visits …

A new pediatric practice has just opened in your city and expressed an interest in meeting with staff from your EI program. This practice identifies itself as a “medical home” for children and you wonder, “What does that mean?” As far as you can tell, the physician and her staff are very interested in building a …

Sam is a service coordinator who works in a large EI program in a metropolitan area. He typically supports about 75 families at a time and his program requires him to make monthly contacts with all of the families. Sam does his best to keep track of everyone’s needs, but has moments when he feels like …

You call to schedule the first intervention visit and the child’s father answers the phone. He says, “Hold on, let me get my wife…”

During the assessment, the father comes home for lunch, opens his front door, sees three strangers sitting in his living room floor, takes a quick glance at his girlfriend, then quietly closes …

Since September 11, 2001, more than two million troops have been deployed to a war zone (i.e., Iraq and Afghanistan) (Strengthening our Military Families, 2011). The duration of deployment varies and can last longer than 12 months in some instances. The number of deployments also varies and can tally up for service members during their …

You call Rordan’s mother for your monthly contact to check on services and ask her how things are going. She sheepishly tells you that Rordan has made little progress with his crawling and that she doesn’t think he likes physical therapy much. When you ask why she thinks he doesn’t like it, she tells you that …

In the most recent issue of Young Exceptional Children, Bonnie Keilty, Ed.D., wrote the “Voices from the Field” about using infant & toddler development and family systems as the framework for early intervention practice.  She suggested that building effective practices around child and family development, family functioning and family systems would help practitioners do two …

A typical day as a local early intervention system manager might involve reviewing contracts with service provider agencies, attending meetings to build networks, supervising staff, conducting record reviews, reviewing the budget for an upcoming report to the state office, squeezing in an intervention visit or two (if you also wear the hat of a service coordinator …

The last three posts in this series covered strategies for managing your time, organizing and prioritizing your work, and taking charge of your communication and your calendar. Now, in this final installment of this series, let’s think about how you take care of you!

We have all made this suggestion to the families we serve at …

VCUE Logo, ITC Log, Infant Toddler Connection of Virginia Logo and Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services