You are committed to helping families practice using intervention strategies during your visits. You truly believe that’s an important part of the intervention process. You’re very aware of your own interactions during visits and try hard not to “hog” all of the child’s attention. You redirect the child’s attention from you back to the parent …
4 Strategies to Help You Stay in Your Lane During EI Visits
The Struggle is Real…Important
It’s Thursday afternoon and I’m banging my head on the steering wheel after my home visit. Why? Because I’ve spent the last hour coaching this family to stop giving their two year old a bottle when she can drink from a sippy cup, straw, and an open cup. It’s not like we haven’t worked on …
Oops…Guess What I Forgot?
Ever had one of those experiences where you realize that, while you think you did your best, you completely forgot what you were supposed to do? Ever had that experience on an intervention visit?
I had that experience recently…I was on a first visit with a family and was planning to set the stage for how …
Time to Take Early Intervention Outside!
Finally…some sunshine and warm weather! This time of year is a perfect time to break your floor play habit and get up and move around. Taking early intervention outdoors does not have to mean that you just move your bottom from the living room floor to a blanket of toys out in the grass, which …
The Value of Collaborative Problem-Solving
Pop Quiz: What is the activity that families report in the literature as the most helpful thing that happens on EI visits?
Answer: Problem-solving
Are you surprised? It makes so much sense when you think about how much you talk with families about their challenges – teaching the 18 month old to sit in the grocery chart, understanding a …
But Everyone Else Still Brings Toys…
Are you Service Provider A or Service Provider B?
Service Provider A always brings a bag of toys to each visit because this allows her to plan ahead. Having a toy bag ensures that she has the materials that she knows will work, which is great because many children she sees don’t have many toys. The children …
Using Baby Steps to Address Challenging Behaviors during Real Routines
“Emma runs away every chance she gets. Open a door and she bolts. Try to walk with her into a store and she screams until she wiggles free. We can’t take her anywhere!”
This is how Emma’s mother describes one of the family’s main concerns. Emma’s behavior is difficult for them to manage, and one of …
Breaking the “Have You Tried…?” Habit
It’s so easy, almost reflexive, to provide suggestions to a parent who tells us about a struggle with a child. Most of us have tons of ideas packed in our brains and are eager to share them, hoping we’ll have the magic solution to make life easier for the family. We spew suggestions without even …
Primary Service Provider…What Does That Mean?
The outcomes have been written, so now it’s time to determine services. The team sorts through possibilities for Arnold, a two year old with global developmental delays, and his family. Multiple team members recommend multiple services, then Winnie, the service coordinator, suggests they consider a primary service provider (PSP). The team decides that Patrick, the …
Watch Me! – Using Modeling as a Caregiver Teaching Tool
Lynn meets Devon and his mother, Janae, at the grocery store for their visit this week. When she arrives, she finds them trying to walk into the store. They are struggling because Devon is having a tantrum and Janae is trying to carry him while he kicks and screams. Lynn goes up to them and asks if …
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