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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Imagine: you are sharing your deepest wishes with a trusted friend. You are sharing a cup of coffee on the couch and you feel led to begin a conversation about your goals for the coming New Year. You share your regrets from the past year and your hopes and dreams about how you envision this New Year. You are deep in thought and passionate about articulating these ambitions out loud. Your friend’s response, much to your surprise, is superficially supportive. You sense judgement but you can’t put your finger on it. Why is she being short? Why does her smile look fake? Does she realize her eyebrows just did that? You begin to wonder what her thoughts are and to feel… Vulnerable. Embarrassed. Insecure.

A Parent’s Perspective

Now, imagine that instead of talking to a dear friend, you are talking to a complete stranger in an intake meeting, no coffee involved. Instead of freely sharing your priorities for the New Year, you are being asked to name priorities you have for your most precious hope in the world—your child.

Will I be judged for what’s important to my family and me? Was that the right thing to say? Is that the kind of answer they’re looking for? Geez, I have so many I can’t even put them in order. I need help sorting this out in my head and I am entirely overwhelmed but I don’t want the lady to think I don’t care if I am too vague. Is it okay to breastfeed in here?

These are just some of the thoughts that ran through my head as a parent as I began the early intervention process with my, then, 8 month old. Some deep reflection led me to the following conclusion: From my team, I needed my priorities validated and valued so that I could begin to trust them and their input into our lives.

Building Rapport, Being Curious, and Cultivating Relationships

As service coordinators and providers, it is our job to give up control for the sake of building rapport and trust so that deeper and more meaningful impacts can be achieved during the entire early intervention journey. You might be thinking, But, I don’t control interactions! I help the family with guiding questions to get them to a point where both the clinical/developmental priorities and family priorities are aligned. We have all been there. It can be challenging to reconcile the priorities that are indicated through family and formal assessments with what the family is sharing as their priorities. However, a family’s priorities can and should be discussed informally, too, starting with the first contact you have with them.

To ponder: What barriers to active listening and getting the backstory have you experienced in your relationships and interactions with families?

How?

Be genuinely curious about families, their daily lives, and their backgrounds. Ask for the sake of truly learning, and not documenting. Repeat back what you hear them say often to check that you are understanding their meaning. Validate them when you sense uncertainty, stress, or when they share about topics that are clearly close to their hearts. Use your intuition. Ask open ended questions—not the kind that indicates you are checking off a list, but the kind you would ask when something someone has just said has genuinely sparked your interest. Once you have a truer understanding of where a person is coming from, you can begin to introduce how early intervention can help facilitate and highlight these priorities in the family’s life using the family’s everyday routines and priorities.

To ponder: How might these initial and ongoing interactions inform your practice as you continue to cultivate a relationship with the family throughout the EI process?

So, where does that leave us? For anyone, the first step to making changes is acknowledging that change would bring an added benefit to your quality of life. Seeking help, self-referring, taking a random number that the PCP handed them and calling, showing up to appointments, answering the phone to unknown numbers– these are all indications that a family is open to change. As providers and service coordinators, the most important part of our job is to cultivate relationships that are conducive to productive and meaningful change. We begin that cultivation that by simply listening— getting the backstory so that you can truly walk alongside the family as they continue developing the rest of their early intervention narrative.   

Share with us! What are your go-to questions/conversation-starters that you have in your toolbox to help you ease into this informal approach of getting the backstory?

Micaela is a former early intervention service coordinator and developmental services provider. She holds a master’s degree in Early Childhood and Family Development and her passion is helping families astound themselves with all they can achieve. She is, most importantly, the mother of a beautiful little boy. She and her family have been receiving the support and services of EI since her son was 7 months old. Micaela and her husband are excited to be welcoming a little girl into the world this spring. Through this blog series, Micaela hopes to merge the distinct perspectives of a parent, a service coordinator, and a provider into a unique cultivation of meaningful insight and conversation.

The post Get the Backstory: Validating and Valuing Family Input appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

Despite not being able to meet in person, tele-intervention (telehealth) has brought new opportunities to think about how we are talking about the child outcome summary process. Let’s be completely honest. Tele-intervention forces us to use good teaming practices because there cannot be any side conversations among professionals and everyone is only able to see and hear the same information. This helps us think outside of the box to ensure that all team members have the exact same information so caregivers can make the best decisions for their child.

After completing tele-assessments, I have experienced great success incorporating the caregivers in the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) discussion. The COS process summarizes a child’s functional development in three child outcome areas: positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships), acquire and use knowledge and skills (including early language/communication), and use of appropriate behaviors to meet their needs. The Decision Tree can be a helpful tool to facilitate the COS process.

All caregivers participate in the COS discussion using the Decision Tree. This includes deciding with the team which rating statement represents their child’s functioning compared to other kids of the same age. (Click here for more information about the Decision Tree and Virginia’s COS Process). Before even going through the process, it is most helpful to discuss who will facilitate the discussion with the caregiver and the rest of the team members. This includes sharing the screen to show the Decision Tree.   This can be the service coordinator or a provider. Here are 6 steps you can use throughout the process that I have found beneficial.

6 Steps for Engaging Caregivers during the COS Process

1. Explain the caregiver’s role as a team member.

This is an important step. Caregivers need to understand their role in the process and how they can participate. When they are unsure of what to do, they may be more reluctant to participate. Encourage their voices by involving them throughout process, giving thorough explanations, and asking open-ended questions to receive more in-depth answers.

2. Explain each outcome area and the use of the Decision Tree.

The second page of the Decision Tree shows the Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia Child Outcomes Summary handout. This handout was specifically designed to support the caregiver’s understanding of the process. It is helpful to send this handout to caregivers prior to the meeting and share the screen with the document pulled up while discussing and highlighting different outcome areas. This will also encourage caregivers’ participation when they fully understand what is being discussed and why.

3. Discuss each outcome area with individualized examples.

During the Assessment for Service Planning, the team discusses functional development within each outcome area based on parent report, observation, clinical opinion, etc. Functional child development focuses on what matters in the family’s daily life, showing how the child is engaging, initiating, and participating throughout their day. It has little meaning to a caregiver if a child can stack blocks, so a functional example would be, “During bath time, Sydney enjoys lining her plastic blocks on the bathtub ledge before knocking them off and laughing. Her mother commented Sydney enjoys playing this game the entire time.” Embedding functional information like this contributes rich examples to the Decision Tree discussion that help all team members understand the child’s abilities and needs. During the discussion, it is also helpful to share the screen to show each outcome area on the IFSP as it is discussed. Screen sharing gives the parent the opportunity to follow along.

4. Review typical functional development.

This is an important step and not to be missed. It truly helps each team member, including the caregiver, understand what is typical for the child’s age within that given child outcome area. This will help each team member understand whether or not the child has “age-expected” functional skills. Utilize your resources for typical development. This can include a combination of resources such as the Act Early Milestones, Functional Development, Age-Expected Snapshots of Development, etc. Again, sharing the screen to show this information and/or sending the info prior to the meeting is beneficial to all team members.

5. Use the Decision Tree discussing each question and prompt.

Again, sharing the screen and/or sending the Decision Tree to the family prior to the meeting can be really helpful. Screen sharing allows each team member (including the caregivers) to look at the same information and follow along accordingly. Ask each question out loud for each decision point. Pause for discussion or examples. When choosing between two items at the decision point, read it and reflect with the caregiver and other team members about specific examples to reach an agreement on the best possible choice. By this point, caregivers should feel empowered to help make the best decision based on the information given to them and understand the importance of their voice.

6. Decide as a team the best statement.

Everyone has a voice. Check in with each person to make sure everyone is in agreement including the caregiver. Discuss specific examples if there is a difference of opinion at any given point in time.

Please note: When I share my screen, I already have these resources pulled up and ready to share as they are discussed: Decision Tree and the Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia Child Outcomes Summary handout, the child’s IFSP, and information about typical functional development (See #4 above).

What are your top tips to engage families during the Child Outcome Summary Process?

How do you help facilitate the discussion?

Share your tips and ideas by leaving a comment below!

For more information about the COS process and the Decision Tree, check out these resources:

Decision Tree Tutorial

Virginia’s Child Outcomes Booklet: Team Engagement in the Child Outcomes Summary Process

The Decision Tree: A Tool for Teaming and Family Engagement – Parts I and II

ECTA COS Completion: When Teams Can’t Meet in Person

Extra! Extra! Read All About….Integrating the Decision Tree

Logan is Not a Number! – Explaining the Child Outcomes Process

COS Completion – When Teams Can’t Meet in Person

The post Successfully Engaging Caregivers in the Child Outcomes Summary Process Virtually appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

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!

The post Introducing Teleflections©: We Are All in This Together appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

Okay, when you read that title, maybe you were curious, wondering if you were going to learn about three new discoveries that will make your job easier. Or, maybe you did a quick eyeroll, thinking “Here we go, the next big ‘thing’ that I need to do.” Either way, I’m glad you’re here. While I’m not sure that these three interventions will make your job easier, I do think they can make your work more effective. No, these interventions aren’t new or the next big “thing,” but they are based on the evidence we have about what early interventionists do that has a positive impact on child and family outcomes – meaning child development is enhanced, children learn and participate in everyday activities, families understand how to help their children, and quality of life is improved. One of the key aspects of these three interventions is YOU – how you interact with families and what you do to support parent-child interaction. You are a key, so read on and learn what you can do on your next visit to have that positive impact.

Here we go. Interventions that:

1. Emphasize caregivers’ awareness and interpretation of their own actions,
2. Help caregivers identify and use everyday learning opportunities to enhance child development, and
3. Support caregivers’ responsiveness to their children

have been found to be most effective in positively impacting child outcomes (Dunst & Trivette, 2009; Mahoney, 2009; Swanson, Raab, & Dunst, 2011). That’s big stuff. In this post, I’ll tackle what the first intervention looks like in practice. I’ll discuss the other two interventions in Parts 2 and 3.

Emphasize Caregivers’ Awareness and Interpretation of their own Actions

When you implement this intervention, you go deeper than just modeling or teaching caregivers intervention strategies. You approach intervention from the perspective of expanding how the caregiver thinks about her (or his) capabilities, her impact on her child’s development, and the positive effects of her everyday interactions with her child. Some caregivers come to EI already embracing their influence as the parent, but many are in the vulnerable position of being a new parent or a parent of a child with strengths and needs that are different from what they expected or previously experienced with other children. Early intervention can be a new window through which to see a child’s potentialities, and we can open that window with how we approach the support we provide.

I truly believe that it’s not enough to tell families that “you are the expert on your child.” Those can be empty words if we don’t back them up with support that builds on what caregivers already know and do. We need to convey, through practice and intentional interactions, that the parent is just the right person to help her child grow and learn, she is enough, and what she does really matters. She may not have entered the program knowing how to stretch her child, how to prompt her child to increase vocabulary, how to teach her child to sign, or how to regulate herself so that her child learns to manage his emotions – and that’s all okay. We are there to teach, guide, and help the caregiver become aware of, embrace, and learn to interpret the link between her actions and her child’s behaviors, interactions, and learning. That’s a deeper level of engaging families, a level at the core of who a parent is. Full disclosure – I don’t think this is easy (often it’s not), but I completely believe that if we walk in the door of every visit with the perspective that we are there to look for opportunities to build the caregiver’s awareness of her own actions and help her learn to interpret that impact, what we do and how we do it changes – for the better.

What Does This LOOK LIKE in Practice?

Here are some strategies I’ve learned from EI practitioners in recent conference sessions where we talked about this intervention:

Use open-ended questions to help the caregiver reflect and think about what she (or he) is doing and why. Ex: What did you notice…? What did you see Jack do when you…? Why do you think that happened? 
What did you do differently that time? What could you do differently next time to help Jack learn to…?

Look for moments to build awareness and interpretation. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to point out those moments when the caregiver interacts with the child in ways that enhances development. Adult learners typically want to know if they are doing something “right” so reinforcing positive interactions helps caregivers know they are on the right track.

Provide specific feedback that points out what the caregiver did, what the child did, and the relationship between the two actions. Help the caregiver make the connection, then ask what she thinks about it. Ex: When you waited before helping Emma stand up, she reached up for the pack ‘n play bar to try to stand herself up. What did you think about that?

Use video recordings to build awareness and interpretation. Record the caregiver using a strategy with her child using her cell phone. Then, watch the video together and process it using reflection and feedback. Share what you notice and ask the caregiver about her observations and feelings. Problem-solve if the strategy or interaction can be tweaked to help the caregiver get closer to her goal for the child. You can also encourage the caregiver to record short videos between visits to watch together during the next visit. These videos can become joint plans and records of progress too, so their value (and the learning opportunity) expands beyond the reflection point that happens during your visit.

Now it’s your turn:

What strategies have you used to build caregivers’ awareness and ability to interpret their own actions? What did this look like on your last visit?

Share your ideas and examples in the comments below!

In Part 2, I’ll dig into the second intervention to explore how to help caregivers identify and use every day learning opportunities…and what to do when this is hard. In the meantime, pay attention to how you build awareness on your next visit. Use this series to help you celebrate when it goes well and problem-solve when you need help. Let’s learn together!

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 1 appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

We are nearing the end of our discussion on the levels of awareness of parents of young children with disabilities. We have explored the ostrich phase – a time when a parent has a lack of awareness about disabilities and may not recognize the characteristics of a disability displayed by their child. Additionally, we have examined the phase of special designation – the stage at which parents have, through some transformational experience, recognized that their child indeed has a disability, and will require some additional assistance form a service provider to maximize their personal potential.

Third Level of Awareness: Normalization

Today, we are going to explore and discuss a parent’s third level of awareness – Normalization. As the extremely proud mother of a pre-teen on the autism spectrum, who amazes me daily, I think of normalization as the “Hope Phase.” In this third phase of awareness, the parents minimize differences between their child and his or her typically developing classmates and siblings. They emphasize the need for normalization in their child’s life so that it begins to look like that of other children their age.

At first glance, the normalization phase may look like a step backward, given the fact that the parent fought for special services and accommodation during the previous stage, special designation. However, this attempt to “normalize” the child is simply a part of the process.

Imagine this.

A family is blessed with a child with disabilities. Then, the parents must face all that they don’t understand about their child’s disability and how to raise and care for a child with additional needs. Then, the parents must accept and recognize they need help in providing their child all that he needs to maximize his personal potential. Finally, they realize that having a child with a disability is not a short-term episode. Instead, this is their life, their new normal.

That’s a lot to process.

How does one begin to merge the values, beliefs, hopes and dreams of their family’s “old normal” with their family’s “new normal” of loving, raising, and caring for a child with disabilities?

Trust me. It takes a lot of faith and hope.

Faith and hope that one day your family will again achieve homeostasis and some semblance of smooth sailing or normalcy.

A Parent’s Theory of Hope

After living in the triage and fight modes indicative of the ostrich phase and special designation, things are beginning to calm down during the normalization phase. The parent is beginning to find her rhythm. She is beginning to visualize her version of the future for her child. She is beginning to think, “My child and our family just might be okay.” Therefore, in her mind hope develops – hope for her child and hope for her child’s future.

Now, she must have the faith to test her theory of hope.

The clearest example of this stage of hope was detailed to me during a discussion with service providers at one of my workshops in Atlanta, GA.

The preschool team and parents had worked together with a four-year-old who required some assistance to walk. The preschooler got a walker and had confidently learned how to maneuver about the school with her walker. However, for preschool graduation, her mom was adamant that her child was not to use the walker to walk across the stage. Instead, she wanted her daughter to walk across the stage with the assistance of a teacher.

The preschool team pushed back.

But the mom didn’t budge.

The preschool team saw this as denial.

But this was actually normalization.

One the greatest motivators of parents of young children with disabilities is hope. In that moment, that mother may have needed to see her child walk across the preschool stage with assistance, but without the walker, to envision her child walking across the stage for graduation from high school or college. Regardless of if you see the goal or hope as unrealistic, don’t squelch hope. That hope will power a parent forward long after your time with that family has expired.

How Can You Help?

If parents don’t have the faith to test hope, how can we expect them to keep working with their child to assist their child in maximizing his or her personal potential?

If parents don’t believe gaps can be minimized, what is there to motivate a parent to continue to advocate for inclusion and opportunities for his or her child with disabilities?

During the normalization phase, parents are strengthening their advocacy and cheerleading voices for their child and their families. You can help with this. How? Simply give a parent a small win that will offer huge motivation. If, as a team, you try it and it doesn’t work yet, at least you have shown the parents that you listened to their hopes for the child and you support and encourage the family and their goals for the child’s future.

I cannot say it enough. Hope is the single greatest motivator for a parent’s continued work with his or her child with disabilities. Hope gets us up in the morning. Hope propels us to try new things with our children. While “normalization” is the word that is used, my interpretation of this phase is the onset of hope for quality of life and well-being for my child with disabilities in a world where he is in a marginalized population. And because of my faith to test my hope, my child AMAZES me daily!

Have you ever encountered parents who had, what you would consider, unrealistic developmental goals for their child with disabilities?

Given the new information you have about the normalization phase, how would give that parent reliable information about the characteristics of the child’s disability while nurturing parental hope?

Check out El’s archived webinar: Mama Bear: Using Parent Narratives and Experience to Improve Engagement Practices

Be sure to read the other posts in this series:

Emerging Parenthood: Trust the Process – Don’t Rush the Process

Levels of Awareness: The Ostrich Phase

Special Designation: The Parent’s Aha Moment

Self-Actualization: Hello, I am the Parent of a Child with Disabilities

El is an educator, entrepreneur, author, and PhD candidate specializing in Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Special Education at George Mason University. Prior to leaving the traditional classroom, El served as an Elementary and Early Childhood Educator in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. She is the founder of KinderJam, an Early Childhood Education care, enrichment, and training agency. Above all, El is the proud mother of an 11-year-old son on the autism spectrum, affectionately known as SuperDuperKid (SDK). El can be reached at elbrown@kinderjam.com.

The post Normalization – The Hope Phase appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

Have you heard the news? Assessment teams all over Virginia are integrating the Decision Tree (PDF, New Window) into practice (Drum Roll Please). The Decision Tree is a tool used for teaming and family engagement during the child outcomes summary process.

Let’s imagine that a team from Collaboration County is successfully using the Decision Tree. What might this look like? Keep reading to find out.

Let me introduce you to the team as we check in with them prior to, during, and after their assessment for service planning (ASP).

Margaret – Local System Manager (LSM)
Khadijah – Service Coordinator (SC)
Anika – Speech Therapist (ST)
Charles – Educator (Ed)
Parent – Marisol (Tyler’s Mother)

Before reading about this team’s example below, print the Key Tips handout (PDF, New Window). Highlight the tips you see as the team implements the Decision Tree.

Prior to the ASP

At the staff meeting, Margaret (LSM) introduced the new Decision Tree to the team and handed them a copy. She helped the team familiarize themselves with the Decision Tree by facilitating a discussion using a scenario-based Learning Byte (PDF, New Window). Margaret divided the team into pairs.

Khadijah (SC) practiced facilitating the discussion on Social/Emotional Skills, including social relationships with Anika (ST). Khadijah explained what is expected in this area for a 28 month old child. She discussed some specific examples when prompted on the Decision Tree. Khadijah asked Anika for additional input. Khadijah did not feel comfortable at first, but began to feel more familiar with the flow of the Decision Tree. Anika (ST) took a turn and practiced as well. Anika and Khadijah quickly realized the importance of gathering information about a child’s development and participation across all settings and situations in order to be successful implementing the Decision Tree.

Margaret (LSM) reflected with her staff on the activity and provided time to ask questions and support each other through this process. Everyone loves how the Decision Tree engages the caregiver as an integral member of the team.

After the meeting, Khadijah (SC), Anika (ST), and Charles (Ed) discussed who would facilitate the child outcomes summary discussion at their next assessment with Tyler and his family. Khadijah (SC) agreed with her team to facilitate the discussion.

During the Meeting

During the assessment for service planning, Charles (Ed) helped to ensure team members asked a variety of open-ended questions that included how the child participated throughout several settings and routines. When it was time to discuss the three outcome areas, Khadijah (SC) showed Marisol, Tyler’s mom, the handout on the Infant & Toddler Connection of Virginia Child Outcomes Summary Process as she explained what the three child outcomes entail. Anika (ST) noticed Marisol’s eyebrows furrowed. She asked Tyler’s mom, “What questions do you have for us?” After answering questions, Khadijah continued to facilitate the discussion in each child outcome area. Anika (ST) and Charles (Ed) each provided specific examples of the child’s strengths and areas of growth. Marisol added individualized examples of Tyler’s functional skills within different routines like waking up and going to the grocery store.

During the discussion, Tyler began to cry and Marisol stated he was probably hungry. Khadijah (SC) asked Marisol if she would like to move the meeting to the kitchen while Tyler ate a snack. Marisol agreed this would be best before continuing to help her focus on the discussion. Khadijah (SC) showed the team the Decision Tree to thoughtfully reflect on each question. Marisol contributed specific examples of Tyler’s abilities and activities along with Anika (ST) and Charles (Ed) until they agreed on a statement to describe Tyler’s functional behaviors compared to his same aged peers.

After the Meeting

Khadijah, Anika, and Charles left the home and met back up at a coffee shop. They reflected on what went well. They agreed each of them provide a different perspective and supported to the family throughout. Changing rooms to finish the discussion helped satisfy Tyler when he was hungry and engage Marisol in the discussion. Team members provided support to each other throughout the process.

Khadijah, Anika, and Charles identified ways they could grow as a team. Khadijah (SC) reflects that her explanation to Marisol on the child outcomes summary process could have been more detailed to help Marisol understand and feel comfortable participating. Charles (Ed) wants to write down examples within routines and settings so he does not forget as they discuss each area. Anika (ST) showed Charles the tool she utilizes called the Assessment for Service Planning Notes Template. Anika (ST) wants to practice asking more open-ended questions around routines.

At the next staff meeting, Margaret (LSM) reflected with her staff on how implementation of the Decision Tree was going. It was a rich discussion filled with what has been going well and how her staff would like to improve.

You heard it here first folks. The Collaboration County team is engaging families and utilizing strong teaming and collaboration throughout the child outcomes summary process.

How do you implement the Decision Tree in your locality?

What ways do you enhance your teaming process?

What strategies do you use to engage the family in the child outcomes summary process?

The post Extra! Extra! Read All About…Integrating the Decision Tree appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

You know the feeling…wishing you could speak the family’s language so you can build that strong relationship that’s so important in early intervention (EI). It can be challenging to coach a family when you have a language barrier, but a good interpreter can help you overcome that challenge. I recently met a new colleague with a background in language interpretation who told me that a sign of a good interpreter is when he/she is “invisible.” This really made an impression on me because when you think about it, the interpreter offers a bridge for communication and in his/her role, is invisible as an outside contributor to the interaction. The interpreter should be sure that the people on either side of the bridge fully understand each other without adding extraneous information or taking over the interaction. Understandably, that must be hard for the interpreter, but remaining that invisible bridge is important so that he/she doesn’t actually end up being a roadblock in the relationship-building between the family and the interventionist.

VIDEO: Collaborating with Language Interpreters – Information for Home Visitors

Take 5 minutes and watch this video:

One of my favorite phrases from this video is: Add nothing, omit nothing, change nothing. I like this phrase because I think this is what early interventionists want. We want to know exactly what the parent said and we want the parent to know exactly what we said. Yes, the actual words interpreted may change to ensure the meaning is conveyed, but that’s okay. It is when information is added, omitted, or changed that the relationship is affected. Here are some of the other key take-aways from the video that can have a positive effect on building the interventionist-parent relationship:

Speak with the interpreter before the visit – Get to know each other and explain what will happen on the visit. Review the purpose of the meeting and roles during the meeting. Share any guidelines from your program for how to work together.

Allow for additional time – Be patient and plan ahead so you have enough time for the extra communication involved.

Sit in a triangle – You should face the parent, and the interpreter should sit so he/she can see and speak with both you and the parent.

Always look at and speak directly to the parent – This is often the hardest one for interventionists. It can feel a bit awkward, but you should be sure to look at the parent when you speak to him/her. Remember the invisible bridge. If you speak and look directly at the interpreter, he/she is no longer invisible.

Keep it short and remember to pause – This one is also hard because shortening your sentences and remembering to pause may not be how you normally talk. It can take some getting used to and requires a mindful approach to communication, but makes it easier for the interpreter to accurately share everything you say.

Collaborating with the interpreter as an invisible bridge takes its own relationship-building, between you and the interpreter. Once that relationship is established, you will have a wonderful resource and partner who is essential in helping you help families.

What strategies do you use to build relationships with families when collaborating with a language interpreter? 

What are your thoughts on the idea of the interpreter being an invisible bridge?

Share your comments below!

For information you can share with interpreters, visit the VEIPD Cultural Competence topic page and look under the Handouts/Documents tab for links to Resources for Interpreters Working in Early Intervention (EITP, University of Illinois).

The post An Invisible Bridge – Collaborating with Language Interpreters appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

In our previous discussion about the levels of awareness for parents of young children with disabilities, we explored the ostrich phase – a time when a parent has a lack of awareness about disabilities and may not recognize the characteristics of a disability displayed by their child.

Today, we are going to explore and discuss a parent’s second level of awareness – Special Designation. As a parent of a child with disabilities, I like to think of Special Designation as the “Aha Phase.” In this second stage of awareness, parents have, through some transformational experience, recognized that their child indeed has a disability and will require additional assistance from a service provider to maximize his or her personal potential. This transformational experience may come in the form of a quiet realization. Or, a question is asked by a teacher, trusted friend, or family member, such as, “Johnny isn’t talking yet. What do you think about that?”

During this phase, the parent may begin seeking guidance from service providers. “Sally is not walking yet and she is almost two. Her sister started walking before she was one. I’m worried. What should I do?” The parent’s rationale during Special Designation is if there is a “problem” with my child’s development, then surely there are professionals who can fix this problem. At this time in the parent’s journey, the parent is looking for support from a more knowledgeable other in the area of disabilities.

That more knowledgeable other is you.

My Experience in Special Designation

Let me share with you my own experience in Special Designation as a new parent of a child with disabilities.

In 2008, I found myself home alone with my 17-month son. My husband was deployed to Iraq and I busied myself caring for our son in his absence. Early during the deployment, I had experienced what would be my third and final miscarriage. After the miscarriage, I chose to stay home with my baby and try to process the sorrow I was feeling. Therefore, I didn’t engage with friends and neighbors for playdates and outings. My son and I had always been extremely social. Since he was four weeks old, we attended Parent and Me classes, enjoyed daily outings with friends, and went on weekend excursions with Dad. Language was all around us. People were always talking. I was always talking. I was always narrating for him. So, in my mind, he was talking, too. We had an intuitive language, Therefore, without realizing it, I compensated for the words my son never spoke.

However, with the absence of people and talking around us, I began to notice something that I had not fully acknowledged before. My son wasn’t talking. If I wasn’t talking, there was complete silence. There was absolutely no conversation in the house. None at all. I talked, and my baby listened, at least I thought he was listening. But I knew for certain, he wasn’t making any attempts to speak to me. This was my single greatest “Aha” moment as a parent of child with disabilities and the catalyst for action.

Unsure of what to do or how I felt about my son’s lack of language, I made an appointment with my son’s pediatrician. When I took him to the doctor, I said, “My son’s not speaking. He has a couple of words that he says, like ‘hi,’ ‘bye,’ and ‘touchdown,’ but he’s not making any attempts to communicate with me.” The pediatrician examined my son—healthy eyes, ears, and heart. The pediatrician then said to me, “Children develop at different rates. Just keep doing what you’re doing, mom—you’re doing a great job.” Then he gave us a sticker.

I was devastated. Do you know how much strength it took for me to make that appointment, ask for help, and say out loud to someone that I think there is something going on with my child that I don’t know how to fix?

A lot.

Fortunately, I had the skill set and agency to advocate for my son and his needs immediately and I didn’t stop until I found service providers who could best support my child and his needs.

What You Can Do

However, parents come to service providers from different pathways. It is essential as service providers take the time to listen to parents so that every parent has the opportunity to share the details of their concerns. And while a disability cannot be “fixed”, you can assure parents that you are here to walk with them through this journey and together you, with the family’s input, will figure out a way forward.

Special Designation is a step forward as the parent is actively looking for help. Consequently, this phase requires patience and a listening ear from service providers as the parent processes the realization that their most precious child has a disability. Special Designation is a turning point that parents reach before the family begins to establish their “new normal” as a family of a child with disabilities.

As an early interventionist, you are in an opportune position to work with parents during the Special Designation phase as you empower and equip parents with useful skills and strategies that will enable them to best assist the continued development of their young child with disabilities.

Have you ever encountered a parent who had the expectation for you to “fix” their child?

Given the new knowledge you have about Special Designation, how would you respond to that parent now?

Be sure to read the other posts in this series:

Emerging Parenthood: Trust the Process – Don’t Rush the Process

Levels of Awareness: The Ostrich Phase

Normalization – The Hope Phase

Self-Actualization: Hello, I am the Parent of a Child with Disabilities

Check out El’s archived webinar too: Mama Bear: Using Parent Narratives and Experience to Improve Engagement Practices

El is an educator, entrepreneur, author, and PhD student specializing in Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Special Education at George Mason University. Prior to leaving the traditional classroom, El served as an Elementary and Early Childhood Educator in the United States, Japan, and South Korea. She is the founder of KinderJam, an Early Childhood Education care, enrichment, and training agency. Above all, El is the proud mother of an 11-year-old son on the autism spectrum, affectionately known as SuperDuperKid (SDK). El can be reached at elbrown@kinderjam.com

The post Special Designation: A Parent’s Aha Moment appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

Maybe you’ve felt this before…you are on a visit and it’s the parent’s turn to practice using an intervention strategy. Perhaps you just modeled it, or you and the parent came up with an idea and want to give it a try. When you ask the parent if she’d like to try it, she averts her gaze and answers “I guess so,” with an uncomfortable look on her face. Perhaps when the parent tries to engage her child, you sense her discomfort then too. In turn, you feel uncomfortable and wonder…what do I do?

Early intervention is all about building a parent’s capacity to facilitate her child’s development. In the best case scenario, the parent is eager to learn, confident with engaging her child, and interested in trying new things. In the worst case scenario, the parent doesn’t even want you in the home. In reality, most parents are somewhere in between, on a looooong continuum of parent-child engagement, comfort level, interest and readiness.

5 Strategies for Responding to Discomfort

As an early interventionist, you work hard to build rapport and trust and get to know the family in a way that lays the foundation for how you’ll work together. Again, that’s easier sometimes than others. A key aspect of getting to know families really involves being responsive – responsive to their needs, interests, priorities, and feelings. Responsivity is a critical skill to use in the situation described above.

Here are 5 responsive strategies to help you manage discomfort:

Acknowledge what you sense – Ask the parent how she feels as soon as you sense discomfort. Be specific: “I’m wondering if you’re feeling a little uncomfortable?” or “How do you feel about using that strategy?” You could be wrong about what you sense, but you won’t know until you ask. Let her know that how she feels is okay and that she can decide whether or not to proceed – give her the choice.

Ask her how that felt – After trying the strategy, check in again. Be specific: “How comfortable are you with that strategy? How did that feel? What did you think about that?” Be responsive to her answer and make it safe for her to be honest. Don’t insist on using a strategy just because you think it’s a good one. If a parent feels uncomfortable, she’s less likely to use that strategy when you aren’t there.

Ask if she would like to do something differently – Invite the parent’s input and problem-solve together. Maybe she has an idea of how to tweak the strategy or situation to make it easier or more comfortable. Flexibility is a hallmark of good early intervention.

Try to build on what she and her child already do – Before even introducing a new strategy, find out what they already do or have already tried. Observe the parent and child first doing what they naturally do. Model the strategy first, if that helps the parent. Brainstorm how the strategy might be used during the activity, then coach the parent in how to use it during a familiar interaction. Seize the opportunities as they happen and be sure to provide feedback when the parent uses the strategy successfully. Remember your role as a facilitator of the parent’s learning too.

Step back, reassess, and consider options – Sometimes you and the parent have to try a strategy to figure out it’s not the right one. Use the conversation to help you reassess whether or not the strategy is appropriate for the child, parent, and situation. If it is and the parent is okay, then proceed. If not, step back and reassess. There is always another route to the outcome so be open to it.

How Much Discomfort is Okay?

Now, this raises the question of how much discomfort is acceptable? To me, the answer lies in your conversations with families. EI can push parents out of their comfort zone as they learn to use new strategies with their children. It can be uncomfortable to try something new with an unpredictable toddler in front of someone who is perceived as having expertise. The trick here is to have the courage to acknowledge the discomfort and talk about it so you and the parent can figure out what to do next. Options might include tweaking the strategy, modeling it again for the parent, trying it again a few times, letting the parent try it between visits on her own, or simply ditching the strategy all together…and all of these options are okay. Being responsive to what the parent is feeling will help you know what to do next.

What do you do when a parent seems uncomfortable? 

Share your experiences and strategies in the comments below!

The post The Parent Seems Uncomfortable…What Do You Do? appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.