Here’s the question: Whoever, in a million years, thought we’d be doing developmental assessments using video conferencing??

Really, when you think about that, it’s equally unnerving and amazing. Unnerving because it can seem like a completely new way of gathering information about a child’s development without even being physically present with the child. Amazing because you are doing it, and from what I hear, doing it well.

Worries and Successes

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing more and more about tele-assessment, with practitioners sharing common worries like: How will I collect the information I need to score my tool? How will we get the toddler to stay where we can see him? What if the technology doesn’t work? These are very real worries, but the great news is that there are programs out there who are figuring this out. After the initial stress response that came with the shift to tele-intervention due to the pandemic, EI practitioners are settling in and finding answers to these questions. I’ve also begun to hear some amazing successes, such as families who are realizing that they can do this, they know their children so well, and they are valued, essential team members who can facilitate activities while the other team members (aka you) observe and share support.

New Resource Alert! – EI Tele-Assessment Video Chats

To get those successful strategies for tele-assessment out there, I recently hosted two video chats with practitioners and leaders from around Virginia. Each chat is between 35-40 min long and includes five different practitioners discussing how to prepare families and other team members, what tele-assessment looks like, and advice for others who are on tele-assessment teams. Block some time in your schedule to sit back and listen. I’m pretty sure you’ll learn something and hopefully feel like you are not alone in your tele-assessment learning process.

A special thank you to the EI practitioners who participated in this chat: Lauren Bernhard, Speech-Language Pathologist and Jen Saddington, Physical Therapist (Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church), Sandi Harrington, Local System Manager and Educator (ITC of of Norfolk), Ginny Heuple, Local System Manager and Physical Therapist (ITC of Greater Prince William), and Maria Grady, Physical Therapist and Service Coordinator (ITC of Loudon).

Another huge thank you to the following EI practitioners who participated in this chat: Brandie Kendrick, Service Coordinator, Human Development Professional, and Intake Coordinator (Infant & Toddler Connection of Danville-Pittsylvania), Kathy Phillips, Local System Manager and Developmental Service Provider and Erica Price, Speech-Language Pathologist (ITC of Middle Peninsula-Northern Neck), Stacie Jackson, Local System Manager and Service Coordinator and Kim Sprangel, Service Coordinator and Developmental Service Provider (ITC of Staunton-Waynesboro).

Strategies for Tele-Assessment

Just to get you started, here are a few strategies mentioned in the video chats:

Be sure to do a quick tech check and planning session before the actual tele-assessment – Meet with the family for 10-15 minutes a few days before the tele-assessment to test your technology, help the family connect, and plan together about where to position the device for the best view. Explain what to expect and talk with the family about any routines they might like the assessment team members to observe.

Let go of your stress about the test and toys – This is such an important tip. Acknowledge the fact that you will not have your assessment kit with you and you will not be able to observe every item on the test – and that is okay. Right now, you will use your coaching skills to help the parent facilitate activities that help you see what you need to see. Yes, you do still need to gather information to summarize the child’s developmental strengths and needs, but look at this situation as an opportunity to grow your assessment skills. Sure, you might provide the family with some ideas of items to have handy if possible (please don’t ask for 1-inch blocks!), but be ready to be flexible and…(see next tip)

Use your knowledge of development and informed clinical opinion to help you observe the child’s abilities during natural activities – Think creatively and consider how you can observe the same concepts and abilities in natural activities. Don’t have the tiny pegs and the bottle? That’s okay – ask to see the child pick up cheerios and drop them in a small cup or toilet paper tube. Be sure to watch the video chats for some great discussion about this!

Look through a functional lens – This is a perfect opportunity to practice translating assessment items into their functional equivalents. Pay attention and observe the child, even in the background while you chat with the parent. Ask about what goes well and what’s challenging. How children interact with others in their environment is as important as any item on the ELAP. Now’s the time when you will really be able to appreciate that so be open and get your functional lens ready.

Do the best you can – In most cases, you will be able to learn enough about the child and family to plan for the IFSP. Do your best, follow-up if you need additional information, and lean on your colleagues for ideas and support. You’ve got this!

Ready to keep learning? Watch the video chats for more strategies from your colleagues!

What’s one of your best tips for conducting tele-assessment?

Have an example of a tele-assessment that went well? Share it in the comments below!

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

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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

The post 7 Technology Tips for Tele-Intervention appeared first on Early Intervention Strategies for Success.

Ever been in a home visit with a parent who is simultaneously using his/her phone while discussing the child with you? There are lots of ways that phones and screen time show up during visits. For instance, parents hand their child a phone to keep him quiet or distract other children in the home. Parents may pull out their phones to take down notes about interventions or the next appointment. They show us videos and pictures of exciting progress in milestones, or to ask a question about something going on with their child.

Cell phones and all other forms of screens are such a huge part of life today, including children’s lives starting as early as infancy and toddlerhood. As service coordinators and providers, we can choose to resist or ignore these changes, and feel frustrated with how they impact early intervention outcomes. OR, we can step up to the challenge of employing phones and technology as tools in our interventions and interactions with families.

AAP Screen Time Recommendations

The American Academy of Pediatrics has made a formal statement of recommendations for use of technology for children of all ages in their Media and Young Minds Policy (2016). Some specific advice for ages 0-3 includes:

• For children younger than 18 months, discourage the use of screen media other than video-chatting.
• For parents of children 18 to 24 months of age who want to introduce digital media, advise that they choose high-quality programming/apps and use them together with children, because this is how toddlers learn best. Letting children use media by themselves should be avoided.
• In children older than 2 years, limit media to 1 hour or less per day of high-quality programming. Recommend shared use between parent and child to promote enhanced learning, greater interaction, and limit setting.
• Recommend no screens during meals and for 1 hour before bedtime.

Parents often express guilt to providers over undesirable screen time issues with their child, and look to us for support. Advice from author, Lisa Guernsey, recommends that families and early childhood professionals consider the “Three C’s” when determining when and how to use various technologies: content, context and the individual child. Together with families, we can consider the following questions to begin supporting them in implementing the AAP’s recommendations, while keeping technology as a tool on our side.

• We can ask how does the content help children learn, engage, express, imagine, or explore?
• What kinds of social interactions are happening before, during, and after the use of the technology? Does it complement, and not interrupt, children’s learning experiences and natural play patterns?
• Does this technology match with this child’s needs, abilities, interests, and development stage? (Guiding Principles for Use of Technology with Early Learners, 2016)

7 Ways to Support Families and Outcomes Using Technology

Once we’ve evaluated the values of technology per each child’s situation, we can consider employing some of the following strategies for intervention and improvement.

1. Parents can use video chats as a new and exciting way for children to use their language and imitation skills with a variety of people.
2. Show parents how they can engage in an app or screen time activity together with their child to promote quality interactions.
3. At the end of a visit, encourage parents to set a reminder alert in their phone to practice certain strategies or focus on a specific interaction with their child.
4. Recommend apps that educate and support parents in understanding child development, such as: CDC’s Milestone Tracker, VROOM, and HelloJoey.
5. Educate parents about how to evaluate apps/programs for developmental appropriateness.
6. Coach parents in setting boundaries with screen time and managing challenging behaviors that may arise from this. Help them determine specific “screen free” routines throughout the day.
7. Remind parents that no “educational” technology or program is better for their child’s development than regularly engaging in interaction, exploration, and play everyday!

Share your thoughts and experiences below by leaving a comment:

How have you seen screens and technology impacting Early Intervention visits?

Have families ever asked for advice about apps or programs to help their child? How do you or would you respond?

Please share any great technology resources that you have found in the comments too!

References

Guiding Principles for Use of Technology with Early Learners. (2016). Retrieved from https://tech.ed.gov/earlylearning/principles/.

Radesky, J., and Christakis, D. (2016). Media and young minds. Journal of the Academy of Pediatrics, 138(5), doi:10.1542/peds.2016-2591.

Rachel Todd lives in Northern Utah and has worked as a Service Coordinator for the Up to 3 Early Intervention Program since 2017. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Family, Consumer, and Human Development emphasizing in child development and worked with families in Early Head Start programs before joining EI. She is also a graduate student in the Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences program at Utah State University and loves professional development of all forms. Rachel and her husband have a one-year-old son and a spoiled fur baby and love to get outside in the mountains together every chance they get! You can reach Rachel at
rachel.todd@usu.edu

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