{"id":2257,"date":"2014-11-13T12:43:17","date_gmt":"2014-11-13T12:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/veipd.org\/earlyintervention\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2020-11-05T19:53:44","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T19:53:44","slug":"preaching-to-the-choir-about-early-screening-resources-spread-the-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.veipd.org\/earlyintervention\/2014\/11\/13\/preaching-to-the-choir-about-early-screening-resources-spread-the-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching to the Choir about Early Screening Resources – Spread the Word!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet Chris<\/strong> – He\u00a0and his family\u00a0have moved 7 times since he was born and are now staying with friends. Chris was referred to your program by his mother at the suggestion of her friend’s mom. The referral said that Chris was 29 months old and not walking. When you arrive for the screening, you see that Chris’s legs are scissoring and he’s experiencing high muscle tone. Turns out that Chris hasn’t been to a doctor since he was 5 months old and living in another state.<\/p>\n

Meet Aliyah<\/strong> – Aliyah was taken to the doctor regularly but saw a different medical professional each time, rotating through whoever was available. She is 33 months old and is using mostly “ah” sounds to mean many things. She makes great eye contact and is very social and very bright. Recently, her child care provider\u00a0completed a screening at her mother’s request, which resulted in a referral to EI. Her mother was frustrated because she’s been worried for a while. Because Aliyah is so social and “so smart,” she’d been repeatedly told by many people that Aliyah would eventually talk so to just wait a little longer…<\/p>\n

Sigh…Why’d It Take So Long to Find Chris and Aliyah?\"Choir<\/h2>\n

Okay, I know I’m preaching to the choir. We’re early interventionists…early screening and identification are what we DO. Yes, we know all about it, but do others? I think an important job of every early interventionist is to help spread the word about the importance of early screening to our community partners. We want our choir to grow to include more home visiting program staff, medical partners, child care providers, social services folks, and of course families!<\/p>\n

The reality is that no early identification system is perfect. There are so many variables that influence whether or not a child is identified early and appropriately referred for evaluation. Family preferences or instability, screener error, the “wait and see” approach, follow-through after the referral is made (by the family and the receiving program) – so many cracks in the system. We can’t fix all of the cracks but we can do our best to be sure that the information is available to those who are helping us find children who may benefit from early intervention.<\/p>\n

Spread the Word about these Early Identification Resources!<\/h2>\n

Rather than going on about the importance of finding children and families early, I thought I’d highlight some wonderful resources. Check out these links and please, share them with your community partners!<\/p>\n

Birth to 5: Watch Me Thrive<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0– A federal effort to support\u00a0families and providers in celebrating milestones, accessing universal developmental and behavioral screenings, increasing early identification of delays and concerns, and enhancing developmental supports.<\/p>\n

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Resources<\/a><\/strong> – The CDC website has a plethora (love that word!) of resources for early developmental screening, too many to list, really. Check out these pages for a start:<\/p>\n