I have a confession…I don’t actually think we should spend so much time talking with families about their ![\"Toddler](\"https:\/\/www.veipd.org\/earlyintervention\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/11263316893-150x150.jpg\")
concerns. I think we should ask once, so that we have it for Section II of the IFSP, then leave it alone. Instead, I think we should focus much more on the family’s priority for their child’s development. Concerns and priorities are not the same thing, and the difference matters.<\/p>\n
Concerns are often similar from family to family. Think about the many, many toddlers who are referred to early intervention who are not talking. In fact, most of the children we see are not talking as an age-appropriate level. When you ask their parents what they are concerned about, they are likely to say something like, “He’s not talking like other kids his age.” This is a very common, very real concern. Same with children who are late walkers. These concerns are very important because they are what drive a parent to EI, and they are what keep a parent up at night, worrying about her child. We must acknowledge these concerns, and record them on the IFSP, then dig deeper to find out about priorities.<\/p>\n
Turning to priorities reframes the discussion to become more individualized, more positive, and more functional. Priorities are the answers to questions like “What would it look like to you if she was able to talk more?” or “How would your day or your child’s day be easier if she could say more words?” Priorities are descriptions of what life would be like for a child and family if things got better. Priorities reflect the family’s vision for the child’s development. Priorities are the foundation for individualized, functional IFSP outcomes.<\/p>\n
It’s really, really hard to write a good IFSP outcome based on concerns alone. When we focus on concerns, we get outcomes that are “cookie-cutter.” You can substitute any child’s name in the body of an outcome like this: Noah\u00a0will use words to express his wants and needs<\/em>. All toddlers need to be able to do that – it’s not an individualized outcome. If you focus on priorities for Noah\u00a0and his family, you’ll find out that life would be grand if Noah could say words to label toys and activities he likes to do when he plays with his siblings after school. Noah loves to play with his blue\u00a0ball in the back yard, play in the toy kitchen with his sisters, and look at books with his dad. By digging into priorities for Noah and hus family, we learn about how the family works and what’s important to them. This rich information is where you glean what you need to know to write a good outcome. Here’s an example:<\/p>\n Noah will use 50 words to label his favorite toys (ball, cup, book, doggie) and activities (play, outside, kitchen, dinner, books) when playing with his siblings each afternoon after school for two weeks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This outcome is individualized to what Noah likes to say and do, includes a context that happens frequently\u00a0in his home, and includes a measurable criteria that the family can keep track of. If the professionals on Noah’s IFSP team had only focused on his family’s concerns, then they would have missed out on what they really needed to know to ensure that the IFSP\u00a0was meaningful to Noah’s family. This is important because the IFSP outcomes guide service delivery, and meaningful services are based on what’s important to the family – their priorities for their child.<\/p>\n What do your teams typically focus on – concerns or priorities? <\/strong><\/p>\n What challenges do you face with finding out about family priorities?<\/strong><\/p>\n How do you guide the conversation to dig deeper into what’s important to families when writing IFSP outcomes?<\/strong><\/p>\n Share your comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have a confession…I don’t actually think we should spend so much time talking with families about their concerns. I think we should ask once, so that we have it for Section II of the IFSP, then leave it alone. Instead, I think we should focus much more on the family’s priority for their child’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[139,11,14,16],"tags":[38,43,48,50,58,59,64,84,87,104,125],"class_list":["post-2885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all","category-ifsp-development","category-practical-strategies-for-intervention","category-service-coordination","tag-communication-development","tag-daily-routines","tag-early-childhood","tag-early-intervention","tag-families","tag-family-centered-practices","tag-ifsp","tag-outcomes","tag-parents","tag-service-coordination-2","tag-toddlers","clearfix"],"yoast_head":"\n