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Early Intervention Services For Children and Families

Introduction to Exceptionalities 09.13.10

Early Intervention video clips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Aphe4NC2OU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-wOUyglDWU&feature=related

Early Intervention: Introduction

•  Services mandated by Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for families of children with disabilities or developmental delays, ages birth to 3 years

• PL 99-457: Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments (1986) ▫  Services for preschool children AND ▫  Services for infants and toddlers ▫  Emphasis on FAMILIES

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Early Intervention: Introduction

•  a major goal of early intervention is "to enhance the capacity of families to meet the special needs of their infants and toddlers with disabilities” (Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-457, 100 Stat. 1145) ▫  Enhance child development ▫  Support parental caregiving

The Developmental Specialist

•  Service provider of early intervention • May also be called the following (varies by state) ▫  Early interventionist ▫  Early intervention specialist ▫  Developmental interventionist

The Developmental Specialist

What makes our role unique?

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Developmental Specialists wear many hats…

The “Counselor” Hat

The “Traveler” Hat

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The “Team Player” Hat

The “Teacher” Hat

The “Computer Whiz” Hat

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The “Cheerleader” Hat

As you can see, Early Intervention is…

a balancing act!

Eligibility

• How does a family get started in early intervention services?

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The “Counselor”

Eligibility • All referrals come through Help Me Grow • A HMG service coordinator is assigned to the

family •  Service coordinator meets with family to gain

consent for screening and services, & to discuss needs and concerns

•  Service coordinator and the family discuss options for programming that will be most appropriate for the child and family

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Eligibility

•  Specific medical diagnosis that is known to cause developmental delays (e.g. Down Syndrome)

OR •  Service coordinator makes a referral for the child

to be evaluated by the county board of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS)

•  If the child is determined eligible by having a delay in any one area of development, the referral is made to Early Intervention

Populations of children served in early intervention • Global developmental delay • Developmental delay in any area of development

(e.g. language/communication) •  Specific diagnoses that cause a delay or disability •  Prematurity

Etc…

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Services

• Home-based • Center-based • Community-based

The “Traveler”

(going on a home visit)

Intervention Planning

• Gathering information about the child and the family’s resources, concerns, priorities, and needs ▫  Child Information:   Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI)  Hawaii Early Learning Profile (HELP)   Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System

(AEPS) ▫  Family Information:   Routines-Based Interview (RBI)

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Intervention Planning

•  Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) ▫  A written plan mandated by PL 99-457

The IFSP

•  In contrast to the Individualized Education Program (IEP) ▫  The IFSP contains information on family

strengths, resources, concerns, and priorities, and ▫  Outcomes for the child and family

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The “Team Player”

Developing goals/outcomes with families on the IFSP •  The IFSP is developed in collaboration with ▫  the family, ▫  the Help Me Grow service coordinator, ▫  the early intervention provider

Developing goals/outcomes with families on the IFSP •  Family goal: What do I/we want to happen

in the next 6 months? (Outcome statement)

• What is happening now? (present levels of development)

• What supports and resources do I have?

• Strategies (individualized, routines-based)

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Intervention Strategies

• Guidelines for intervention planning: ▫  Increase child’s learning opportunities throughout the

day and across different settings ▫  Use the child’s surroundings to facilitate learning:

home, community settings ▫  Focus on real-life, day to day, functional goals ▫  Find out specific reinforcers that best support the

child’s learning; how does the child learn?

Individual Schedule for Routines-Based Intervention

The “Teacher”

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Program Models

• Responsive Teaching: parent-mediated intervention curriculum

•  Parents Interacting With Infants (PIWI) •  Parents as Teachers (PAT) •  Family-Guided Routines-Based Intervention

Classroom/Center-Based Services

Embedding individual goals into classroom activities

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The “Computer Whiz”

… for documentation of progress

Documentation of Progress •  At IFSP update/review every 6 months: Was goal

met? Partially met? Not met? •  Anecdotal records for each child, for each session

attended •  Ongoing assessment •  Re-visit the Routines-Based Interview (RBI) ▫  “Has anything changed in your routines?” ▫  “Are you more satisfied with x routine since our

last update?”

Outcomes of early intervention

• Child development outcomes ▫  Among low-income families, long-term positive effects of a

birth to 5 program were maintained until age 12, in the areas of intellectual development and academic achievement (Campbell & Ramey, 1994)

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Outcomes of Early Intervention •  Family outcomes

•  The mother’s level of responsiveness was positively associated with children’s developmental outcomes (Mahoney et al., 1998)

•  Programs that targeted efforts towards supporting children and families together were most effective (Shonkoff & Hauser-Cram, 1987)

•  At the end of early intervention, most parents felt competent in: •  Caring for their children •  Advocating for services •  Gaining access to formal and informal supports (Bailey et al., 2005)

The “Cheerleader”

Family support and family empowerment are essential aspects of early intervention

services.

Other Services

•  Transition planning at age 2 ½ (Preparing for the transition to preschool) -  Meetings with school district representatives -  Transition workshops for parents

-  in collaboration with other agencies, e.g. the Family Information Network (FIN) of Ohio

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Transition Services

There’s more to Early Intervention than meets the eye.

A Developmental Specialist is like a “Jill-of-all-trades”

(or a Jack-of-all-trades)

Sometimes, we have to bend over backwards for families….

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…but there are a lot of job perks.

We can do all kinds of pretend

play…

(while working on language

skills)

… we can play dress up…

(while working on self-help/adaptive

skills)

… we can show off our creative side…

(while working on fine motor

skills)

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… we can be someone other than ourselves, if only to entertain for a few minutes…

(and work on object permanence)

…but most of all, we can celebrate each child and family’s milestones and everyday miracles.

What parents have said about early intervention… •  “Thank you for focusing on what my child CAN

do instead of what she CAN’T do.” – Beth, mother

• Early intervention prepared my daughter for preschool.” – Sharon, mother

•  “Your center feels like our second home.” – Nicole, mother

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Local Early Intervention Programs

• Happy Day School (Portage County) • Calico Center (Summit County) •  Family Child Learning Center (Summit County)

For more information:

Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Research and Teaching http://www.ehhs.kent.edu/ceecrt/

Click on “Training” then “Training Options” then scroll down to “Early Intervention Specialist Certificate”

“All children are gifted. Some just open their presents later than others.”

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References •  Bailey, D.B., Hebbeler, K., Spiker, D., Scarborough, A., Mallik, S., &

Nelson, L. (2005). Thirty-six-month outcomes for families of children who have disabilities and participated in early intervention. Pediatrics, 116(6), 1346-1352.

•  Campbell, F.A., & Ramey, C.T. (1994). Effects of early intervention on intellectual and academic achievement: A follow-up study of children from low-income families. Child Development, 65(2), 684-698.

•  Mahoney, G., Boyce, G., Fewell, R.R., Spiker, D., & Wheeden, C.A. (1998). The relationship of parent-child interaction to the effectiveness of early intervention services for at-risk children and children with disabilities. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 18(1), 5-17.

•  Shonkoff, J.P., & Hauser-Cram, P. (1987). Early intervention for disabled infants and their families: A quantitative analysis. Pediatrics, 80(5), 650-658.

Questions? Feel free to email me at [email protected]