Amanda and I met while working at a special education charter school as an Assistive Technology specialist and special education teacher. Somehow, several years later, we have both ended up working in EI. Amanda currently works as a Speech-Language Pathologist providing EI services and AAC evaluations in DC and I am a Developmental Therapist in …
AAC in EI: Debunking Common Myths and Misconceptions
EI Tele-Assessment Video Chats & Strategies: You’ve Got This!
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 …
7 Technology Tips for Tele-Intervention
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 …
10 Strategies for Engaging Parents (not Children?) during Tele-Intervention
Let’s get right to the point. You are not trying to engage an infant or toddler on video for 45-60 minutes during your virtual visit. Re-read that last sentence and let it sink in. Take a deep breath in and breathe out any expectation you may have had about playing with the baby you see …
Creating Cognitive Dissonance as a Learning Strategy
We all have times when we leave visits feeling like it went great because we were able to successfully engage the caregiver. Other times, we leave visits feeling defeated and wondering what we could have done differently or if the caregiver may not be completely on board with early intervention yet. Honestly, there are a …
3 Interventions Every Early Interventionist Needs to Know – Part 3
So far in this series, you’ve learned about the importance of two interventions associated with positive outcomes for children and families. In Part 1, we explored strategies that emphasize caregivers’ awareness and interpretation of their own actions. In Part 2, you learned how to help caregivers identify and use everyday learning opportunities to enhance child …
Technology and Toddlerhood
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 …
Overcoming Tantrums
Tantrums are a normal part of every young child’s life. If we are honest, we throw our own “tantrums” as adults. When working with young children, especially those with a language delay, we have to understand that tantrums are a mode of communication when emotions become overwhelming. Marci Melzer offers five steps to handle tantrums …
Take a Walk with Me
An important and ongoing part of a service coordinator’s job is gathering information from families about their child and how that child fits into the daily routines of their life. This information ebbs and flows, changing as children and parents develop together over time. By gaining insight into these routines service coordinators can facilitate an …
3 Interventions Every Early Interventionist Needs to Know – Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, you learned about the first intervention, which focuses on the caregiver’s awareness and interpretation of his or her own actions. This first intervention emphasizes (to us and the caregiver) the power the caregiver has to positively impact the child’s development through interaction and action. In Part 2, we’re going …