Practical Strategies for Early Intervention

Do you know what the hairy eyeball is?? I do because I’ve been told that I give it without even knowing it. It’s that look that gives away what I’m thinking. It might be a glance or a raised eye brow, or my eyes might open a little more widely. Whatever it looks like, I …

Scenario #1: Each time you visit with Mehki’s family, you notice cockroaches crawling around the floor and on the walls. You’ve had to swat them off of Mehki and away from yourself many times and are becoming increasing concerned. Mehki’s mother says that there’s nothing they can do about the bugs because the neighbor has …

Toddlers. They weeble, they wobble and they fall down. A lot! The question is really, how often is too often? Toddlers are still remarkably unstable and often over-confident. Two year olds are much more confident with their physical abilities but they don’t have a very good idea about when to stop. They love to run …

Everywhere you turn right now, you hear or see an ad related to New Year’s resolutions. Did you know that 45% of people make resolutions but only 8% say that they are successful? In case you’ve made some resolutions for 2014, I thought I would help you get started on them by sharing some strategies you …

Most practitioners in Early Intervention are going to visit a child at a childcare facility at some point. Admittedly, walking into a childcare center can lack the warm appeal of entering a home. The hug from the child at the door and the parents’ appreciative greeting are often replaced with an impersonal, and perhaps wary …

You’ve been working with Brenda, Emma’s mother, for several weeks now. She is a mother who, from the very first visit, seemed hungry for adult interaction because, as she says, she’s “stuck at home all day with her kids and no one to talk to.” At each visit, you hear about her relationship with her …

Sitting Around the Campfire
Here you are sitting around the campfire with good friends after an exhausting day….just staring at the flickering flame. Each person sitting around this circle is lost in his or her own thoughts, drifting miles away. Then someone pulls out a big log, pokes the embers, blows on them, strategically places the …

The phone rings and Carole answers, expecting the caller to be referring a new child to the early intervention program. She knows she’s correct when she hears the nervous voice of a new mother telling her that her doctor said to call. When the mother asks for information about the program, Carole replies, “We work …

How many of you remember the TV sitcom, “Who’s the Boss?” that aired in the mid-80’s? The basic premise was a role reversal of common stereotypes when a former National League baseball player moves with his daughter to an upscale Connecticut community to become a housekeeper to a high-powered executive and her son. Typical television …

A new pediatric practice has just opened in your city and expressed an interest in meeting with staff from your EI program. This practice identifies itself as a “medical home” for children and you wonder, “What does that mean?” As far as you can tell, the physician and her staff are very interested in building a …

Beware the Hairy Eyeball…

A Bug Infestation in the Home…What Do You Do?

Toddlers Weeble, Wobble and Fall Down – When Is It Cause for Concern?

New Year’s Resolutions for Early Interventionists

EI Practitioners + Childcare Workers = Dream Team!

The Focus of the Visit is Not on the Child…What Do You Do?

Put a Blog-Log on the Fire

Starting at the Beginning…How Do You Describe EI to New Families?

Who’s the Boss?

EI Research to Practice Brief #3 – Collaboration between EI and the Medical Home

It’s Not Goodbye, It’s See You Later!

Supporting Social and Emotional Development: What ALL Early Interventionists Can Do!

Baskin Robbins: How Do I Decide?

Get the Backstory: Validating and Valuing Family Input

EI Awareness Month in VA – The Power of Family Stories

Resource Alert! – Check Out the New Transition Learning Path

The Unspoken Realities of Child Abuse during a Pandemic

Successfully Engaging Caregivers in the Child Outcomes Summary Process Virtually

Call to Action! Service Coordination and Early Intervention – DEC/ITCA Position Statement