As a guest in Amelia’s family’s home, you do your best to be polite and respectful. You enjoy working with her grandparents, and feel that they are doing their best to encourage Amelia’s development. The only challenge you have is the fact that they smoke during the visit. You’re concerned about the fact that you leave …
Smoking during EI Visits…What Do You Do?
Posted on June 11, 2015
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies, What Would You Do?
Abby’s Mother Asks Again: “Is it my fault?”
Posted on April 16, 2015
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies, Service Coordination
Abby has significant motor delays. Her mother asks you some version of this question during every visit: “Is it my fault that Abby isn’t walking yet?” or “What did I do to cause this?” The question itself makes you uncomfortable, because you can’t really answer it well and because you feel like you’ve tried to answer …
Address the Language: The Speech will Follow!
Posted on April 09, 2015
by
Corey Cassidy, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies
Joey is 25 months old. He was referred to his local early intervention intake coordinator by his parents secondary to their concerns about his intelligibility and inability to effectively communicate his needs or wants. They reported that he uses approximately 15 words but “talks in such a garbled manner” that both parents and Joey’s older …
Do You Have to Be a Parent to Be a Good Early Interventionist?
Posted on March 03, 2015
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies
On Reagan’s first visit with Cole’s family, she feels like she is “under the microscope.” Cole’s grandmother, Celia, seems wary of Reagan, and of early intervention. Cole’s physician recommended the referral due to delays with Cole’s communication, but his grandmother is not concerned. She has raised three children, all of whom, she says, “talked when they …
Supporting Toddlers with Autism by Changing OUR Behavior
Posted on February 24, 2015
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies, Professional Development
Today I want to share someone else’s blog post that just wow’ed me. Before you read what I write, read this short post by Lisa Reyes: Someone Asked My Son with Autism Why Eye Contact Is Hard. This Was His Answer.
As I read Phillip’s answer, I kept thinking what if we approached toddlers with this in …
Fall in Love with Your Job All Over Again
Posted on February 12, 2015
by
Cori Hill
in All, Celebrating Early Intervention, Engaging Families
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. So how does that pertain to your job as an early interventionist?
The life of an early interventionist is packed with conducting assessments and developing IFSPs, managing lots of paperwork, and traveling here and yon all over the countryside for visits with children and families. PHEW! It makes me …
Adult Learning Principle #4: Practicing Intervention Strategies in Real-Time
Posted on February 10, 2015
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in Adult Learning, All, Bridging the Gap, Coaching Practices, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies
Think about it. How did you learn to drive? Sure, you read the driving manual, went to a driver’s ed class, and you probably talked about driving a lot. Before getting behind the wheel, you’d observed people driving for years. Was reading, talking about the new skill, and observing someone doing it enough to prepare …
Liam’s Mom Asks You to Stop by the Grocery Store…What Do You Do?
Posted on December 16, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies, Service Coordination, What Would You Do?
This really happened to me: Before heading out the door, I received a call from a mother whom I’d be seeing in about an hour. She asked if I could stop by the grocery store to pick up milk and diapers. She had no transportation and lived deep in the woods in a very rural …
Twins & Siblings: Supporting Families of Multiples
Posted on November 04, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies, Service Coordination
A set of new referrals comes across your desk: two children in the same family. Twins! Wow, you think…twice the paperwork, twice the visits, twice the fun. The funny thing is that you probably wouldn’t have balked if you’d just gotten two referrals about children from different families. Why is it that multiples in the same …
NEW VIDEO – What is Early Intervention in Virginia?
Posted on September 24, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Celebrating Early Intervention, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Local EI System Management, Professional Development
I’m so excited to spread the word about our latest video featuring service providers, administrators, and families talking about early intervention! Specifically, the video answers the following 3 questions: What is early intervention? What does it look like? and Why does it work?
In addition to short interviews, the video includes photos and video clips of …
