With 3 minutes left to the visit, Mikaela’s mother, Delia, asks “Can you stay a few extra minutes today?” She says she really needs your advice. Yesterday, the child care center director called because Mikaela bit another child. They threatened to expel Mikaela and Delia isn’t sure what to do. You pause because you know that your next …
“Can You Stay a Few Extra Minutes?”…What Do You Do?
Posted on January 22, 2015
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies, Service Coordination, What Would You Do?
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 …
Feeling Inspired! – What’s Inspired You Lately?
Posted on October 16, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Celebrating Early Intervention, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies, Professional Development
First, let me thank Lisa Terry for the idea for this post! Lisa posted “Feeling inspired” on our Facebook page during the Early Intervention Institute we hosted on Tuesday. I couldn’t agree more so decided to “borrow” her words! Thanks Lisa! 🙂
In the past 2 weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of attending and presenting at …
A Facebook Friend Request from A Parent…What Do You Do?
Posted on October 01, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Practical Strategies, Service Coordination, What Would You Do?
You’re sitting in your car between visits and your phone beeps. You check your email and find a Facebook friend request from Hakeem’s mother. You know that he’s often in and out of the hospital and she keeps her friends and family up-to-date about his health using her Facebook page. She mentioned it to you …
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 …
Supporting Teen Parents by Understanding THEIR Development
Posted on August 21, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies
“Parent info: Chelsea’s mother, Jill, is 15 years old.”
Reading that tiny bit of info on the referral form can spark different reactions from early interventionists, ranging from those who see working with teen parents as a great opportunity to others who just sigh, expecting a huge challenge ahead. Perhaps the best approach to meeting Chelsea’s mom …
Why Didn’t Our Pediatrician Catch This Earlier??
Posted on May 22, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, IFSP Development, Practical Strategies, Service Coordination, What Would You Do?
During the assessment, the professional team members notice some soft neurological signs in Seiko’s development, such as an indwelling thumb, slight scissoring of her legs, and low muscle tone in her trunk. Seiko was referred to early intervention by her pediatrician because she is 14 months old and not yet sitting or crawling. According to her …
Adult Learning Principle #2: Linking New Learning to Prior Knowledge
Posted on May 15, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in Adult Learning, All, Bridging the Gap, Coaching Practices, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies
If we think about the best way to make the biggest difference in a child’s development, it makes sense that we will be most effective by working through the child’s most familiar people. Those familiar people, parents and caregivers, are the key to success. Positively impacting the child’s development is the reason for early intervention …
A Provider Offers to Babysit…What Do You Do?
Posted on April 29, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Engaging Families, Intervention Visits, Service Coordination, What Would You Do?
We’ve written about professional boundaries several times from the perspective of how to maintain your own boundaries when working so closely with families. Here’s a twist…how do you manage boundary issues when you see them happening between a colleague and a family? Let’s consider an example.
The Babysitter
Alexis has been working with Enzi’s family for almost a …
Do’s & Don’ts for Managing an Unclean Environment
Posted on March 19, 2014
by
Dana Childress, PhD
in All, Intervention Visits, Practical Strategies
Visiting all kinds of environments is one of the things that I’ve always loved about early intervention. No two days or two visits are ever the same. Along with this flexibility comes the unpredictable nature of the environments in which we find ourselves. You can easily drive from one home that is pristine to another …
