Virginia Early Intervention
Professional Development Center

Virginia Specific Information

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Articles

From Couching to Coaching (external websites)
Dathan Rush, EdD, CCC-SLP
The ASHA Leader

This article focuses on how to get families engaged during intervention by communicating their enormous influence on their child’s development. Strategies are provided for boosting family involvement during visits.

Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., Warren, S. F., Oller, D. K., Russo, R., & Vohr, B. (2018). Language experience in the second year of life and language outcomes in late childhood. Pediatrics, 142(4).

This article reviews the research about early identification, characteristics, outcomes, and predictors of late talkers.

Late Blooming or Language Problem? (external website)
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

This article is written for parents and practitioners and includes risk factors that may increase the likelihood that late-talking child in the 18-30 month age range, with normal intelligence, may continue to have language problems.

Parents’ Guide to Language Delays and Speech Disorders in Children (external website)
Baylor University

This guide provides information about milestones, how to look for potential signs of speech-language issues, risk factors, why EI is helpful, how to prepare for a speech evaluation, and strategies for addressing delays.

Strategies for Promoting Communication and Language of Infants and Toddlers (external website)
University of Kansas

This manual covers 8 practical strategies for encouraging communication in infants and toddlers, including arranging the environment, responsiveness, commenting and labeling, imitating and expanding, asking open-ended questions, giving praise and positive attention, providing choices, and time delay.

Weisleder, A., & Fernald, A. (2013). Talking to children matters: Early language experience strengthens processing and builds vocabulary. Psychological Science. 24(1), 2143-2152.

This article describes a study about how the amount of speech spoken to infants in Spanish-speaking families of lower socioeconomic status influenced language processing and vocabulary development.

eLearning, Presentations, and Webinars

Webinars

Ditch the Animal Sounds: Writing Appropriate Outcomes that Lead to Effective Implementation
VA’s Integrated Training Collaborative | Partnership for People with Disabilities
Presented by Corey H. Cassidy

This webinar begins with a brief review of assessment and diagnostic considerations related to articulation and phonology. The most effective ways to determine and write functional outcomes that focus on the communication needs of the child, while incorporating speech sound development, will be presented and discussed.  Strategies to facilitate natural speech sound development within everyday activities and routines will be also discussed. Personal anecdotes will be shared to provide participants with clear examples of outcomes and strategies.Click the link above to visit the 2015 Talks on Tuesdays Archive and scroll down until you find the webinar.

It’s Almost Never Apraxia: Understanding Appropriate Diagnoses of Speech in Early Intervention
VA’s Integrated Training Collaborative | Partnership for People with Disabilities
Presented by Corey H. Cassidy

This Talk on Tuesday will review typical development of speech sounds and phonological patterns in infants and toddlers. The differences between articulation and phonological delays/disorders, apraxia of speech, and organic speech disorders, as well as what to expect in regard to differential diagnosis of these disorders with children under the age of three years will be presented. Strategies to facilitate natural speech sound development within everyday activities and routines will be discussed. Click the link above to visit the 2015 Talks on Tuesdays Archive and scroll down until you find the webinar.

Music Experiences for Children Birth Through Three: Making Connections for Life-Long Learning
VA’s Integrated Training Collaborative | Partnership for People with Disabilities
Presented by Trish Winter

This webinar provides information about how music can be used to positively impact infant and toddler development. Click the link above to visit the 2012 Talks on Tuesdays Archive and scroll down until you find the webinar.

Practices and Resources to Promote Language and Early Literacy Learning in Young Children
VA’s Integrated Training Collaborative | Partnership for People with Disabilities
Presented by Carol Trivette

This webinar describes Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) resources that can be downloaded for free and used with children and families. Click the link above to visit the 2010-2011 Talks on Tuesdays Archive and scroll down until you find the webinar.

Refresh Your Palate: Cleft Lip & Palate Care – Parts I and II
VA’s Integrated Training Collaborative | Partnership for People with Disabilities
Presented by Colette Reynolds

In this webinar series, you will learn about cleft lip and cleft palate and how they impact feeding and speech infants and toddlers. During Part I, you will increase your comfort level with cleft lip and palate by describing the anatomy, structure, and function of the palate. You will learn about statistics, causes, associated risk factors, and the importance of early management, both surgical and developmental. In Part II, the discussion focuses on the impact of cleft lip/palate on feeding and speech and intervention strategies to address both.

Speech Sound Development and Facilitation
VA’s Integrated Training Collaborative | Partnership for People with Disabilities
Presented by Lissa Power-deFur

This webinar provides an overview of early speech sound development, area of concern, and facilitation approaches. Click the link above to visit the 2013 Talks on Tuesdays Archive and scroll down until you find the webinar.

Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication in Early Intervention: More Myths Debunked and Strategies
Part 1, Part 2
VA’s Integrated Training Collaborative | Partnership for People with Disabilities
Presented by Cary Hastings, M.Ed., CCC-SLP and Meghan Reitz, M.Ed., CCC-SLP

Watch this two-part Talks on Tuesday series to learn about augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) with toddlers. Listen as myths are debunked and strategies are explained to introduce AAC as a mechanism to promote positive impact on verbal speech, successful communication, and overall independence. Click the link above to visit the 2017 Talks on Tuesdays Archive and scroll down until you find the webinars.

Tools

Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (external website)
Infant/Toddler Checklist
Wetherby & Prizant (2001)

The purpose of the CSBS-DP is twofold: first, for early identification of children who have or are at-risk for developing a communication impairment; and second, to monitor changes in a child's communication, expressive speech, and symbolic behavior over time. The Checklist is copyrighted (Wetherby & Prizant, 2001) but remains free for use and can be downloaded from the Internet and freely photocopied or duplicated by other methods.

Videos

Baby Communication Milestones (YouTube, video)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

In this video, Lisa Shulman, M.D., uses video of babies and toddlers to show the communication milestones expected in typically developing children. She also discusses what parents should do if they suspect their child has a developmental delay.

Childhood Speech and Language Delays (YouTube, video)
Akron Children’s Hospital

This video includes common causes and indications of speech and language 
delays, the importance of early intervention, and tips to promote a child's speech and language development.

Toddler Development – Practice Clips (external website)
Desired Results Access Project – Video Library

Visit this video library for clips of toddlers participating in typical routines and activities. These videos were produced for use in professional development activities to provide early interventionists, early childhood educators, and other early care and education practitioners opportunities to practice skills such as observation, documentation, and assessment. You’ll find the following toddler clips in the Practice Clips section of the library:

• Tania Playing in the Yard (3:33) Tania demonstrates a variety of gross motor, communication, and social skills.
• Ben at Dinnertime (3:04) Ben demonstrates a variety of social, communication, and mealtime skills.
• Nicholas at Story Time (2:39) Nicholas demonstrates a variety of fine motor, social, and early literacy skills.
• Crystal Moving Around (3:26) Crystal demonstrates a variety of movement, social, and communication skills.
• Max at Mealtime (3:41) Max demonstrates a variety of social, communication, and self-feeding skills.
• Severina Plays Knock Knock (1:31) Severina demonstrates a variety of social, communication, and fine motor skills.
• Alec's Morning Routine (3:53) Alec demonstrates a variety of self-help, social, and communication skills.

Websites and Programs

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (external website)

This page provides links to many resources to help practitioners and parents understand hearing, balance, speech, language, and swallowing. Some information is also available in Spanish.

Center on Everyday Child Language Learning (CECLL) (external website)

CECLL is a model demonstration center funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. The main goal of CECLL is to implement and evaluate an approach to early childhood communication intervention that uses everyday activities as sources of learning opportunities to promote the development of the language and communication skills of young children with disabilities and delays. CECLL is a major initiative of the Center for Evidence-Based Practices at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute. CECLL offers downloadable reports, tools, and papers as resources for EI practitioners and families.

The Hanen Centre (external website)

The Hanen Centre’s mission is to provide parents, caregivers, early childhood educators and speech-language pathologists with the knowledge and training they need to help young children develop the best possible language, social and literacy skills. This includes children with or at risk of language delays and those with developmental challenges such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, including Asperger Syndrome. Visit this page for resources for parents and professionals and professional development opportunities related to early speech and language development.

Speech and Language Delay and Disorder (external website)
University of Michigan Health System

This site includes information about milestones, disorders, causes, late bloomers, stuttering, and parenting tips for language development.