What to Expect with Help Me Grow Early Intervention
What to Expect During an Early Intervention Visit:
As a parent or caregiver, you are the expert on your child and are his or her best teacher! You can support your child’s development through the many natural learning opportunities that happen during everyday activities and routines. Research tells us that children learn best with the people, places and things they are familiar with, love, trust, and enjoy.
Each Early Intervention visit should include:
JOINT PLANNING: At the start of the visit, you and the provider will talk about strategies you have tried with the child and any new issues or concerns. You will agree on what to work on during the current visit.
OBSERVATION: Your provider may join in what you and the child are already doing when he or she arrives, or you may start an activity you want to focus on during the visit. Your provider observes you and your child interacting during everyday routines, shows you strategies to help with concerns, and then asks you to try the strategies.
ACTION/PRACTICE: This step includes working with your provider to practice new ways to help your child meet goals and conversation about how to build strategies you have learned into your daily routines.
REFLECTION: At this step, you and your provider will discuss what strategies worked and what did not work and why. You will explore what you can try next time.
FEEDBACK: Your provider will share information and help you figure out what strategies will help you meet goals for the child.
JOINT PLANNING: At the end of the visit, you and your provider will decide what you want to try with your child between visits and schedule your next visit.
INTERVENTION: This is what happens between visits with the provider. Parents and care givers guide their child’s learning by providing many opportunities to practice new skills during their daily routines and activities.
For more information about Ohio’s Early Intervention program, visit our website and watch our video, “Evidence-Based Early Intervention:” http://ohioearlyintervention.org/
What are the roles and responsibilities of everyone on my team?
Service Coordinator (SC)
A Service Coordinator (SC) is the first point of contact for Early Intervention services. The SC completes the intake visit, schedules the developmental evaluation and assessment, writes the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP), refers for necessary services, and monitors the IFSP to ensure EI services are being delivered per the plan. The SC also coordinates family resource requests, and provides families with resources and information within the community.
Primary Service Provider (PSP)
A Primary Service Provider (PSP) is an EI Services team member who will be the family’s primary contact for EI Services. This means that while there may be more than one service listed, the PSP is the person that will see the family most often. The PSP is selected by the team based on the needs of the child receiving EI Services and works with the team to deliver services based on the IFSP.
Developmental Specialist (DS)
A Developmental Specialist (DS) is an expert in typical and atypical development of children birth through age 5. A DS is often assigned when a child has a delay in more than one developmental area (adaptive, motor, communication, vision, hearing, medical).
Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)
Speech/Language Pathologists are experts in expressive and receptive communication, what children say or sign and what children understand.
Occupational Therapist (OT)
Occupational Therapists (OT) are experts in fine motor skills, eye hand coordination, sensory processing, and feeding issues.
Physical Therapist (PT)
Physical Therapists (PT) are experts in gross motor skills focusing on mobility such as rolling, crawling, walking and climbing.
Vision Services
An Early Intervention Vision Specialist is an expert in visual impairments providing strategies, resources, and education to families specific to their child’s visual impairment and how it may be affecting his/her development.
Hearing Services
An Early Intervention Hearing Specialist is an expert in hearing impairments or hearing loss providing strategies, resources and education to families specific to their child’s hearing impairment and how it may be affecting his/her development.
Mental Health Consultant
Provides resources and evidence-based strategies to the Primary Service Provider (PSP), Early Intervention team and the family on how to promote social emotional development during daily routines.
EI Nutritionist
Provides resources and support to the Primary Service Provider (PSP), Early Intervention team and the family on nutrition, feeding concerns and childhood lead poisoning.