NICHCY eNews Foundations:
Early Intervention

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This eNews Foundations page offers the same starting point to everyone who signed up on eNews to receive information about Effective Practices for Delivering Early Intervention Services. It doesn't matter if you signed up to receive this info on Day 1 or Day 366 of our service. You'll begin to receive this info through our periodic eNews mailings on the subject---AND, in the meantime, this page will connect you with the resources and info we've already shared with others.

Babies and young children need love and care---and sometimes more. For very young children with disabilities, or at risk of disability, it's important to start at the very beginning to help them develop all the skills they will need to learn. Early intervention is about getting help at the beginning.

• EI: What is it? How to find it.
  www.nichcy.org/pubs/parent/pa2txt.htm
  Start with NICHCY's Finding Help for Young Children with Disabilities (Birth-5). Early intervention services are explained, as well as how to access them for infants and toddlers. This publication will also connect you with many of the major organizations who can tell you more.
  
  
• What's the law have to say?
  www.nectac.org/idea/idea.asp
  The legal basis for early intervention services comes from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The link above takes you to the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center's (NECTAC) pages on the IDEA's early childhood provisions.
  
  
• The lowdown on "service coordination."
  www.nectac.org/topics/scoord/scoord.asp
  "Early intervention service coordination is a mandated service under Part C of IDEA, provided at no cost to families. Service coordination is defined as an active, ongoing process that assists and enables families to access services and assures their rights and procedural safeguards." So begins the service coordination page at NECTAC, where you'll find IDEA's definition of service coordination, how different states are addressing service coordination, training resources, and links to the Research and Training Center on Service Coordination (described more below) and other resources on this topic.
  
  
• Go straight to the RTC, if you like.
  www.uconnucedd.org/Projects/RTC/Default.htm
  If the above item interested you, and in particular if the availability of the Research and Training Center on Service Coordination interested you, we provide the link to the RTC to speed you on your way there. (But make sure to visit NECTAC, who has boatloads of information on early intervention policy and practice. We've cited a goodly portion of it throughout this Foundations page, as you'll see.)
  
  
• Benefits?
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/econbene.pdf
  The Long Term Economic Benefits Of High Quality Early Childhood Intervention Programs - Minibibliography answers one aspect of the benefits question. An extensive body of research indicates that high quality early intervention for at-risk infants, toddlers, and young children and their families is a sound economic investment. Courtesy of NECTAC, 2004, 9 pages.
  
  

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• Is early intervention available in my state?
  www.nichcy.org/states.htm
  Oh yes, EI services are available in your state. Visit NICHCY's state resource sheets page, click on your state, and look for the heading "Programs for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities: Ages Birth through 2." You'll find the contact info for the early intervention system in your state. That's just the starting place. There's an incredible EI network in most states and a great deal of online information about early intervention services in general, a state's system in specific, training modules, and... be sure to visit your state's online EI resources, which will lead you into the heart of the system where you live.
  
  
• How does my state define who's eligible for services?
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/nnotes18.pdf
  Find the answer in State and Jurisdictional Eligibility Definitions for Infants and Toddlers With Disabilities Under IDEA.
  
  
• And how does my state define "developmental delay" under Part B of IDEA?
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/nnotes15.pdf
  Find the answer in Eligibility Policies and Practices for Young Children Under Part B of IDEA.
  
  
• State definitions matter.
  www.tracecenter.info/snapshots/snapshots_vol1_no4.pdf
  This 6-page article, States' Part C Eligibility Definitions Account for Differences in the Percentage of Children Participating in Early Intervention Programs, comes from TRACE (Tracking, Referral and Assessment Center for Excellence).
  
  
• What is (and who's on) my state's ICC?
  www.nectac.org/contact/iccchair.asp
  As required by the IDEA, each state has what's known as an Interagency Coordinating Council, or ICC. Its role in the state's early intervention system is suggested by its title---to address the coordination of the efforts of the various agencies involved in providing or supervising the provision of EI services. Find out about your state's ICC at the link above---its composition and membership, parent roles and participation, structure and organization, and roles and functions.
  
  
• If you live in California (and even if you don't)...
  www.wested.org/cpei
  WestEd’s Center for Prevention & Early Intervention (CPEI) provides training, technical assistance and resource development and provision supporting early intervention services for California infants and toddlers with disabilities and at-risk conditions and their families. For those of us who don't live in CA, there's still lots of info at CPEI, including the online Early Start Library, a specialized collection of more than 4,200 items you can check out—videotapes, training kits, latest research studies, and much more.
  

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• National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC).
  www.nectac.org/
  NECTAC supports the implementation of the early childhood provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Its mission is to strengthen service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through five) and their families receive and benefit from high quality, culturally appropriate, and family-centered supports and services. The center addresses this mission by working primarily with the state agencies responsible for ensuring EI services.
  
  
• CLAS, the Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services.
  www.clas.uiuc.edu
  CLAS identifies, evaluates, and promotes effective and appropriate early intervention practices and preschool practices that are sensitive and respectful to children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. You won't believe how many materials they offer to guide early intervention practice---and in multiple languages as well. We mention quite a few of them in these Foundations pages, but you'll want to visit anyway and see how much more there is.
  
  
• Research and Training Center (RTC) on Early Childhood Development.
  www.researchtopractice.info
  The RTC on Early Childhood Development is conducting applied research on knowledge and practice that improves interventions associated with the healthy mental, behavioral, communication, preliteracy, social-emotional, and interpersonal development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with or at risk for developmental disabilities. You'll find a wealth of information about effective early childhood intervention practices based on research on the RTC's Web site.
  
  
• Early Childhood Research Institute on Measuring Growth and Development (ECRI-MGD).
  http://ici2.umn.edu/ecri/index.html
  The ECRI-MGD was launched in October 1996 with a mission to produce a comprehensive system for continuously measuring the skills and needs of individual children with disabilities from birth to eight years of age. A wide range of reports and manuals encapsulating their results are available at the link above.
  
  
• The ECO Center.
  www.the-ECO-center.org
  ECO is the Early Childhood Outcomes Center: Demonstrating Results for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers with Disabilities and Their Families. If you're looking for research-based info on how to measure outcomes and the success of your efforts, you'll soon find yourself at ECO.
  
  
• TRACE.
  www.tracecenter.info/
  TRACE stands for Tracking, Referral and Assessment Center for Excellence. The major goal of TRACE is to identify and promote the use of evidence-based practices and models for improving child find, referral, early identification, and eligibility determination for infants, toddlers, and young children with developmental delays or disabilities who are eligible for early intervention or preschool special education. Lots of great stuff here!
  
  
• Division for Early Childhood (DEC).
  www.dec-sped.org/
  DEC is especially for individuals who work with or on behalf of children with special needs, birth through age eight, and their families. DEC promotes polices and advances evidence-based practices that support families and enhance the optimal development of young children who have or are at risk for developmental delays and disabilities. Visit DEC's publications page to connect with (for-sale but on-point) DEC's Recommended Practices series.
  
  
• IDEA Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association.
  www.ideainfanttoddler.org/index.htm
  This association promotes the mutual assistance, cooperation, and exchange of information and ideas in the administration of the IDEA Infant and Toddler Program. It also provides support to the state coordinators. Membership in the Association is open to the agency within each state or jurisdiction that has been designated as the Part C lead agency. Membership fees are established in relation to the Federal Part C allocation.
  
  

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• For pediatricians: Intro to early intervention.
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/health/Downloads/EIBrochureF.pdf
  Pediatricians are often among the first professionals to see and work with children who have special health care needs. As such, they are invaluable links in the system of referral to early intervention for families. This 12-page brief explains the early intervention system to pediatricians, from the legal basis for EI to an excellent overview of how the system works and what it is intended to accomplish.
  
  
• For early interventionists: Intro to "the medical home."
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/health/Downloads/EIBrochureF.pdf
  The brief described in the bullet above is also intended for early intervention programs. It will help programs learn about the role of the medical home in providing comprehensive, coordinated, collaborative care in concert with the family and other medical and non-medical service providers; The brief also provides strategies for effective collaboration and communication between the pediatric clinician and early intervention programs in the provision of quality, comprehensive care.
  
  
• What's a "medical home," and why is it so important for children with special health care needs?
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/index.html
  The National Center for Medical Home Initiatives will answer this question in spades. Through the National Center, physicians, parents, administrators, and other health care professionals have access to educational, resource, and advocacy materials, guidelines for care, evaluation tools, and technical assistance. At the link above, you have access to a wealth of info, including (but NOT limited to):
  

  Every Child Deserves a Medical Home Training Curriculum
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/training/index.html
  
  The same Training Curriculum in Spanish!
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/training/manualspanish.html
  
  State pages: Medical home initiatives & resources by state
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/states/index.html
  

• $$$$$$. Financing health care.
  www.familyvoices.org/Information/HCF.htm
  Family Voices is a national, grassroots clearinghouse for information and education concerning the health care of children with special health needs. If special health care needs is your area of concern, you'll want to explore every corner of Family Voices site.
  
  
• Maternal and Child Health funding, library, and system.
  https://performance.hrsa.gov/mchb/mchreports/Search/search.asp
  The federal government funds many programs intended to improve maternal and child health (MCH). Many of these can offer valuable assistance to children with special health care needs. To find out more about what services and programs are available to address health-related concerns, visit the link above, or any of these listed below:
  

  Who's the contact for MCH projects in my state?
  https://performance.hrsa.gov/mchb/mchreports/link/state_links.asp
  
  What is my state's toll-free number to find out more about Maternal and Child Health funding and projects?
  https://performance.hrsa.gov/mchb/mchreports/Search/core/MchAppContmenu.asp
  
  Maternal and Child Health Library listing of topics A-Z.
  www.mchlibrary.info/AZtopics.htm
  Some topics you might want to investigate in the MCH library: Access to health care, Child development, Child health insurance, Children with special health care needs, Community-based services, Culturally competent services and culturally sensitive materials, Developmental screening, Family resource centers...and that's just through the beginning of F!
  

• For pediatricians: Your role in developing the IFSP.
  http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/104/1/124
  From the American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Children with Disabilities.
  
  
• For pediatricians: Your role in family-centered EI services.
  http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/5/1155
  Another from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Children with Disabilities.
  
  
• University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities.
  www.aucd.org/index.htm
  Heard of the University Centers? That's a network of 61 university-based programs with the telling name of "University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD)." University Centers have four broad tasks: conduct interdisciplinary training, promote community service programs, provide technical assistance at all levels (from local service delivery to community and state governments), and conduct research and dissemination activities. The link above takes you to the main page of the network. If you click on "UCEDDs" on the left menu, you'll go to a description of the UCEDD network. At the top of the page, dead-center, is "Link to UCEDD Directory," which you can choose if you'd like to identify the university center in your state.
  
  
• For more "Resources Within the Medical/Healthcare Community"...
  www.nichcy.org/enews/foundations/healthcare.asp
  Find out more about specific disabilities, find a doctor or a health care center, find insurance for uninsured children, and more at NICHCY's Connections page entitled... can you guess?
  
  

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Child Find Matters

• Child find info aplenty.
  www.childfindidea.org/
  In 1999, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) funded Child Find Demonstration projects, and the Web site above has emerged to distill and disseminate their collective experiences. For the purposes of sharing information about conducting a child find effort, they've broken down child find into seven elements: Definition of Target Population, Public Awareness, Referral/Intake, Screening and Identification, Eligibility Determination, Tracking, and Interagency Coordination. Enter the site through the link above, find out more about each element, and connect with resources on that element.
  
  
• The research base on child find: What works.
  www.tracecenter.info/childfind.php
  A review and content analysis of the child-find-related literatures indicate that the following seven categories of practices have special relevance for improving early intervention and preschool special education child find practices. Research syntheses in each of the subcategories are being completed by TRACE investigators with a primary focus on the characteristics of practices that are most effective in identifying children who are or may be eligible for early intervention or preschool special education.
  
  
• Getting people to notice the "warning signs" of disabilities and know there's help available.
  www.clas.uiuc.edu/special/childfind/index.html
  CLAS (Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services) searched for Child Find brochures, handbooks, and materials distributed in state and local efforts to raise awareness of families, medical professionals, and child care workers about the indicators or "warning signs" of disabilities or developmental delays in young children, as well the availability of early intervention services. These include such items as:
  

  Prescreening or growth charts, brochures, and guidebooks for parents and professionals to use in considering a child's developmental growth in key areas such as vision, hearing, motor skills, and language development.
  
  Materials in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Russian, Sioux, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Yiddish.
  

• Did you notice all the languages in the item just above? Addressing diversity matters, too.
  www.kihd.gmu.edu/mectt/trainingpackage.htm
  Child Find must cut across all spectrums of society, since disability touches all of us. So, the ability to talk to and reach diverse audiences is critical---and, often, problemmatic. If it's a problem within your system, or just a matter to continually address and improve, then check this resource out. It'll help. From the Multicultural Early Childhood Team Training (MECTT) project at the Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities comes a training curriculum to prepare parent and professional teams to work with diverse families of young children with disabilities. Module 3 deals with "Family Find," and provides training on strategies and techniques for finding and establishing alliances with culturally diverse families. Module 4 talks about "Communication and Partnerships," and addresses general principles of communication and specific cultural factors which influence interpersonal communication.
  
  
• More on getting people to notice the warning signs.
  There are numerous points along the way where someone may notice that a child is not developing as expected: parents, family members, child care providers, physicians, nurses, and so on. You may be frustrated by trying to develop materials to reach each of these audiences with the news about Child Find. Maybe these already-developed materials can help.
  

  Parents.
  www.newassessment.org/Public/Channels/default.cfm?CategoryID=1
  
  Teachers, Childcare Personnel, and Interventionists.
  www.newassessment.org/Public/Channels/default.cfm?CategoryID=2
  
  Therapists and Medical Professionals.
  www.newassessment.org/Public/Channels/default.cfm?CategoryID=4
  
  Diagnosticians and Psychologists.
  www.newassessment.org/Public/Channels/default.cfm?CategoryID=3
  

• Need basic info on developmental milestones to share?
  www.zerotothree.org/dev_miles.html
  Take it from Zero to Three, the National Center For Infants, Toddlers and Families. The info is also available in Spanish, at:
  www.zerotothree.org/Spanish/dev_miles_Sp.html
  
  
• More on child development, developmental milestones---and an intro to developmental screening.
  www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/child/devtool.htm
  From the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD). Good for parents with concerns about their child's development. Fact sheets are currently available on several disabilities (cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, vision loss, hearing loss, and mental retardation)---a description of the disability, early signs of the disability, what to look for, and what to do next.
  
  
• Wanna join a Community of Practice?
  www.tacommunities.org/ev_en.php?ID=1008_201&ID2=DO_COMMUNITY
  The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has formed several communities of practice (CoP) to improve implementation of IDEA. One focuses upon Child Identification. See what this CoP has to offer, at the link above.
  
  
• How do you promote referral to early intervention programs?
  www.tracecenter.info/referral.php
  The methods and procedures that can be used by Part C/Part B(619) personnel to influence referrals to early intervention and preschool special education include different kinds of practices being reviewed and synthesized by TRACE investigators. Major emphasis is being placed on the practices that are most effective in promoting referrals to Part C and Part B(619) programs.
  
  
• More from TRACE on "How-To" increase referrals.
  www.tracecenter.info/endpoints/endpoints_vol1_no1.pdf
  This 2-page distills TRACE's findings from their research investigations (the point above).
  
  
• And a "How-To" on encouraging health care professionals to include EI services on health care plans.
  www.tracecenter.info/milemarkers/milemarkers_vol1_no10.pdf
  This Milemarkers bibliography also comes from TRACE and identifies sources of information on points in time where early intervention staff to work with health care professionals to identify children eligible for early intervention and refer them to the EI system.
  
  

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Assessment/Evaluation Practices

• Developmental and behavioral screening.
  www.dbpeds.org/articles/detail.cfm?id=5
  Screening children for developmental, behavioral, and emotional problems is an important responsibility for pediatricians. This online module provides information about screening techniques that can be used effectively and efficiently in the office setting, and includes an annotated list of Developmental and Behavioral/Emotional screening tools.
  
  
• Recommended screening tools, from First Signs.
  www.firstsigns.org/screening/tools/rec.htm
  First Signs, Inc. is a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating parents and pediatric professionals about the early warning signs of autism and other developmental disorders. Take advantage of their extensive review of current screening tools available and the recommendations they make about what to use.
  
  
• Assessing with solutions in mind.
  http://ici2.umn.edu/ecri/index.html
  The Early Childhood Research Institute on Measuring Growth and Development (ECRI-MGD) offers quite a range of reports intended to help EI systems use solutions-oriented assessments that allow families and early childhood and early elementary educators to identify features of classroom and home settings they can change to improve children's developmental outcomes.
  
  
• Don't overlook cultural or linguistic diversity during assessment.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/earlyidmini.pdf
  The multitude of linguistic and cultural variations that exist in the United States presents a special challenge to early interventionists. This mini-bibliography (annotated) from NECTAC is designed to put you in touch with resources on how to effectively address diversity concerns during early identification of children.
  
  
• Assessment practices: What's recommended?
  www.newassessment.org/
  What are the recommended assessment practices in early childhood intervention? Find out at the New Assessment: Early Childhood Resources Web site, which includes info on innovative assessment models, processes, and resources that benefit young children and their families. There are materials for parents, too, and online training info for professionals.
  
  
• Assessment that guides intervention.
  www.fpg.unc.edu/~eco/pdfs/IndivGrowthandDevelopment.pdf
  Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) are explained as a tool for measuring a child's progress toward selected outcomes and, using that info, determining and refining intervention.
  
  
• Evaluation tools: "Special Collection."
  www.clas.uiuc.edu/special/evaltools/index.html
  CLAS offers an online collection of evaluation tools, which they describe as a "listing of a variety of screening and diagnostic tools, and books about recommended practices in assessing the development of young children with and without disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse groups."
  

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Interagency Efforts

• The state ICC is key to many opened doors.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/topics/OpeningDoors.pdf
  Each state has what's known as an Interagency Coordinating Council, or ICC. How do you build an ICC that works well and accomplishes its purposes? And what are the benefits of the service integration that the ICC pursues? Read all about it in "Opening Doors Through State Interagency Coordinating Councils: A Guide for Families, Communities and States."
  
  
• Assembling a diverse ICC.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/nnotes17.pdf
  As required by IDEA, State ICCs must be composed of at least 20% parents of children with disabilities. Additionally, states often seek to recruit parent members from culturally diverse backgrounds to ensure that a variety of viewpoints are represented at the table. The document at the link above describes several ways ICCs can encourage and expand diverse parent representation on councils and committees. Although it specifically concerns parent members, this paper can also be useful for general recruitment of diverse members.
  
  
• Promoting early care and education partnerships: What can a state do?
  http://ccf.edc.org/PDF/StateBrief.pdf
  The Center for Children and Families has a lot to say on this topic, emerging from its Partnership Impact Research Project, an intensive six-year research investigation on the nature of partnerships among early education providers.
  
  
• Getting from here (separate systems) to there (collaborative systems).
  http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v6n1/clifford.html
  This paper explores strategies for moving from independent and overlapping services toward a seamless system of early child care and nurturance provided by the four diverse players in the early childhood field: child care, Head Start, services for children with disabilities, and preschool programs.
  
  
• Developing partnership agreements.
  www.nccic.org/quilt/checklist.html
  Here's a checklist for how to define each partner's roles and responsibilities and many of the elements needed for the partnership to run smoothly. Courtesy of the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC), which offers many more publications on the subject of partnering to improve services.
  
  
• Want an example?
  www.nectac.org/topics/inclusion/collab/intagagree.asp
  See what three states have done in their interagency agreements.
  
  
• Promoting collaborative teams at the community level.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/topics/inclusion/TasksTipsTools.pdf
  "Tasks, Tips and Tools for Promoting Collaborative Community Teams" is a product of the Collaborative Planning Project (CPP), based at The Center for Collaborative Educational Leadership in Denver, Colorado. The document is available online at NECTAC.
  
  
• Financing early childhood systems.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/financemini.pdf
  This annotated bibliography presents resources related to financing early childhood systems to support inclusive options for young children with disabilities.
  
  
• Interagency agreements for transitions.
  http://facts.crc.uiuc.edu/facts1/facts1.html
  The booklet you'll find at the link above focuses on the role of interagency agreements in facilitating the transition of young children and their families from early intervention services to preschool services as children turn three years of age. It even closes with sample agreements!
  

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The IFSP

• IFSPweb.
  www.answers4families.org/ifspweb/
  This online self-paced tutorial is designed to help families and professionals develop better IFSPs for young children with disabilities. It is specifically for Nebraska families and professionals, but we all can learn here, too.
  
  
• IFSPs in your state.
  www.nichcy.org/states.htm
  We refer you again to NICHCY's state resource sheets, where you can find an entrance point into your state's early intervention system. It's amazing how many states have online modules and explanations for parents and professionals with respect to the state's approach to IFSPs and service delivery. Just to name a few...to give you an idea of what a valuable resource you might find if you go looking via NICHCY's state sheets...take a look at what several states offer. Kinda makes you wanna find out what your state offers!
  

  Arizona: Early Intervention Program.
  www.de.state.az.us/azeip/default.asp
  
  Colorado: Early Childhood Connections.
  www.cde.state.co.us/earlychildhoodconnections/
  
  Connecticut: Birth to Three.
  www.birth23.org/
  
  Indiana: First Steps.
  www.in.gov/fssa/first_step/info/index.html
  
  Kansas.
  Intro into the system: www.kdhe.state.ks.us/cds/index.html
  Online inservice training for families & professionals: www.kskits.org/index.shtml
  
  Maryland.
  The IFSP Process Tutorial: http://cte.jhu.edu/courses/ifsp/
  
  Missouri: First Steps.
  http://dese.mo.gov/divspeced/FirstSteps/
  
  Texas: Early Childhood Intervention.
  www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/index.shtml
  
  Wisconsin: Birth to 3.
  Intro into the system: http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/bdds/birthto3/
  But check out this next step: www.waisman.wisc.edu/birthto3/index.htmlx
  

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Involving Families Effectively

• Helping parents understand the assessment process.
  www.zerotothree.org/newvisions.html
  ZERO TO THREE, the National Center For Infants, Toddlers and Families, offers "New Visions for Parents," a packet of materials that contains, among other things, (a) A Parent's Guide to Understanding Developmental Assessment; (b) Planning and Preparing for Your Child's Developmental Assessment; and (c) List of Terms: Terms Frequently Used in Developmental Assessment. Parents can read or download these materials online at the link above, and practitioners can download and share them with parents.
  
  
• More for families on assessment.
  www.newassessment.org/Public/Channels/document.cfm?ID=2
  Assessment Tips for Parents is short and sweet and to the point.
  
  
• Family-centered assessment practices.
  www.kihd.gmu.edu/mectt/trainingpackage.htm
  Above, under "Child Find," we mentioned a training curriculum available from the Multicultural Early Childhood Team Training (MECTT) project at the Helen A. Kellar Institute for Human disAbilities. Well, Module 6 of the training curriculum focuses on family-centered assessment. Assessment is defined; family-centered assessment practices are described; and cultural factors influencing assessment are identified. The role of the family throughout the assessment process is discussed.
  
  
• Explaining rights and safeguards to families.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/assuring.pdf
  Assuring the Family's Role on the Early Intervention Team: Explaining Rights and Safeguards provides a thorough discussions of what rights and safeguards we're talking about and includes clear, easy-to-read materials that can be shared with parents.
  
  
• Involving Latino families.
  www.fpg.unc.edu/products/product_detail.cfm?apubsid=513
  Addressing the Needs of Latino Children: A National Survey of State Administrators of Early Childhood Programs (Executive Summary) examines the linguistically and culturally relevant practices that state administrators reported were recommended or being used by early education and intervention programs that enrolled Latino children and families.
  
  
• Working with culturally & linguistically diverse families.
  http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/eecearchive/digests/2001/bruns01.html
  
  
• Walking the walk: A guide to diversity resources for trainers.
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~walkingthewalk/pdfs/WTW_guide.pdf
  This annotated listing of high quality resources includes videotapes, books, curricula, and other materials that can be used to assist in growing a more diverse and better prepared workforce to serve infants, toddlers, children and families who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
  
  
• Getting fathers involved.
  http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v5n2/green.html
  
  
• National Parent Leadership Development Project for ICCs.
  www.iccparent.org/
  Being a parent representative on an ICC can be a confusing but exhilarating experience. The leadership support project at the link above is designed to support parents of children with disabilities serving on their state ICC, offer leadership institutes, a network of fellow parents, and the opportunity to orient, learn, grow, and succeed in the role.
  
  
• Influencing the interaction between parent and child.
  www.clas.uiuc.edu/techreport/tech13.html
  
  
  

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• Out of EI and into preschool: What's it all about?
  www.handsandvoices.org/articles/education/law/transition.html
  Here's a decent explanation, including why it's important to plan for this transition; the benefits to children, families, and teachers of such planning; and the chief differences between the EI system and preschool service system in terms of child find, referral, evaluation, eligibility, family involvement, the type of plan that's written and the services that are delivered, and service coordination
  
  
• Pull a thread and find a minibibliography.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/transition.pdf
  Transitions From Infant Toddler Services to Preschool Education - Minibibliography is available online from NECTAC. This annotated bibliography presents resources related to transitions from infant-toddler services to preschool education.
  2004, 8 pages.
  
  
• Parents! For Parents!
  http://facts.crc.uiuc.edu/facts4/facts4.html
  If you're a parent and your child is going to soon be transition out of early intervention and into preschool services, you may find Planning Your Child's Transition to Preschool: A Step-by-Step Guide for Families very helpful.
  
  
• Who's in charge of preschool services, and what are they doing?
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/sec619_2005.pdf
  Find out in the 2005 edition of this annual NECTAC publication, which contains information on state policies, programs, and practices under the Preschool Grants Program (Section 619 of Part B) of IDEA. Information supplied by the coordinators of state and jurisdictional Section 619 programs updates the following content areas: program administration, funding, and education reform; charter and private schools; interagency coordination; personnel; transition; programming; accreditation and monitoring; performance outcomes; public awareness; IEPs, IFSPs, and family-centered services; state preschool program data from www.ideadata.org; and contact information for state and jurisdictional program coordinators.
  
  
• Recommended transition practices.
  www.clas.uiuc.edu/techreport/tech4.html
  This paper from CLAS examines current transition practices within the context of culturally and linguistically diverse groups, highlighting the transition from early intervention services to preschool services. An overview of recommended practice indicators in EI/ECSE and ECE is presented.
  
  
• Have you visited the center that's looking only at what makes for effective transitions?
  www.ihdi.uky.edu/NECTC/default.asp
  The National Early Childhood Transition Center (NECTC) is investigating and validating practices and strategies that enhance the early childhood transition process and support positive school outcomes for children with disabilities. Search NECTC's transition literature database, tell your transition story, and keep track of NECTC's emerging results and recommendations.
  
  
• And visit the The FACTS/LRE Project: Family and Child Transitions into Least Restrictive Environments.
  http://facts.crc.uiuc.edu
  Need suggestions or insights into how to ease transitions to preschool services? Visit FACTS/LRE.
  
  
• A preschool inclusion manual.
  www.circleofinclusion.org/english/pim/index.html
  Ten chapters of information and how-to's.
  
  
• Wanna join the Preschool LRE Community of Practice?
  www.tacommunities.org/ev_en.php?ID=1028_201&ID2=DO_COMMUNITY
  The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has formed several communities of practice (CoP) to improve implementation of IDEA. One focuses upon the Preschool LRE-Part B/619 Community. See what this CoP has to offer, at the link above.
  
  

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Materials in Spanish

• Intervención temprana: What is it? How to find it.
  www.nichcy.org/pubs/spanish/pa2stxt.htm
  NICHCY offers a Spanish version of Finding Help for Young Children with Disabilities (Birth-5). Early intervention services are explained, as well as how to access them for infants and toddlers. This Spanish publication will also connect readers with many of the major organizations who can tell them more.
  
  
• Intervención temprana--States offering info in Spanish about EI.
  Travel around to states with large Spanish speaking populations and you'll find information in Spanish about early intervention in general and state EI services in particular.
  

California.
Offers many materials about its Early Start system, such as:

"A Family Introduction to California's Early Start Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and Their Families" in Spanish.
www.dds.ca.gov/EarlyStart/PDF/Family_Introduction_EarlyStart_Spanish.pdf



Starting Out Together - An Early Intervention Guide for Families" in Spanish
www.dds.ca.gov/EarlyStart/PDF/StartingOut_Spanish.pdf



Parents' Rights: An Early Start Guide for Families" in Spanish.
www.dds.ca.gov/EarlyStart/PDF/Parents_Rights_Spanish.pdf




Colorado.
www.cde.state.co.us/earlychildhoodconnections/Sp_parents.htm





Florida.
www.firn.edu/doe/commhome/pdf/pikspanf.pdf





Nevada.
http://health2k.state.nv.us/BEIS/ChildFindBrochureSpan2005.pdf





New Mexico.
www.health.state.nm.us/ltsd/fit/earlyint.html





New York.
www.vesid.nysed.gov/lsn/HowIGrow/crezco.htm





Puerto Rico.
www.salud.gov.pr/Dsh/





Rhode Island.
www.dhs.state.ri.us/dhs/famchild/ei_forms/ei_central_directory_sp.pdf





Texas.
www.dars.state.tx.us/ecis/publications/SpanishHandbook.pdf





Virginia.
www.infantva.org/documents/fam-OfficalRightsBookletSpanish.pdf



• La importancia del hogar médico para los niños con necesidades especiales de salud: The medical home.
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/tools/spanishportal.html
  Find out about the "medical home" so important to children with special health care needs. Training materials in Spanish, too--at:
  www.medicalhomeinfo.org/training/manualspanish.html
  
  
• Detecting hearing loss early: Los programas de Detección Auditiva e Intervención Temprana.
  www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/ehdi/spanish/default.htm
  Los programas de Detección Auditiva e Intervención Temprana (EHDI, por sus siglas en inglés) están localizados en los estados y están diseñados para identificar a los niños con pérdida auditiva por medio de un examen universal. Esto permite que los niños que son identificados sean inscritos en un programa de intervención temprana. In other words: EHDI programs exist in the states to identify children with hearing loss as early as possible and to involve them in early intervention.
  
  
• Criando niños sordos: Raising children who are deaf.
  www.raisingdeafkids.org/spanish/learning/ei/index.jsp
  The link above takes you to a page describing in Spanish what early intervention is, how to access EI services, how the IFSP is designed, and much more.
  
  
• Intervención temprana y el síndrome de Down: EI and children with Down syndrome.
  w ww.ndss.org/content.cfm?fuseaction=InfoRes.HechosDesarrolloarticle&article=181
  An explanation of early intervention services, with specific focus upon EI for children with Down syndrome.
  
  
• Planificación de transiciones a preescolar: Planning transitions to preschool.
  www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/summer02/planning-span.htm
  This article, available in both English and Spanish from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, goes into some detail about how to plan for a child's transition from EI to preschool services.
  
  
• Orientación y movilidad: O&M.
  www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/spring05/how-span.htm
  Travel along with this parent as she learns what O&M services mean to her child who was diagnosed at 3 months with a cortical visual impairment. Cómo Aprendí Lo Que Significa O & M is also available in English (How I Learned What O&M Means).
  

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Effective Interventions

• Using assistive technology.
  www.fape.org/pubs/FAPE-12.pdf
  Research shows that using assistive technology can help young children with disabilities learn valuable skills. Find out more about AT for infants and toddlers at the link above.
  
  
• Really? Assistive technology for infants and toddlers with disabilities?
  www.asu.edu/clas/tnt/
  Yes, indeed, there are many ways in which AT can optimize such young children's development and learning. Visit the Tots 'n Tech Research Institute (TnT) and find out how. TnT has lots of materials and guidance for families and early interventionists alike.
  
  
• Funding assistive technology.
  www.nectac.org/~pdfs/pubs/atfunding.pdf
  This annotated bibliography from NECTAC presents resources exploring the various assistive technology funding sources for infants, toddlers and young children with disabilities.
  
  
• Helping children learn that there's a relationship between their behavior and its consequences.
  www.researchtopractice.info/productBridgesBBPecl.php
  The RTC on Early Childhood Development describes what's effective in "early contigency" learning and how disability or developmental delays affect a child's speed in learning the connection between their behavior and the consequences it may have. Implications for practice are described in terms of the environmental arrangements most likely to optimize the greatest amount of positive social responding. And hey! There's info in Spanish: ¡Sí! ¡Hice que pasará! (YES! I made it happen!) and ¡No hay apuro! Las investigaciones comprueban que vale el ser paciente (No rush! Research proves it pays to be patient).
  
  
• Promoting the social development of young children and addressing challenging behavior.
  http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/handouts/ProgramPractices.pdf
  Evidence-based program practices are provided in this fact sheet from Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior. A comprehensive model of universal, secondary, and indicated prevention and intervention practices are described.
  
  
• Addressing challenging behavior in general.
  http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu
  If this is your area of interest and concern, then, really, crawl all over the Web site of the Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children with Challenging Behavior. You'll find handouts, research, and training materials galore. Here are just a few titles to whet your appetite:

  Research Synthesis on Effective Intervention Procedures
  
  Systems of Service Delivery: A Synthesis of Evidence
  Relevant to Young Children With or At Risk of Challenging Behavior
  
  Supporting Infants and Toddlers with Challenging Behavior
  
  Comprehensive Evidence-Based Social-Emotional Curricula for Young Children



• Young children with disruptive behavior disorders and Parent-Child Intervention Therapy (PCIT).
  www.researchtopractice.info/productBridgesBBPtbi.php
  Here's another research-based resource from the RTC on Early Childhood Development. This one focuses upon Parent-Child Intervention Therapy (PCIT). Implications for practice are described in terms of core relationship-building and skills that parents can implement in order to optimize child behavior functioning.
  
  
• Autism and Pivotal Response Training (PRT).
  www.evidencebasedpractices.org/bridges/bridges_vol2_no4.pdf
  The RTC on Early Childhood Development strikes again. This resource from the RTC focuses upon improving the social and emotional behaviors of young children with autism. Implications for practice suggest a set of six strategies that encourage the social-emotional development in young children.
  
  
• Solutions Tool Kits: Practice guides for parents and early childhood staff alike.
  www.researchtopractice.info/productSolutions.php
  The RTC on Early Childhood Development just keeps on comin' with materials you can use. Their Solutions Tool Kits include collections of practice guides for promoting child development and learning. Any of these interest you?
  

  Games for growing: Teaching your baby using early learning games.
  www.researchtopractice.info/productSolutionsGG.php
  
  Lap It Up: Early learning through parent-child lap games.
  www.researchtopractice.info/productSolutionsLU.php
  
  Powerful Playtime: Toys and learning for the very young child.
  www.researchtopractice.info/productSolutionsPP.php
  
  Literacy for Little Ones: Activities to boost beginning reading, writing, and much more!
  www.researchtopractice.info/productSolutionsLLO.php
  
  Up Close and Personal: Strengthening the parent-child relationship.
  www.researchtopractice.info/productSolutionsUCP.php
  
  Accentuate the Positive: Strengthening positive child behaviors.
  www.researchtopractice.info/productSolutionsAP.php
  

• Promising Practices.
  www.promisingpractices.net/benchmark.asp?benchmarkid=26
  With the benchmark of "Increase the percentage of children 0-5 who exhibit age-appropriate mental and physical development," the Promising Practices Network link above will provide you with a list of "proven programs" and "promising programs."
  
  

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Here are some resources you can use in professional development. We also recommend that you use NICHCY's state resource sheets as a starting place to enter the EI system in your state and see what training modules or other training materials may be online for professional development purposes (see discussion above about state resources, under the section "IFSP".) There are quite a few. Even those from other states can be useful in developing staff knowledge and competencies.

• Selected early childhood/early intervention training materials.
  www.fpg.unc.edu/~scpp/pdfs/rguide.pdf
  Walking the Walk: A Guide to Diversity Resources for Trainers is an annotated listing of high quality videotapes, books, curricula, and other materials that can be used to assist in growing a more diverse and better prepared workforce to serve infants, toddlers, children and families who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
  
  
• Assistive technology: Training staff and families.
  http://asu.edu/clas/tnt/appendix/ATtrainingbrief2-8-05.pdf
  Find out how in Assistive Technology Training for Providers & Families of Children in Early Intervention, courtesy of Tots 'n Tech Research Institute (TnT). And while you're there, you may want to read Evidence Based Practice in Assistive Technology, available online at:
  http://asu.edu/clas/tnt/appendix/EBPBrieffinal9-28-04.pdf
  
  
• Diversity on your staff, diversity in the families you serve.
  www.fpg.unc.edu/~walkingthewalk/pdfs/WTW_guide.pdf
  Walking the Walk: A Guide to Diversity Resources for Trainers is an annotated listing of high quality videotapes, books, curricula, and other materials that can be used to assist in growing a more diverse and better prepared workforce to serve infants, toddlers, children and families who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
  
  
• Hook up with others in your shoes at the Early Childhood Education online.
  www.umaine.edu/eceol/
  The Early Childhood Education On Line Web site exists to promote and facilitate information management and exchange, and to serve as a resource and benefit for all children, their families, and all people who help them grow and learn. There, you'll find a listserv, a Treasure Hunt that functions as a Internet training exercise for Early Childhood educators, and a host of resources and connections across the spectrum of early childhood work.
  
  
• And here's another community online.
  www.atsweb.neu.edu/cp/ei/index.html
  The Global Early Intervention Network (GEIN) is an online informational resource and discussion community. It's dedicated to helping parents, service providers, students, faculty and others learn more about early intervention.
  
  
• Wanna join OSEP's Community of Practice for "Settings Part C Community?"
  www.tacommunities.org/ev_en.php?ID=1029_201&ID2=DO_COMMUNITY
  The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has formed several communities of practice (CoP) to improve implementation of IDEA. This one focuses on Part C settings. The welcome screen says, "Enhancing Services in Natural Environments/ Part C Settings: PEOPLE-- CONVERSATIONS-- CONTENT-- GET INVOLVED!"
  
  
• Designing an effective TA system to pass the word through your network.
  www.nectac.org/pubs/titlelist.asp#design
  NECTAC offers a three-part workbook that's intended to serve as a planning resource for state officials to help them think strategically about their technical assistance (TA) systems---how to design it, how to use it to improve capacity throughout the system. For the small cost of $5.00...read what you'll get at the link above.
  
  
• Staff development, as a stand-alone topic.
  www.nichcy.org/enews/foundations/stafftraining.asp
  Visit NICHCY's eNews Foundations page on "Effective Practices and Resources in Staff Development" for an indepth exploration of this critical topic.
  
  
• Dealing with specific disabilities.
  While professional practice guidelines are generally available within the individual professional disciplines (e.g., speech-language pathology, mobility and orientation, hearing habilitation), here are some resources you might find useful for working with children (or parents) who have specific disabilities.
  
  
• Cerebral palsy.
  www.ucp.org/ucp_generalsub.cfm/1/4/24
  The UCP Research and Educational Foundation produces Research Fact Sheets to inform professionals and the public about recent research findings, about the cause, diagnosis, and treatment of cerebral palsy and related developmental disabilities.
  
  
• Down syndrome.
  www.altonweb.com/cs/downsyndrome/index.htm?page=eieffective.html
  The link above will take you to one chapter online from a 1997 Paul H. Brookes book about the effectiveness of early intervention. This chapter focuses on the effectiveness of EI with children who have Down syndrome and describes in detail a number of interventions and their impact upon cognitive development, language and communication, parent-child interactions, and motor and physical development.
  
  
• Down syndrome and speech-language treatment.
  www.ds-health.com/speech.htm
  Here's another chapter from a 1998 book, this one called Down Syndrome: A Promising Future, Together, which appears online with permission of Wiley-Liss, Inc., a subsidiary of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Title of the chapter? "Comprehensive Speech and Language Treatment for Infants, Toddlers, and Children with Down Syndrome." More articles can be accessed via the home page (www.ds-health.com/), including "Why Physical Therapy?" and "Occupational Therapy and DS."
  
  
• Epilepsy.
  http://professionals.epilepsy.com/homepage/index.html
  The epilepsy.com/professionals Resource Library is an online epilepsy resource offering a comprehensive library of materials available for download that will help healthcare professionals better help those living with epilepsy. Find articles such as "Giving Medicine to Infants and Toddlers," "Classification of Epilepsies & Epilepsy Syndromes," and "First Aid for Seizures."
  
  
• Fragile X syndrome.
  www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncedl/PDFs/ED8_2.pdf
  Summer 2004, Volume 8, #2, of Early Developments, from the National Center for Early Development & Learning at the FPG Child Development Institute.
  
  
• Hearing impairments: Online training for EI professionals.
  http://center.uncg.edu/index.asp
  CENTe-R stands for Collaborative Early Intervention National Training e-Resource. CENTe-R's mission is to inform and support graduate-level professionals serving families with infants and toddlers who are deaf/hard of hearing through web-based training that embraces transdisciplinary approaches and connections among ongoing learners.
  
  
• Motor skill impairments and interventions.
  www.clas.uiuc.edu/techreport/tech1.html
  "Culturally and Linguistically Sensitive Practices in Motor Skills Intervention for Young Children," from CLAS.
  
  
• Visual impairment: Training modules online.
  http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~edin/
  The Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairments offers multimedia training modules that provide the basic knowledge and skills required to work with young children with visual impairments. Training modules at present include the following topics: Family-Centered Practices; Visual Conditions and Functional Vision: Early Intervention Issues; Communication and Emergent Literacy; Developmentally Appropriate Orientation and Mobility; and Assessment.
  
  
• More on visual impairment.
  www.clas.uiuc.edu/techreport/tech7.html
  From CLAS, "Visual Impairment In Young Children: A Review Of The Literature With Implications For Working With Families Of Diverse Cultural And Linguistic Backgrounds."
  
  
• For more on specific disabilities, don't forget NICHCY's info.
  We didn't mention the disability you're concerned with? We DID mention it, but you need more? Try these two places on our site, which will help you identify organizations on specific disabilities who offer indepth knowledge about the disability in question.
  

  Disability fact sheets.
  www.nichcy.org/disabinf.asp
  
  "Search for Info" page.
  www.nichcy.org/search.htm
  

• Still looking for info?
  www.brookespublishing.com/dictionary/index.htm
  Try Paul H. Brookes Publishing's online and searchable dictionary of disabilities. Enter your search term and get back definitions of disabilities, related disability organizations, medical terms, and more.
  
  

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Materials from Commercial Publishers

Depending on your needs, you may wish to visit the Web sites of commercial publishers, who offer a very useful range of materials helpful in early intervention, including recommended practices for working with children with specific disabilities, DVDs, training guides, and much more. We've listed some of the "biggies" below to get you started. More are listed in NICHCY's Connections...to Disability Publishers.

• Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
  www.brookespublishing.com/store/earlyintervention.htm
  
  
• Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
  www.cec.sped.org/bk/catalog2/early_child.html
  
  
• Pro-Ed, Inc.
  www.proedinc.com/store/index.php?mode=subcategories
  Scroll down to "Early Development and Intervention" and find books, materials, and tests.
  
  
• Sopris West.
  www.sopriswest.com/
  
  
• Woodbine House.
  www.woodbinehouse.com
  
  
• Thomson Delmar Learning.
  www.delmarlearning.com
  
  
• Institute for Family-Centered Care.
  www.familycenteredcare.org
  
  
• Love Publishing.
  www.lovepublishing.com/
  Just click on “special education” at this publisher’s Web site to find a categorical list of special-needs resources, including early intervention resources.
  
  
• Sensory Resources.
  www.sensoryresources.com/
  
  
• Teaching Strategies.
  www.teachingstrategies.com/
  
  

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