Early Intervention: A Routines-based Approach - Part 2: What Intervention Can-and Should-Look Like

This is the second video in a three part series. Part 2 features three early interventionists discussing and demonstrating what intervention looks like when it is provided by collaborating with families during their natural routines and activities.

(female narrator)
The field of early intervention

is maturing.

We are learning that when
providers support and enhance

the confidence and competence
of parents and caregivers,

it benefits the child's development.

By building upon the family's

everyday routines and activities

we can individualize
early intervention supports

and make them meaningful for
that family and that child.

A routines-based approach

helps caregivers understand
how to help the child

learn and develop
during natural activities.

The caregiver then
continually supports the child

when a provider is not
in the family's home.

Let's listen now as three
early interventionists

share what this all
looks like in practice.

(female speaker)
Okay, you show me

how you can do it all by yourself.

When I think of myself
as a coach with a family,

I wanna be able to come into that home

and sit with the family,
get to know that family,

get to know their routines

and then look at what can
we do within that routine

to help support that little one

become more of a
participant and more active.

Let's go get some chicken.

So when I'm working with
a family and using coaching,

I want to, one, engage with that
family, interact with them,

and understand what's
happening during their routines

throughout the day.

Is it yummy, yummy, yummy?

So that we can identify
the routine and the times

that they can best help
their little person

accomplish the goals,
develop their skills,

and be able to do, um,
optimally

what we would like for them to do.

(Robin)
One more time.

I wanna give them the
tools and the education,

the knowledge of what are the next steps

that they're gonna need
in order to help their little one

continue to do
that same activity the next day

or the next day.

Apple.

(female speaker)
Apple, he's eating an apple?

Just like you.

(narrator)
Parents sometimes enter

into the early intervention
system with preconceived notions

about what these services will look like.

They are under the assumption
that a provider will come in

and work with their child,

focusing on specific and isolated skills

that the child may be missing.

The caregiver may have been
referred by a physician

or another agency staff member

who does not understand
the shift from a clinical

to a more routines-based approach.

So how do you explain this to families?

When it comes to coaching,
I oftentimes describe it as

I'm gonna be on the sidelines

helping you know what are
the next steps to take

and we're gonna look at that together,

an-and identify the situation and go,

"What could we do next?

"Wh-what t is he enjoying?

"What is he delighting in?"

John, it's time to clean up, you ready?

(narrator)
The provider focuses on supporting

every family where they are.

This means that each family
is looked at individually.

Family priorities
and uniqueness are celebrated

and built upon.

This is the starting point
for the early interventionist.

Well, one of the first things
I do when I go into a home

is I like to just go in
and sit on the floor

and look around at what they have

and let the mom and the child
initiate the activities.

I like to see what they, um, spontaneously

and on their own pull out to show me.

Um, and I think that puts
the mom and the child at ease

for them to initiate the activities.

>Which would you like?

Do you want the truck or the book?

Oh, the book.

I guess I also use a lot of turn taking.

So I model what I do with those activities
and then I say,

"Okay, it's mom's turn,"
and I hand the toy over to mom,

and let her t-uh, model what
I just modeled for her.

Let me see,
what do you think?

(narrator)
When parents have the opportunity

to interact with the provider
and observe new strategies

or activities being used with the child

and then practice those same strategies

while the provider offers
support or suggestions,

the parent gains experience
so that he or she

can continue using these strategies
when the provider is not present.

[singing]
All through the town!

So when we use
those natural environments

and when we use those
natural opportunities

that are happening in the-in-within
the day-to-day moment or real-time...

and if we support the child
or the parent in that moment,

during the week when service providers
are not within the home

that parent can reflect
on that moment and say,

"You know what, I can
do this, I'm confident.

"I am a facilitator for development
for my child,"

because it was a real life situation

and it's something that I can do
and I can generalize it

to another area of the child's life,
and it empowers them.

It-it makes them feel
confident in-in their ability

to create change.

You're laughin' so much.

You're losin' your clothes.

We give you, again,
those next steps, those tools,

the information,
the support that you need,

and thereby he's getting
much more intervention

throughout the week
than if we just bring in

another person for one hour.

Can you pull?

Pull!

I think that my focus has become
much more family focused.

Now it's more what does
the family want in their life,

and how do I help the family
reach those goals?

They're not two separate skills that--

If I wanna promote what's valuable,

my first role is to find out

what are their expectations of that child,

and what do they want to be able
to do with their child

and what is a struggle for them
in their day-to-day life,

in the moment to moment.

That's what's important to me.

Did you have a good time?

So it's much more
of a shared responsibility.

It's not-the onus of the responsibility,

making that difference, is not
on my shoulder so squarely,

but it's a shared responsibility
and I have empowered the parent

and they have developed their confidence

and their competence
and they're able to explore

what it is that they can do
to help their little person

and to make a difference in their lives,

and then they can find the joy
in making those differences.

Thank you, thank you, hug.

(narrator)
This video has given you an inside look

at three providers who have shared

what their early intervention
practices truly look like,

how they engage the family, use coaching,

and build on everyday
routines and activities.

Perhaps you are wondering how
you can make these changes.

Tune in to the third segment of this video

to help you get started.