Early Intervention and Family-Centered Care

Course overview

Federal legislation authorizing EI services for infants and toddlers with disabilities (Part C of IDEA) mandates a service-delivery model of family-centered services to enhance the capacity of families to meet their children's needs. Parenting values, beliefs, and behaviors have been shown to predict developmental outcomes. Effective intervention plans for children with disabilities share responsibility with families, are individualized to the family and child, and include coaching to produce functional change for the child. Based on evidenced-based principles of family-systems theory, early motor learning, developmental psychology, and parent interaction behaviors, topics in this course will include assessment of risk for developmental delays, family assessment of coping and adaptation to disability, conducting a family interview to inform clinical decision-making, assessment of parent-child interactions to support behavior, and strategies to support a therapeutic alliance with the family.