Pause and Reflect Excerpt.pdf

Pause and Reflect

Your Guide to a Deeper Understanding of Early Intervention Practice

by Dana C. Childress, Ph.D. Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University Chesapeake, Virginia

Contents

Chapter 1 Early Intervention as a Practice Reflective Journal Action Plan

Chapter 2 Fundamentals of Early Intervention Practice Reflective Journal Action Plan

Chapter 3 Balanced Intervention: Supporting the Caregiver and the Child Reflective Journal Action Plan

Chapter 4 Gathering Meaningful Information From Families Reflective Journal Action Plan

Chapter 5 Strategies for Implementing a Balanced Intervention Visit Reflective Journal Action Plan

Chapter 6 Taking Care of Yourself.

About the Author

Dana C. Childress, Ph.D., Early Intervention Professional Development Consultant, Chesapeake, Virginia

Dana Childress, Ph.D., is an early intervention professional development consultant with the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked in the field of early intervention (EI) since 1995 as an educator, service coordinator, supervisor, trainer, author, and consultant. She is the coauthor of the book Family-Centered Practices in Early Intervention: Supporting Infants and Toddlers in Natural Environments (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2015). Her interests include adult learning and EI service delivery, family-centered practices, supporting family implementation of intervention strategies, and bridging the research-to-practice gap through interactive professional development for EI practitioners.

Preface

Ever had one of those visits when you got back in your car and just felt deflated? Frustrated? Or perhaps puzzled about why the child is not making progress or the caregiver doesn’t seem engaged? After sessions like that, it can be easy to explain away those feelings by placing responsibility on the family.

Consider this: Caregivers often do not know what they are supposed to do during visits. They enter the system with no frame of reference for this kind of experience. A mother who stays out of the way may think this is "the expert’s time" with her child. When we see these things happening, the first thing to do is step back and reflect on what you are doing during the visit because how you approach each session matters. This book will focus on the how because how you collaborate with families affects what happens during and between visits.

Acknowledgments

Writing this book has been a wonderful opportunity for my worlds to collide. I am grateful to Paul H. Brookes Publishing for believing in my idea to combine my experience in early intervention (EI) with what I've learned from my professional development work and my doctoral research. My appreciation extends to my colleagues on the Integrated Training Collaborative project at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University. To all of the families I have been fortunate to partner with in the past—thank you for sharing your experiences with me.

Early Intervention as a Practice

Imagine this scenario: You knock on the apartment door and you are welcomed into the home. You sit beside the mother on the couch, greet the smiling toddler, and start chatting about their week. You invite the mother to share updates on using intervention strategies with her child practiced during the last visit.

As service providers, we often think about our work in the context of a system of EI services and supports for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities and their families. When you think about your work, consider the distinction between traditional child-focused interventions and family-centered practices, where the caregiver is actively involved.

Reflection Activities

  1. Reflective Journal

    • New Ideas: ____
    • Ideas that Challenged Me: ____
    • Thoughts & Feelings: ____

  2. Action Plan
    Instructions: Based on your reflections, what do you want to do next?
    By ___________________ (date), I will take responsibility for growing my early intervention practice by learning more about (knowledge or practice).

My key takeaway: ____

Remember: