While coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread across the globe, public health strategies-including the social distancing measures that many countries have implemented- have caused ...disruptions to daily routines. For children with disabilities and their families, such measures mean a lack of access to the resources they usually have through schools and habilitation or rehabilitation services. Health emergencies, like the current COVID-19 pandemic, require innovative strategies to ensure continuity of care. The objective of this perspective paper is to propose the adoption of two innovative strategies for teleintervention.
The novel strategies include: (1) to apply the principles of the Routines-Based Model beyond the early years of development, and (2) to adopt My Abilities First-which is a novel educational tool promoting an abilities-oriented approach in healthcare encounters.
In the context of COVID-19, and using accessible language, the content of the paper highlights what is important for families and individuals with disabilities, and how the proposed novel strategies could be useful delivering remote support.
The principles of the Routines-Based Model and My Abilities First are universal and facilitate collaborative, empathic, family-centered teleintervention for children and youth with disabilities during and post the COVID-19 lockdown.
Early intervention is a system of services designed to strengthen child outcomes and build family capacity. One approach of service provision is the Routines-Based Model which implements ...adult-learning practices wherein service providers and caregivers partner to build family-mediated interventions for children. Owing to COVID-19 and the benefits of telepractice, more and more service providers are likely to incorporate a telepractice modality into service provision. Because the Routines-Based Model uses family consultation, these home-visiting practices translate well to telepractice. In addition to consultation techniques, however, service providers must use technology advantageously to ensure effective communication practices. This article discusses technology uses in telepractice that can be incorporated in the Routines-Based Model, Tele-Routines-Based Home Visits, and examples of Tele-Routines-Based Home Visits.
This pilot study aimed to examine the effects of a caregiver-supported, narrative-based intervention program on the story retelling skills of a group of preschoolers who are deaf and hard of hearing ...(D/HH) using listening and spoken language (LSL).
A concurrent multiple baseline design across participants was used to determine the effect of a narrative intervention on the story retelling skills of three preschool-age participants who demonstrated complex language delays. Their primary caregivers also functioned as participants. The 6-week narrative intervention program was implemented using a caregiver coaching model during individual therapy sessions. The dependent variable probes were administered twice per week across phases to assess the preschool participants' story retelling skills, including story grammar, complexity, and completeness. Social validity was also evaluated using a caregiver questionnaire.
A functional relation was demonstrated between the intervention and story retelling across all three preschool participants with notable increases in the inclusion of story grammar elements and episodic completeness. All three participants maintained scores above baseline levels on dependent variable probes across the 6-week maintenance period. Social validity was strong according to the results of a caregiver questionnaire completed at the conclusion of the intervention.
These findings offer preliminary support for the use of a caregiver-supported, narrative-based intervention program to improve storytelling and retelling skills in preschoolers who are D/HH using LSL.
•We conduct a psychometric evaluation of individualized family service plans (IFSPs).•Rasch measurement model is employed to investigate the scale's functioning and fit.•Highest rated items were ...those connected to basic skills or required by law.•Difficult items were indicative of higher skills, beyond simple mastery of lower skills.•Rasch analysis allows a new lens to examine and improve important measures.
This study presents evidence regarding the construct validity and internal consistency of the IFSP Rating Scale (McWilliam & Jung, 2001), which was designed to rate individualized family service plans (IFSPs) on 12 indicators of family centered practice. Here, the Rasch measurement model is employed to investigate the scale's functioning and fit for both person and item diagnostics of 120 IFSPs that were previously analyzed with a classical test theory approach. Analyses demonstrated scores on the IFSP Rating Scale fit the model well, though additional items could improve the scale's reliability. Implications for applying the Rasch model to improve special education research and practice are discussed.
Comments on an article by Dunst and Bruder. Service coordination was supposed to be one of the major jewels in the legislative crown for young children with disabilities and their families. The ...authors have cast their experienced eyes on the heart of the matter, which is the models of service coordination that sprang to life almost immediately after P.L. 99-457 was passed. Results of the study in question showed that the dedicated and independent model was associated with service coordinators' providing fewer services than they did in the other models. This study did not include the question of whether families received the help anyway, from their service providers. The current mania for outcomes has led to much attention to ends and not enough to means, and it is the means that families are dealing with. Service coordination activities that different families really want or benefit from should be identified and examined with respect to how much families are receiving them. The study might lead to the conclusion that the intra-agency model might be the best solution, combining benefits reported here with the possibility of a mechanism "for families to challenge disagreeable service delivery arrangements and to assert their own needs and priorities." But many communities are not organized by agencies or programs.
The formal system of supports for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families is early intervention under Part C of IDEA. The major activities undertaken in early intervention are home ...visits, family-centered practices, coaching, responsive teaching, routine-based interventions, service coordination, and transition to preschool. Challenges remaining to be solved are using models for the effective delivery of services, using technology, providing training and supervision, and offering specialized, inclusive classroom options.
Council for Exceptional Children Cook, Bryan; Buysse, Virginia; Klingner, Janette ...
Teaching exceptional children,
07/2014, Letnik:
46, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In this article, the "Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)" presents Standards for Evidence-Based Practices in Special Education. The statement presents an approach for categorizing the evidence ...base of practices in special education. The quality indicators and the criteria for categorizing the evidence base of special education practices is intended for use by groups or individuals with advanced training and experience in educational research design and methods. The CEC's approach to categorizing the evidence base of practices in special education considers two research methods: group comparison research (e.g., randomized experiments, nonrandomized quasi-experiments, regression discontinuity designs) and single-subject research. The article next describes the standards establish criteria for five evidence-based classifications: evidence-based practices, potentially evidence-based practices, mixed effects, insufficient evidence, or negative effects. CEC's goal is that the standards will be applied to better understand the effectiveness of a range of practices for learners with disabilities. This report was commissioned by the Council for Exceptional Children Board of Directors. A workgroup comprising seven special education researchers: Bryan Cook, Chair; Virginia Buysse; Janette Klingner; Tim Landrum; Robin McWilliam; Melody Tankersley; and Dave Test developed, vetted, and piloted the new standards for determining evidence-based practices in special education.
Despite the importance of empowerment and the support network of families who receive early intervention (EI) with a family-centered approach, there is little evidence of a relationship between these ...two variables and family characteristics that might influence this relationship. This study analyzes the correlations between the perception of empowerment of the families, the family supports used, and the socio-demographic factors of both the child and the family. The study consisted of 44 families who received family-centered EI services. Our results show that families mainly used formal supports, followed by informal supports, and, to a lesser extent, intermediate supports. This indicates that families with children who receive EI preferably use the support network based on EI programs, schools, and professionals. Along with this formal support network, primary caregivers rely on their partners, parents, or friends-that is, the informal support network. Family empowerment was not correlated with age, diagnosis, or the reason for referral to EI; on the other hand, it was related to the supports where the families with the lowest empowerment scores were those who made greater use of formal support over informal support. Early intervention professionals must know, from the first encounter, the type and level of support of each family to enhance the development of the child and promote empowerment in families.
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