by Crystal Williams, Ed.M.
Early intervention (EI) service delivery has had to adapt over the last year to mitigate the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In some states, forms of remote service delivery, such as telehealth have been implemented in order to safely meet the needs of young children with disabilities and their families. Telehealth is generally defined as an alternative to providing services in-person using audio and/or video to connect providers with caregivers to support a child’s development within daily routines and activities [1]. The regulations for using telehealth vary and change frequently based on a state’s COVID-19 guidelines. It is important for early intervention providers to stay up-to-date and knowledgeable about their state’s guidelines.
Early intervention providers currently engaging in telehealth practices can support other providers who may have only recently begun to provide services in this manner. This blog post series highlights questionnaire responses from EI providers known to this author from across disciplines and states to the following questions: (a) What’s going well? (b) What are the challenges? (c) What resources do you use? and (d) What supports do you need? To read earlier posts in this series, click on the hyperlinked text in the previous sentence. This week addresses resources providers found useful when conducting telehealth visits.
What resources do you use?
- State and Agency Guidelines – The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) has compiled a list of individual states’ guidance and resources related to remote service delivery and distance learning. This resource can help EI providers find guidance relevant to their location.
- Remote Service Delivery and Distance Learning Resources (from ECTA)
- Provider and Educator Use of Technology to Engage Families (from ECTA)
- The Illinois EI Clearinghouse
- Specific COVID-19 resources
- The Autism Program (TAP) at UIUC
- PLAY Project resources
- Illinois Early Learning Project
- Specific COVID-19 resources
Coaching Resources
- Joint Planning in Preparation for Live Video Visits form from the Early Intervention Training Program
- Routines-based Intervention and Mobile Coaching
- Tele-intervention and the routines-based model
- Telehealth Strategies for Early Intervention
Resources for Families
- Baby Signing Time Videos
- Tip Sheets
- Kinedu App for activities
Online Professional Trainings and Webinars
- Assessing and Addressing the Needs of Young Children with Disabilities Through Telecommunication
- Getting Started with Telehealth (Live Video Visits) for Early Intervention Providers – Tips & Tricks
- Telepractice in Early Intervention: ITCVA Webinar
- Play therapy techniques for phone and audio sessions
This blog post is the third in this series related to EI telehealth services. The first and second posts in the series can be found using the hyperlinks. The final post in this series will address the supports that EI providers feel they still need to be implemented in order to deliver services via telehealth in an effective manner.
Image from Pixabay.com, CC0
