By Dana Childress, Ph.D. & Megan Schumaker-Murphy, Ed.D.
In this fourth and final webinar in our series Going Virtual, we will wrap up with a discussion that focuses on two things: 1) what we learned from partnering with families virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2) how we can use what we learned to overcome and address challenges with equitable, virtual early intervention (EI) service delivery. First, we will discuss findings from 353 EI service providers across 26 states who shared their insights in a survey about tele-intervention (also called virtual service delivery, telepractice, telehealth). Then, we’ll use what we learned, along with additional insights from you and other webinar participants, to take a “choose your own adventure” tour of scenarios that describe four specific challenges commonly faced during tele-intervention, including engaging a distracted caregiver, managing limitations to internet access, working with a caregiver of a toddler who is on the move, and partnering with a family who speaks a language different from your own.
Here’s an idea: Before the webinar, think about how you have overcome tele-intervention challenges. Jot down three of your best strategies to share. Or, if you need some prompts, consider these questions:
- What is your best tip for engaging a parent virtually who may be distracted by working from home or caring for multiple children?
- How do you help families with limited access to the internet take advantage of a virtual service option?
- How do you coach a parent to use EI strategies with their busy toddler?
- How do you coach diverse families and collaborate with language interpreters to ensure families have equitable EI experiences?
We hope you’ll join us on November 16th from 11:00-12:30 EST! Visit the Using Family-Centered Strategies to Address Challenges event page to RSVP and learn more.
To watch the other archived webinars in this series, visit the Going Virtual homepage.
Image from Pixabay.com, CC0
