1 Setting the Stage Carl Dunst, Robin McWilliam,Mary Beth Bruder, Julianne Woods, Pip Campbell, Dathan Rush, M’lissa Sheldon, Jack Neisworth, Stephen Bagnato, Barbara Hanft, Lee Ann Jung, DEC Recommended Practices

2 The Primary Provider or Transdisciplinary Approach The primary provider or transdisciplinary approach for implementing IFSP supports and services is based on maximum communication and collaboration among families, other caregivers and the primary service provider along with consultation from specialists.

3 Primary Provider or Transdisciplinary Principles Primary Provider or Transdisciplinary Principles

4 Families and Interventionist:  Share a holistic view of the child in the context of the family and community.  Support the capacity of the family to enhance their child’s development.  Align around an integrated approach to achieving IFSP outcomes.  Cross and re-cross disciplinary boundaries to achieve service integration in family routines and activities.

5 Children and Learning  Children learn throughout the day  It’s the family that influences the child and interventionists can influence the family  All the intervention for the child occurs between visits  It’s maximal intervention the child needs, not maximal services

6 Intervention Versus Service  Intervention: What the child receives  Service: What the parents receive

7 Transdisciplinary Practices for Primary Provider Approach Teaming

8 Teaming Members have a broad knowledge base/understanding of typical and atypical child development including language, social, motor, self help and cognitive skills.

9 Teaming Members are competent and secure in their professional practice and blend their perspectives and skills to focus on integrated, meaningful outcomes for the child’s participation in daily life

10 Teaming Interventionists practice role release and role expansion. Regularly scheduled team meetings and consultations provide opportunities for exchange of information and training for the whole team. All members support the primary service provider.

11 Transdisciplinary Practices Primary Provider Approach

12 Primary Provider A primary provider is selected based on the unique characteristics of the child and family. That person might change based on the changing needs of the child and priorities of the family.

13 Primary Provider The primary provider works in a continuing and close relationship with the family and child within their daily routines and activities. They use the support-based model:  Emotional support  Material support  Informational support The strongest predictor of the outcomes of early intervention is the relationship the family has with their primary service provider.

14 Primary Provider Benifits  The family receives strong support from one person, do not have to get to know multiple people  The family hosts only one visit, not multiple visits, on their home visiting schedule  The supports and services for child and family are coordinated, not fragmented  The service providers, especially therapists, can serve more families more flexibly

15 Transdisciplinary Practices Intervention (child) Services (adult)

16 Intervention Parents and other caregivers use the natural advantages of their daily caregiving roles to support the child’s development through maximizing the power of frequently occurring everyday routines and activities. Very young children learn through repeated interactions with people and material in their environments over time, not through “massed trials”.

17 McWilliam Do the Math  An early interventionist is only “there” a tiny bit of the week:  Two 30 minute sessions = 60 minutes a week.  The family, and other care givers, are always there:  10 minutes of intervention during 10 waking hours = 100 minutes a day or 700 minutes a week.

Dunst, Ferrier Do the Math Again  Twice a week hourly therapy provided in the absence of parent participation equals about 2% of the total waking hours of a one-year old.  Each routine (e.g. putting a child asleep for a nap) that infants experience regularly accounts for more than 2,000 episodes of everyday learning opportunities by the time a child is one year old.

19 Services Interventionists offer parents additional skills and information to support the parent’s abilities to enhance their child’s development which in turn enhances parent confidence and competence.

20 Services By sharing their knowledge and expertise, team members support families in making informed decisions and actively enhancing their child’s development.

21 Services The primary provider works within everyday routines with the child and family by offering information, modeling, teaching skills, and participating in on-going assessment.

22 Services The primary provider focuses on supporting the child and family’s daily routines and activities that are continued across time and contexts (remember: do the math).

23 Summary: Keys to Success  Knowledge of how young children develop and learn  Shared purpose, families “own” goals  Effective communication  Disciplinary expertise  Openness to role release and role expansion  Collaborative problem-solving