Intervention with Infants and Toddlers: The Law, the Participants, and the Process

The goal of this book is to assist students in a variety of professions to prepare for careers working with infants and toddlers; another important audience includes professionals who are currently working with that population. As the title indicates, the first consideration is IDEA which governs the delivery of service to individuals with disability, including infants and toddlers. Knowledge of the legal requirements, while not appealing to many, is requisite to competent and responsible intervention. It is also important to understand the variety of ways in which individual states have attempted to comply with these requirements and the extent to which caregivers have been involved in testing compliance. Readers are advised to remain conversant with changes in both state and federal legal requirements. Next, the professional participants in the caregiver-professional intervention partnership are considered. Too often, professionals work on intervention teams without appreciating the breadth and quality of the other’s preparation and skills; these are briefly reviewed as is consideration of how these professional teams may be structured. The most important players on the team are the caregivers and the various constitutions of “families” are explored, as well as the ways in which socioeconomic and cultural diversity may impact intervention. Finally, the process of intervention is described beginning with the identification of infants and toddlers with suspected delays and continuing through the assessment, IFSP, and transition phases of service. Aspects of service delivery which may be common to all providers are considered last, along with research findings on the efficacy of intervention with infants and toddlers. It is hoped that case coordinators, program managers, developmental, occupational, and physical therapists, speech-language pathologists and audiologists, and ancillary early intervention providers will be included in the audience this book reaches.