Early Identification and Intervention

• Can we counteract the effects of poverty and maternal deprivation?

• Why must we catch reading problems early?video = http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid60717629001?bctid=6801860001

• Legal guidelines• Identification• Interventions• Early success in school is necessary but not

sufficient to success in later schooling.

Legal support

• Head Start (1964)• 92-424 required Head Start to include 10% of

enrollment to children with disabilities

• 99-457extends 94-142 increases support to ages 3-5 (sets intervention or econ support) and adds support 0-2

• 101-476 IDEA brings services to infants who are exposed to substance abuse.

• 102-119 expanded 99-457 to include comprehensive services to students with disabilities ages 3-5 and begin IFSP and multidisciplinary evals for ages 0-2

Identification and Prediction Issues

• http://www.ldonline.org/article/Learning_Disabilities_and_Young_Children%3A_Identification_and_Intervention

• Prenatal– Alpha-fetoprotein blood test to determine birth defects or Down

syndrome– Sonography (Ultrasound) to see proportions and body– Amniocentesis to test placenta to determine a number of disabilities

• Postnatal screening– Apgar test to determine weaknesses

• Heart rate, respiratory effect, muscle tone, physical state (e.g. skin color)

– Evaluations with Curriculum (presented later)

• What is the predictability of such tests and evals?

Interventions: Services• Hospital

– May provide interventions from first day

• Home and Family– In-home interventions to account for in-home routines

• Early Childhood Intervention Center– Aimed at working with children at center and in home– Therapists to work with children up to 45 min/day– Use developmentally appropriate practices (e.g. exploration)

• Day-Care and Early Childhood Center– Usually not designed for students with disabilities– Teachers usually need additional training– Lead to many positive personal and social effects long term due

to abilities to make decisions

• School possible between ages 3-5

Intervention: Curriculum• Assessments:

– Type- motor development, fine motor, speech and language, social and emotional, self-help

– Format- transdisciplinary play (assesses in a natural setting)

• Curriculum– Special Equipment (wheelchair, hearing aid ..)– Reductionism and task analysis (drinking, eating ..)– Exposure to a variety of educationally sound

experiences (print)– When older – many explicit instructional strategies are

introduced.

Next Steps• Later this semester we will discuss academic

interventions are important to helping students who may be at-risk for LD.

• According to the Child Development Institute we need to recognize and respond to children’s needs through:– An intervention hierarchy entailing three tiers of instruction and

intervention.– Screening, assessment, and progress monitoring to guide the

teacher’s decision to move a child from one tier to the next.– Research-based curriculum, instruction, and intervention.– Collaborative problem-solving.

Summary

• What are the possible placements where an infant with a disability can be served?

• How is a child assessed before birth to determine if a disability may be present?

• How is a child tested after birth?• What kinds of curricula are possible for different

age levels of children with disabilities?