Educating the Educator: A step-by-step process for referring children for early intervention services

The probability that you have (or will have) a child in your class with a developmental delay is high. The question is: What do you do once you detect a possible delay in any one of the five domains of delay -- communication, cognitive, social/emotional, physical, and adaptive? This article is designed to give insight into the early intervention process and what your role is in facilitating that process from beginning to end.

The early intervention process:

Step 1. Express your concerns to your administrative staff. The administrative staff should then express the concerns to the parents or caregivers of the child.

Step 2. Once the concerns have been expressed to the family, make the suggestion of obtaining a multidisciplinary evaluation of the child. This evaluation will assess the child’s abilities in all 5 developmental domains.

Step 3. If the family agrees to have the child assessed, refer them to their local Early Intervention agency.

Once the agency has been contacted, it will schedule a time for the evaluation. The MDE team will provide a written report of the evaluation to the caregivers. If the child is demonstrating a delay and is judged to be eligible for early intervention services, the agency will schedule a date and time with the family to hold an Individualized Education Plan (I.E.P.) meeting.

Remember, as the child’s teacher, you play an important role in his/her education plan. You are now part of the I.E.P. team. Your input is crucial to the child’s success. It is the responsibility of the child’s classroom teacher to carry out the recommendations made by the special instructor and/or therapist.

Source: Childcare Exchange