My child qualifies for Early Intervention-
Now What?

We are looking forward to working with you and your child! We want to help you with your concerns and work with you in the way that is most comfortable for your child and your family.

When a child qualifies for Early Intervention, we create a plan called an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) which helps identify the things we will be doing together. To help us create this plan, we will first be meeting to do a Routines Based Interview (RBI).

The Routines Based Interview is an opportunity for us to talk about your child's typical daily routines. By talking about your day-to-day life you will be helping us to see what is most important for your family and your child. This will also help to identify when you have concerns about your child.

To help you prepare for this meeting it would be helpful for you to think about your typical day. As we talk about each routine within your day we will ask you questions such as:

• What is your child doing?

• What is everyone in the family is doing?

• How happy is everyone with this activity or routine?

An example of a routine is mealtime. Maybe this is an important time for your family to be together and everything is working out great. Or it may be a time when your child is struggling with chewing food and you are concerned that your child is not eating enough.

After the Routines-Based Interview is completed we will meet to write your IFSP. The IFSP is based on the concerns you identify during the Routines-Based Interview. These concerns will become the outcomes we will work on together.

An example of an outcome might be: We want our child to be able to eat the same food the rest of the family eats. Outcomes can also be for the parents or other members of the family. An example of this type of outcome might be: We want our children to get along. The IFSP is specific to you, your family, and your needs.

As part of the IFSP, we will discuss where would be the best place for us to provide services to you and your child. This might be at your home, at your child's childcare center or home daycare or at the home of a grandparent.

We will also be discussing who will be providing the services you need. You will have a Family Service Coordinator. This will be a person with a professional background in Early Intervention, Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy or Social Work. This person is responsible for working with you on keeping the IFSP up to date and making sure the outcomes you identified are being addressed regularly.

Your Family Service Coordinator will also schedule visits from other professionals in our program, as necessary. Your Family Service Coordinator will be present for all of these visits and will help you carry out recommendations from other professionals.

The IFSP can be updated at anytime based on changes in your child or in your family situation. Outcomes can be added or changed whenever needed. We are required to review the IFSP six months from when it was written. At that time a Routines-Based Interview will also be done so that we can re-look at your child's daily routines. This helps us see if we are meeting your needs. The plan is then totally re-written each year.

Your Family Service Coordinator will be your contact if you have questions or concerns or scheduling needs.

Our goal is to help you take full advantage of all the learning opportunities your child has during a typical day.

Your Family Service Coordinator will be there to encourage and support you.

If you have further questions, please contact TARC's Children's Services at 232-0597, ex. 307.