Early Intervention and Family-Centered Care

Presented by Elisa Kennedy

Federal legislation authorizing EI services for infants and toddlers with disabilities (Part C of IDEA) mandates a service-delivery model of family-centered services to enhance the capacity of families to meet their children's needs. Parenting values, beliefs, and behaviors have been shown to predict developmental outcomes. Effective intervention plans for children with disabilities share responsibility with families, are individualized to the family and child, and include coaching to produce functional change for the child. Based on evidenced-based principles of family-systems theory, early motor learning, developmental psychology, and parent interaction behaviors, topics in this course will include assessment of risk for developmental delays, family assessment of coping and adaptation to disability, conducting a family interview to inform clinical decision-making, assessment of parent-child interactions to support behavior, and strategies to support a therapeutic alliance with the family.

Meet your instructor

A smiling woman with brown hair, glasses, and a red blouse is pictured against a white background.

Elisa Kennedy

Elizabeth "Elisa" T. Kennedy, PT, PhD, PCS, is an Associate Professor Emeritus in Physical Therapy, an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy (PT), and Adjunct Faculty in the College of Medicine, Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL. She received a PhD in Early…

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Chapters & learning objectives

1. Defining family-centered care (FCC) under Part C of IDEA

This chapter provides an evidence-based overview of FCC and explains the role of the clinician working in collaboration with families under Part C of IDEA.

2. Theoretical Framework Guiding Family-Centered Care in Early Intervention

This chapter describes the theoretical framework for service delivery in early intervention, allowing for the complexities of “real families” in the naturalistic settings.

3. Evidenced-Based Practice Linked to FCC

This chapter provides the practitioner with an understanding of the impact of early experiences on early brain development, functional neuroplasticity, and models of influence impacted by family systems.

4. Developing Meaningful EI Services Through a FCC Approach

The focus of the chapter is on developing meaningful goals and preparing for services with an emphasis on supporting the family and the child. This chapter provides clinicians with methods to cultivate and refine interview skills for the purpose of collecting, managing, and interpreting essential information to enhance developmental outcomes.

5. Supporting Families to Optimize Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in EI

The focus of this chapter is to explore various strategies for the application of family-centered services to promote successful neurodevelopmental outcomes.

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