Overview

As the incidence of communication disorders continues to rise, early intervention programs struggle to meet the diverse needs of individual families. Speech-language therapists working in early intervention are encountering increasing numbers of children with disorders of relating and communicating, including autism and similar disorders. Differential diagnosis in the early stages of treatment is not always possible, but therapists must be able to address both behavioral and communication difficulties. Some are equipped with basic strategies to engage children under the age of 24 months, but are often unable to actively and directly include parents in that process. Here's How to Do Early Intervention for Speech and Language helps early interventionists develop approaches that jump-start the communication process, strengthen parent confidence, and promote healthier parent-child relationships.

This how-to resource provides specific techniques and guidelines designed to:

• Review the early intervention system and provide guidelines for parents
• Explore the development of typical parent-child interaction and how it is impacted by a delay or disorder in communication skills
• Review the grieving process and how it relates to parents of children with developmental delays and disorders, including autism
• Review developmental and behavioral theories and techniques for early intervention
• Discuss benefits of collaboration between researchers and clinicians to maximize efficacy and application of evidenced based practices into everyday treatment
• Develop parental sense of competency by establishing effective interaction
• Provide specific strategies for parents and therapists to playfully develop functional communication through gestures, modified signs and sound imitation skills
• Review effective measurement, tracking and record progress options
• Help therapists work with families as they transition out of the early intervention system

Included is a DVD containing video interviews with parents describing their journey through the early intervention process, and the author’s description of specific therapy targets effective for children under the age of 24 months, with some examples. A CD with reproducible parent and therapist worksheets for treatment and system tracking is also provided, as well as handouts to share with parents and allied staff.

Audience

Primary Subject: Speech and Language Pathology / Pediatrics
Secondary Subject: Speech and Language Pathology / Language Development and Disorders
Audience Level: Professional/Textbook - 90 Days

Foreword
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Prologue

PART I: Review of Early Intervention
Chapter 1 Review of Early Intervention: Services and Practices
Chapter 2 Connecting Families to Referral Sources
Chapter 3 Parent-Child Interaction
Chapter 4 Supporting Families During Difficult Times
Chapter 5 Treatment Models
Chapter 6 Collaboration and Reflective Practice in Early Intervention

PART II: Treatment Targets
Chapter 7 Fundamentals of All Interaction: Engagement and Play
Chapter 8 Modified Sign and Gestures
Chapter 9 Sound Imitation Play
Chapter 10 Group Therapy in Early Intervention

PART III: Follow-Up
Chapter 11 Data Collection and Report Writing: Keeping it Simple
Chapter 12 Transitioning from Early Intervention

Index

About The Author

Karyn Searcy, M.A., CCC-SLP

Karyn Lewis Searcy, M.A., CCC has maintained a clinical focus on parent-child relationships and communication disorders for more than 35 years. The clinical director and founder of the Crimson Center for Speech & Language in San Diego, she was instrumental in developing the non-profit Crimson Treatment & Research Center, which fosters community outreach through clinical collaboration in an effort to provide programs for families struggling to obtain funding. A past board member of the San Diego Chapter of the Autism Society of America, she was also the 2010 recipient of their Health Hero Award. A national speaker on collaboration and parent-child interaction as they relate to communication disorders, Karyn has co-authored journal articles and book chapters about those processes and served as co-investigator on an NIMH grant for the SoCalifornia BRIDGE Collaborative from 2009-2011. She currently serves as a board member for the California Infant Development Association (IDA) and is a professional advisory board member for Down Syndrome Action in San Diego.

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