Division for Early Childhood 2024 Conference

This session shares the experiences of families with marginalized identities in EI in their own words to help provide real world context for Bradshaw’s Framework for Culturally Responsive Early Intervention. Family’s suggestions for how EI providers can better meet client’s cultural needs are included.

Through inclusive play interventions with peers, young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities experience significant gains in gross motor, social and emotional, and communication skills. This session will provide an overview of Special Olympics Young Athletes programming and highlight ways technology and digital media are being implemented to support families. Presenters will share an overview of the Young Athletes mobile app, a tool designed to provide families with personalized activities for their child, health education resources, and community connection opportunities. The session will include preliminary evaluation data about the utility and feasibility of the app based on an ongoing pilot with families in 5 countries, including the United States.

The KSSC highlights the transition experience for children and families, but transition options for those families are often scarce. Service Coordinators and families can use creative thinking to find solutions that match the family’s goals, vision, and culture. Transition should be collaborative, individualized, and lifespan-oriented.

The DEC Family Committee invites you to learn more about the value of family voices in higher education and PD. Hear family stories, explore recommended practices, and consider ways to incorporate local family stories in your coursework and activities. Practices for supporting families to tell their stories will include funding networks, materials, etc.

Fostering strong partnerships between Parent Centers and state partners is crucial for supporting families of students with diverse needs effectively. By sharing successful strategies and collaborative activities, participants can gain valuable insights into building mutually beneficial relationships and enhancing engagement with families.

In homes where families have Limited English Proficiency, culturally responsive professionals and interpreters are key in delivering quality service and fostering family-professional relationships. This session explores issues and situations that affect the provision of quality services to all families.

This presentation will discuss the lived experience of three Black mothers navigating the special education process. We will discuss (a) the inequities our children experience and (b) the barriers we navigated to ensure our children receive appropriate services.

Caregiver-implemented intervention is a teaching approach that systematically supports caregivers in leading their child toward family-prioritized goals. The approach prioritizes cultural preference, adult learning styles, and is strength-focused. Case studies and video examples of techniques with discussions on implementation strategies will promote participant learning.

This session will share information and activities of the Experienced Program in one state. The program utilizes a parent with personal experience in early intervention to support parents who are currently in early intervention. Learn how the Experienced Parent program supports families through a variety of strategies, one on one support, and family-centered practices.

Please join the Family Committee as they host a session for families and professionals to join round table discussions on relevant topics that all affect family leadership and our efforts for advocacy. Roxane Romanick will provide facilitation of the session, including related content to the DEC recommended practices.  Roxane is a parent leader from North Dakota with an extensive background working in and collaborating the Part C and ECSE system.