About me
Professionally, Patricia "Patty" Eitemiller is passionate about Early Intervention, learning the stories about the families and children she's met and worked with over the span of her career, and always expanding her knowledge in this field through the many interactions and experiences she encounters through each individual she's met. Having spent over 15 years as an Infant Development Specialist with the Infant and Toddler Connection of Alexandria (VA)’s Parent Infant Education (PIE) program, Patty participated in several initial assessment teams, developed IFSP’s, worked with children and families providing developmental services, conducted initial intake interviews and screenings, and provided service coordination. Patty also worked collaboratively with the Child Find (Part B) program at Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) to offer Transition Information Session for parents and families of children who will be transitioning out of the PIE program. Patty also led an inclusive community playgroup in cooperation with Alexandria’s Therapeutic Recreation program and the Parent Resource Center with ACPS for both children enrolled in Early Intervention services and community children. Since the fall of 2018, Patty briefly provided overall monitoring of the city’s Head Start program before shifting her focus to developing, faciltating and providing professional development and training to the various Early Childhood programs within the City of Alexandria including the PIE program, in-home and center-based childcare providers, and Head Start/Early Head Start. In addition to a master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education, Patty has completed two additional post graduate certification programs, both focusing on working with children with hearing loss through Gallaudet University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is currently a member of the Virginia Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Advisory committee and a member of the Integrated Training Collaborative (ITC), the latter of which oversees much of the training provided to Early Intervention Professionals in Virginia. Patty also has been a professional member of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and Division of Early Childhood (DEC) since 2006. As of July 1st, 2019, she is the current past-president of the Virginia Subdivision of DEC (VADEC) after serving as president for the first two years after the subdivision was reactivated in March of 2017. She attends DEC’s annual conference each year and has presented many times on a wide range of topics including: inclusive playgroups, collaboration with childcare providers, cultural humility and cultural considerations in early intervention, understanding behavior, supporting play, and healthy brain development. She is presenting on temperament at the upcoming 2022 conference. Patty is also a certified trainer of the Zero to Three “The Growing Brain” curriculum; the ASQ-3 and ASQ:SE-2; the Children's Trust Fund Alliance Protective Factors; and the STREAMin3 curriculum being used across multiple child care settings in Virginia. In her spare time, Patty enjoys traveling the world particularly the joy of meeting new people along the way, practicing yoga and has a side job working at a winery in Northern Virginia on the weekends.