Resources
Early Intervention Resources
This collection of excellent internet links is intended to assist EI professionals, families, and collaborating agencies to find information and services that are supportive and helpful to them. Examples include links to Spanish language resources, special education laws, and autism resources. Please take some time to explore the internet links most of which have been annotated for your convenience.
The resources included in this section are categorized as follows:
Disability-oriented organizations
Autism Resource for EI Personnel and Families
This resource will answer common questions that providers and families have. (E.g.:” How common are autism spectrum disorders? What are symptoms of ASD? How is the diagnosis made?”)
The Division of Early Childhood (DEC)
One of 17 divisions of the Council for Expectional Children, DEC is dedicated to promoting policies and practices that support families, and enhance the optimal development of children. On the DEC Web site, you can access information about training opportunities, the Annual DEC International Conference, and specific topics of interest (e.g. challenging behaviors).
The Family Center on Technology and Disability supports organizations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities by offering a range of information and services on the subject of assistive technology. This Web site also provides direct support to families through a variety of information and services and by sharing inspirational features of children and youth. The Web site is available in both English and Spanish.
The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
Serves the nation as a central source of information on federal law, disabilities in children from babies to youth, and research-based information on effective educational practices. This site is available in Spanish and English.
National Early Childhood Transition Center
This Web site's mission is to examine factors that promote successful transitions between infant/toddler programs, preschool programs and public school programs for young children with disabilities and their families.The site provides opportunities for sharing your own transitions experiences, in English and Spanish. It also contains a searchable database where you can get information about validated practices and strategies that enhance the early childhood transition process and support positive school outcomes for children with disabilities.
The Perkins Educational Partnerships Program
The program
helps EI agencies, families, educators and schools provide the best services to children with visual impairment, blindness or deafblindness with or without additional disabilities. To learn more, please call 617.972.7331 or email educationalpartnerships@perkins.org.
Massachusetts State resources
The Department of Early Education and Care
This Web site provides a wealth of information, including listings of child care programs and child care resource & referral agencies. Information about financial assistance is also available. Take a peek at Family Support Programs for excellent community based opportunities for families and young children.
The Massachusetts Department of Education
Provides information regarding special education laws and the IEP process in addition to great family resources. Select the "Special Education" option from the program menu to start your search. Be sure to explore the section entitled Family & Community, too!
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health
This Web site offers important information and resources on health-related issues and programs. Search the DPH Web site by entering the words "early intervention." Information about EI eligibility, referral, cost, location and support is available there.
Family-focused organizations
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Wonderful resources are provided on the latest developments in spoken language for children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing. Note that this Web site is available in several languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Korean and Chinese.
A new autism resource in Spanish for parents and professionals (Word doc)
This book is a wonderful resource for Spanish-speaking families who have not had access to the information they need and for agencies and organizations that work with special needs families.
Family TIES of Massachusetts
Provides state-wide information and parent-to-parent support for families of children with special needs or chronic illness. The updated resource guide is extensive and easy to use.
The Federation for Children with Special Needs
Contains information about Massachusetts special education services with links to local and national resources. Helpful, informative publications for families are available as well. This site will soon be available in Spanish and Portuguese.
IDEA Parent Guide
Available from the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), this new, comprehensive and thorough guide takes you through the special education process – a process that is the same regardless of a child’s particular difficulties or disabilities. Within the guide, special emphasis is placed on the specific learning disability. Also included are parent perspectives, helpful terms, and practical materials for parents such as Checklists, Sample Letters, Charts, and Questions to Ask.
March of Dimes
Online community for families of premature babies offers opportunities for connection and support with other families in similar circumstances.
Massachusetts Family Voices
Massachusetts Family Voices at the Federation for Children with Special Needs is the MA State Chapter of Family Voices, a national grassroots network whose concern and activities focus on children and youth with special health care needs. The Web site contains resources and information of interest to families and EI personnel, a listserv where information and support are shared by parents and professionals, and learning opportunities such as workshops and topical conference calls.
Parent Leadership Program
Contains wonderful resources and opportunities for parent involvement. Its mission is to facilitate family participation to ensure that Early Intervention services are family-centered; to develop an informed parent constituency; and to promote leadership and lifelong advocacy skills for parents and family members.
PBS Parents
PBS Parents is a fabulous Web-based resource for families and early childhood
professionals. It offers information on a wide range of topics as well as
tips for planning enjoyable learning activities for families and their young
children. The PBS Parents Guides focus on subject areas that include Child
Development, Creativity, Talking with Kids, and Going to School to mention
a few. A wonderful place to start your exploration is the " Reading
and Language" where Bookfinder will help you find some of the best
books for young children!
Wonder Baby
This Web site's mission is helping your baby reach greater wonders! It contains a wealth of information that is especially pertinent for families who have young children with vision impairment.
Yellow Pages for Kids
Yellow Pages for Kids is a Web site that helps families and professionals find educational consultants, psychologists, educational diagnosticians, health care providers, academic therapists, tutors, speech language therapists, occupational therapists, coaches, advocates, and attorneys for children with disabilities on the Yellow Pages for Kids for your state. Information is also available on special education schools, learning centers, treatment programs, parent groups, respite care, community centers, grassroots organizations, and government programs for children with disabilities.
Resources for Families whose children have vision or hearing loss
These helpful brochures (in Word format) from Massachusetts Department of Public Health contain information about services and supports for infants and toddlers in the areas of vision and/or hearing loss.
Virtual Tour of a High Quality Pre-K Classroom
Pre-K offers a 3-minute virtual tour of a Pre-K classroom. This will be a fun learning experience for families and professionals! You will be able to click on different areas of the classroom to see photographs featuring good practice.
Resources for EI professionals
All Children Love to Play!
Playing provides rich opportunities for enjoyment, social interaction, exploration, discovery, and learning! The Web site of Let’s Play! Projects, University of Buffalo Center for Assistive Technology is a wonderful place for families and professionals alike. Check it out for helpful information on selecting toys for play, toys for children with disabilities, adapting toys to make them easier to use, locating specially designed toys as well as other resources to promote play.
An Activity-Based Approach to Developing Young Children's Social-Emotional Competence
A new book by Jane Squires and Diane Bricker, presents a framework for understanding children's social and emotional development and provides a variety of practical policies to encourage healthy overall growth.
Attachment Brief from Duke University
Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, has recently authored an extremely informative and helpful brief entitled “Supporting Healthy Relationships Between Young Children and Their Parents: Lessons from Attachment Theory and Research”. EI specialists can learn about several Attachment Theory- and Research-based Curricula and Programs as well as consider using the suggested guidelines in their work with families and young children. A summary of Attachment Theory and its significance is included as well.
Autism Speaks - A Great Resource.
Austism Speaks is an organization dedicated to supporting autism research and providing helpful informaiton and resources for families and professionals alike on this topic. Aims to help parents spot early behaviors considered red flags for autism and check with their pediatrician in time for early interventions.
Austism spectrum and other developmental and learning disorders.
Great resource of archived web-based radio shows and their corresponding transcripts, presented by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, can be found on the Web site of Floortime organization..
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
Jack Shonkoff and his colleagues at the Center on the Developing Child aim to advance the scientific foundations of health, learning and community well being. As part of this work, the center has published a Series of Working Papers developed by the National Scientific Council. Topics include neuroscience, brain development, and emotional development among others.
The Child & Family WebGuide at Tufts University
The WebGuide is a directory that evaluates, describes and provides links to hundreds of sites containing child development research and practical advice. The Child & Family WebGuide describes trustworthy websites on topics of interest to parents and professionals. All the sites listed on the WebGuide have been systematically evaluated by graduate students and faculty in child development, based primarily on the quality of the information they provide. The goal of the WebGuide is to give the public easy access to the best child development information on the Web. Welcome to exploring the following 5 areas: family/parenting; education/learning; typical child development; health/mental health; and resources/recreation.
Children's Mental Health in the Commonwealth: The TIme Is Now.
This report was prepared by the MSPCC and Children's Hospital Boston in collaboration with a wide variety of organizations in November, 2006.
Creating Language and Literacy Experiences for Infants and Toddlers
A PowerPoint Presentation entitled “Creating Language and Literacy Experiences for Infants and Toddlers”, presented by Peter L. Mangione at the PITC Graduate Conference in Berkeley, CA, is now available online.
The Crosswalks Toolbox
Diversity Resources for Faculty, Trainers, and Programs. Are you interested in resources that address key areas of early childhood or early intervention content AND diversity? Would you like to find videos, articles, syllabi and other resources for increasing how you emphasize cultural and linguistic diversity in your work? The Crosswalks Toolbox, an interactive database designed to connect faculty and trainers with resources that address both content and diversity, is now available to support your work. Additional resources will continue to be added on an ongoing basis for the duration of that project.
Dial 2-1-1
A new statewide phone-based information and referral service is ready to help you find essential health and human services as well as community-based services (such as after school programs, food pantries, or securing care for aging parents).
DB-LINK
The National Information Clearinghouse on Children Who are Deafblind. DB-LINK houses a large quantity of information (both online and off) related to deafblindness, services for children who are deafblind across the country, and education for children who are deafblind. If you are seeking information about resources in a specific state, check DB-LINK's State Resource Fact Sheets.
The Developing Child
Jack Shonkoff and his colleagues at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University have published a groundbreaking paper about the advances in the science of early childhood and early brain development along with findings of program evaluation research. The paper, which originated with the “Neurons to Neighborhoods” study, describes the process by which brain architecture is formed in very young children, with attention to the important influence of early experiences on future development and integrates this scientific knowledge with the identification of those program factors that appear to offer the best opportunity toward positive outcomes for children. The findings have touch on every part of what EEC does and have profound implications for the early childhood field.
The e-ADVISOR
A collaborative project designed to facilitate communication among parents, teachers and doctors of children with visual impairments. The Web site offers information sheets on eye disorders, virtual tours and tutorials, parent narratives and resources, multimedia presentations and discussion boards.
The Early Report
Children’s Mental Health: Promoting School and Life Readiness: Each issue of Early Report, the newsletter of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Early Education and Development, explores a specific topic related to young children and their families. The Spring 2007 issue explores infant and early childhood mental health from a variety of perspectives, including screening and assessment, environments and best practices. (Find previous issues here)
Evidence-Based Practice in Early Childhood
is discussed in a new book whose concepts have been summarized in this Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute Snapshot.
Harvard University Study Results – Early Education Boosts Prospects of Premature Children
The results of this study show that those prematurely born children who received intensive early care and education in the first three years of life showed higher math and reading scores and fewer behavioral problems at 18 years of age than similar children who received follow-up care only. A news release with more information about the study is available from the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation. The full report was published in Pediatrics, 117(3), March 2006.
Healthy Childcare
A bi-monthly publication for childcare programs devoted to health and safety issues. The Web site also features a plethora of useful links for anyone who is interested in promoting young children’s health and safety.
Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Children and Adolescents
is an electronic guide to resources from the health, education, and social services literature on healthy social and emotional development in infants, children, and adolescents. The knowledge path, produced by the MCH Library, presents resources for professionals in the following categories: general resources; resources by age group (infants and young children; school-age children, adolescents); and data, literature and research, and programs databases. Selected topics include developmental stages; factors that impact social and emotional development; policies and programs to promote social and emotional well-being in homes and community settings; and strategies for integrating health, development, and education services. A section containing resources for families is also included.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
IDEA is the nation’s special education law. The law was passed by Congress and signed by the President in December 2004. Part C Regulations are now available.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Web Site
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has recently launched a new IDEA Web site meant to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for resources related to IDEA and its implementation regulations. The contents will grow and the functionality evolve to provide, among others, searchable versions of IDEA and the regulations, access to cross-referencing content from other laws, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, video clips on selected topics, links to OSEP’s Technical Assistance and Dissemination Network and a Q & A Corner.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Final Regulations
Final regulations for IDEA 2004 were published in August 2006.
Learn and Grow Together!
This new resource from the Department of Early Education and Care helps parents understand the many stages of child development (birth to 14) and includes suggestions for fun, low-cost family activities. Spanish and Portuguese language versions are coming soon.
Learn the Signs: Act Early - New CDC Initiative
In cooperation with national partners, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CD) are launching a campaign to alert early childhood professionals to the importance of children's social and emotional development, including the potential early warning signs of autism and other developmental disabilities. A resource kit of materials on child development will be available for free to early childhood professionals to use with families of young children.
Linking Infants and Toddlers who are Homeless with EI Programs
With Ann Douglass and Lorraine Sanik
This 16-minute flash video describes ways to increase access to Part C Early Intervention (EI) programs for young homeless children. The model features a successful partnership between shelters for homeless families, EI programs and early childhood education programs. The information shared includes:
- Importance of collaboration and communication between EI and shelter staff
- Role of shelter staff in encouraging families to try EI
- Use of physical space within the shelter for providing EI services
- Access to EI for children at risk for developmental delay
Los Angeles County Early Identification & Intervention Group
Advocates the use of family-friendly tools (ASQ and PEDS) by parents and pediatricians to promote early identification of emotional, behavioral and mental health problems.
Loving and Learning Through Daily Activities
This wonderful resource from ZERO TO THREE contains great information about infant and toddler development. In addition, EI Specialists and families will find it helpful when developing IFSPs and planning strategies that are grounded in daily routines.
MassHealth Well-child and Behavioral Health Fact Sheets
EEC is partnering with MassHealth to spread the word about well-child and behavioral health services available through MassHealth. Please share this information with your colleagues and the families you work with.
National Institute of Child Health & Human Development
This site contains a wealth of information that families and EI professionals will find interesting and most helpful. Look here for information on a variety of health & human development topics, health education, and related publications & materials.
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC)
Supports the implementation of the early childhood provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by helping states improve outcomes for young children (birth to five) and families by disseminating knowledge of Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education to a wide audience. Search sections entitled Early Intervention and NECTAC Clearinghouse for information about on-line journals, conferences, and specific topics.
National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study
The final report of the National Early Intervention Longitudinal Study was published in January, 2007. Titled "Early Intervention for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and their Families: Participants, Services, and Outcomes," this report sets out to address questions about the Part C Program. It also presents and discusses implications of the findings for Early Intervention.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS)
As part of the National Institutes of Health, a Spanish language website with FREE information about many neurological disorders, including autism, spina bifida, Tourette syndrome, Rett Syndrome, and more.
Publications can be downloaded or ordered free of charge. There is also information about clinical studies, links to non-profit organizations that offer information and assistance on neurological disorders, and a contact form where people can submit questions on topics related to health and biomedical research.
National Summit on America's Children
The National Summit on America's Children took place on Tuesday, May 22, 2007, on Capitol Hill. The day-long session convened national experts and academics on recent scientific findings and how they relate to early childhood development. The purpose was too look at how federal policies can take advantage of and support the most relevant research on how children grown and learn. A webcast and materials are now available online.
Preschoolers Benefit from Mental Health Screening
Preschoolers can benefit from a simple and inexpensive mental health screening process, ABLE, that flags emergent socio-emotional problems that can affect future school success, according to research by FPG. According to Dr. Oscar Barbarin, FPG fellow and the author of the paper in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, because children with behavioral and emotional problems struggle to succeed in school, public preschool programs with a focus on school readiness are beginning to recognize the significance of children’s socio-emotional difficulties. For example, Head Start has standards mandating mental health assessment and intervention for socio-emotional problems. ABLE is a system for screening pre-kindergarten children for problems of adjustment by surveying parents and teachers. It is presented in two levels. The first asks about concerns parents or teachers have related to attention, behavior, language and emotions. The second level is used only if a serious concern is identified. ABLE is not a diagnostic tool; it is a screening tool that identifies problems that could be a precursor to a more serious disorder.
Premature Infants, Zero to Three's latest "From Science to Public Policy"
An article devoted to developmental issues associated with prematurity, the policy implications, and opportunities for advocacy action. For more comprehensive information and resources on prematurity, please explore the Web site of March of Dimes.
Pride and Joy Life Coaching
This is a Web site with a mission to support families by providing "Balance and harmony for parents of children with special needs." You can find out more about the services, resources, trainings, and free newsletter by visiting the Web site.
Promoting the Social, Emotional and Behavioral Development and Outcomes of Young Children: Recommended Practices and Resources
On February 2, 2007 National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC), CSEFEL and CEBP collaborated to present a discussion about promoting the social and emotional development of young children. Faculty members Rob Corso, Lise Fox, and Barbara Smith described a comprehensive prevention, promotion, and intervention framework which integrates evidence-based practices to address the social-emotional and behavioral needs of young children ages birth – five and their families, and identified valuable resources that may be used for personnel preparation, policy and program guidance. The result is a multimedia recording of this call that includes all presentations with synchronized audio. A table of contents slide allows you to quickly and easily navigate to specific parts of the call you wish to see and hear.
Proven Benefits of Early Childhood Intervention
The RAND Corporation's recently released research identifies the most
effective practices and features of early intervention programs, based
on a literature review and analysis. The study focused on diverse programs
throughout the country that offered parent education and support, including
home visits, center-based visits, or a combination. Information is
available to download in three forms:
Providing Web-Based Support for Families with Young Children with Disabilities
This article, published in a recent issue of Infants and Young Children discusses using the Internet to provide advice for parents who have a serious and ongoing need to know how to best help their children. In the course of exploring issues like quality of information, accuracy, trustworthiness and information overload, the authors provide useful guidance for any professonal organization planning to make better use of the Internet to communicate.
This is a newly-launched Web site that is full of free resources based on a new research-based approach aimed to help teachers and parents respond to signs of learning difficulty in young children as early as ages 3 or 4, before they experience school failure. Easy to read articles, checklists, fact sheets, research papers and reports can be found on this site !
Research Highlights Early Diagnosis and Early Intervention of Autism
Research at the Kennedy Krieger Institute shows that approximately half of autistic children can be diagnosed correctly around the age of one. Researchers in this study have identified four signs that may be early indicators of a developmental disorder like autism. Early diagnosis allows for early intervention and can significantly improve effectiveness and chances that a child will reach their potential.
Spanish language resources on Early Intervention from NICHCY
Visit the eNews
Foundations of the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.
You will find a wonderful array of resources in Spanish on the page on early
intervention by locating "Spanish Materials" in the Table of Contents.
NICHY offers additional pages on Spanish language resources on its Spanish
Web site!
Thirty-Six-Month Outcomes for Families of Children with Disabilities Participating in Early Intervention
Early Intervention Affects Families’ Quality of Life. Does early intervention make a difference in the lives of families of infants and toddlers with disabilities? Yes, according to this article recently published in Pediatrics: “Thirty-Six-Month Outcomes for Families of Children with Disabilities Participating in Early Intervention.” Supports for these families, as provided by Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, are vital, according to a study that evaluated family outcomes at the end of early intervention near their child’s third birthday. Read a summary of a study conducted at the Frank Porter Graham Child Study Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Timing and Quality of Early Experiences Combine to Shape the Brain's Architecture
This is a new working paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (NSCDC) summarizes the most recent research advances in understanding the importance of sensitive periods on brain development, including policy implications of the findings. A pre-publication copy is now available.
Transition Framework
The National Early Childhood Transition Center (NECTC) has developed a conceptual
framework for the transition process for young children with disabilities
and their families. This multi-dimensional and comprehensive framework addresses
the major ecological factors that influence transitions, as well as the complex
interactions among those factors (Rous, Hallam, Harbin, McCormaick & Jung, in press). A NECTC alert brief describing this framework, which contains other informative data and resources related to Transitions, is available at the NECTC Website.
Virtual Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development
Canada's Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development recently launched a virtual Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Development that provides current scientific knowledge on 33 topics related to the psychosocial development of the child, from conception to the age of five.
Vulnerable Populations
Access information shared in the Conference Call Series on Identifying and Serving Young Children and Their Families: Vulnerable Populations by visiting NECTAC. Past topics include Part C Standards of Practice in Response to CAPTA and Developmental Profiles of Maltreated Infants and Toddlers. Still to come: July 17 call on the topic of Linking Infants and Toddlers who are Homeless with Early Intervention Programs. (This presentation will highlight Massachusetts) and August 28 call on Meeting the Needs of Preschool Homeless Children.
Washington Learning Systems
New infant-toddler language and early literacy materials are now available at the Washington Learning Systems Web site. These free materials can be used by EI staff and families alike to encourage and support early language and literacy development. Materials can be downloaded from their site by clicking on the purple button that says “Free Parent Education Materials”.
Wrightslaw
An excellent site that provides accurate, up-to-date information about special education law and advocacy for children with disabilities. Parents, educators, advocates and attorneys alike will find a treasure trove of articles, cases, newsletters, and other resources about dozens of topics in the Advocacy Libraries and Law Libraries.
ZERO TO THREE
A national organization committed to promoting the healthy development
of the nation's babies and toddlers. The Web site contains an excellent
range of resources for families and professionals alike, including information
about brain development, everyday routines and music. Information about
the National Training Institute, the Annual ZERO TO THREE Conference is
also available. The Bookstore lists publications on a wide variety of
subjects such as sensory integration, developmental assessment and infant
mental health. Several of these excellent publications and resources are
available in Spanish.
Other Professional organizations
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
American Mental Health Counselors Association
The American Music Therapy Association
The American Nurses Association
The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.
American Physical Therapy Association
American Psychological Association
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
The Boston Association for the Education of Young Children
The Boston Institute for the Development of Infants and Parents (BIDIP)
The National Association for the Education of Young Children
