Aligned with DEC recommended practices and CEC standards! A must for future early interventionists.

"Providing services to families of children with special needs who are at risk for or demonstrating developmental delays is at the core of effective early intervention. Practical Strategies for Family-centered Early Intervention provides a basic philosophical grounding that addresses a family-centered approach to service delivery; a view of the family as the unit of service delivery, recognizing its strengths, values, and lifestyle, responding to its priorities, and individualizing services; and a detailed exploration into the principles and rationale of the family-centered approach to early intervention and application of these principles to service delivery." "A valuable and useful guide for exploration and transition in this important area, this book reflects, in a down-to-earth format, the need for embracing the family in the directed development of the disabled child."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Nearly all young children grow, learn, and develop within a family context, and many teachers, therapists, health providers, and students of these disciplines need to be better prepared to work with families of children who have special needs. For professors and staff development specialists working to sharpen the skills of students and working professionals in family-centered early intervention, a comprehensive, easy-to-use resource is essential. This informative textbook puts practical information on family-centered care, collaborative team building, and coordination of services into the hands of those who need it. Featuring a variety of learning aids and hands-on, field-tested activities, Partnerships in Family-Centered Care: A Guide to Collaborative Early Intervention offers straightforward guidance to enhance students' abilities to ensure the inclusion of families as primary members of the intervention team, provide services that address the priorities of the entire family, implement Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), identify and remove the "overlapping" of service delivery within the human services system, and coordinate the provision of services and supports in ways that take into account the unique resources and concerns of all families.

The first three years of life play a crucial role in setting the stage for later adjustment and success. For children with disabilities, children at risk, and even for healthy infants and toddlers born into well-functioning families, support and early intervention can foster optimal growth and development. This concise and readable guide presents a developmentally sound framework for strengths-based intervention with parents and young children. The volume is filled with practical suggestions for building positive family relationships, cultivating parental knowledge and understanding of child development, and enhancing family support systems. Also featured is an extensive annotated bibliography that describes a wealth of additional resources for professionals and parents. Grounded in research and informed by wisdom from the field, this book provides essential knowledge and skills for professionals and students across a range of health care, social service, and educational disciplines.

Early childhood is considered a critical but often vulnerable period in a child’s development where early identification and intervention can be crucial for improving children’s developmental outcomes. Systems and family-centred perspectives are vital to support families and build their capacities to lead normalized lives with improved family quality of life. This book explores the family-centred practices and systems factors which influence families’ experiences raising children with complex needs. It also considers the ways in which professionals can work with families to build and support parent and child competence. Conceptual and practical work from Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States present descriptions of and implications for different family system frameworks and early-childhood programs. Contributors in this edited volume bring together contemporary information that bridges the research to practice gap in supporting families of young children with disabilities or delays. Chapters include: Early Intervention for Young Children with Developmental Delays: Contributions of the Developmental Systems Approach Family Composition and Family Needs in Australia: What Makes a Family? Working with Families in Early Childhood Intervention: Family-Centred Practices in an Individualised Funding Landscape Family Systems and Family-Centred Intervention Practices in Portugal and Spain: Iberian Reflections on Early Childhood Intervention This book will attract the attention scholars of Parenting and Families; Child Development and Childcare.