Our unofficial start activity
Early Childhood Core Competencies
What is a SMART Outcome?
A blank training plan
Evaluation plan for sample training
Submitting Initial Application Online
A blank copy of the worksheet
In this lesson, you will view several modules and video topics developed to give an overview of disability.
When conducting a training, there are several different ways to deliver content. In an online training session, content is delivered typically using written content, visual content, learning exercises, and assignments.
Deciding how to deliver content is based upon the training session and the trainer and will help break up presentation of content.
A trainer will need to consider what is the most beneficial for the training session’s Workplace and Training Outcomes and what abilities there are within the Learning Management System (LMS) used.
Follow the child’s lead in play (when appropriate play behavior is demonstrated). Such as:
By monitoring the development of each child in your care, you can help identify children who might need services and parents who might need support in obtaining these services. You will also be able to reassure parents when their children’s development is on track.
Below is a list of resources that help parents and childcare providers monitor early childhood development:
Learn the Signs Act Early (LTSAE) is an initiative of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). LTSAE provides education for families and those who work with children about the developmental monitoring of children. From birth to 5 years, children should reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, act, and move. Tracking children’s development helps families to know if a child is progressing as expected. If they have a concern, they can act early to receive any additional help that might be necessary.
LTSAE provides a smartphone app and developmental checklists that are free to use.
CDC’s Milestone Tracker APP
Want information on developmental milestones for your classroom or to share with your families?
Check out these checklists divided by age group.
Watch this video, Reinforce Children for Positive Behavior (1:23 minutes) and learn more about the importance of positive attention. When you are done, come back to this page, click on the lesson topic (Using Attention Strategically) and learn more about how adults can use attention strategically to either encourage or discourage behaviors.
Effective praise is:
Using the attendance, keep track and make sure each child is praised individually each day.
Praise Family Activity Sheet
Young children develop communication skills by interacting with adults and peers. Adults often can serve as constructive role models in strengthening positive communication skills. Still, as adults, it is easy to get distracted while interacting with children. Watch the video below as a busy father lets stress from work interfere with his playtime with his daughter. Note as he learns how to get his daughter interested in playtime again (video run time 4:43 minutes).
Remember:
Giving full attention and responding thoughtfully
•Reflection –repeating back what your child says
•Labeling Emotions –identify and state what your child appears to be feeling
•Using Gestures –touches, smiles, other nonverbal gestures
•eye contact
•putting down what you are doing to look at your child and listen for moment
•listening to really understand what your child is thinking and expressing
•Reflection – Just like a mirror – reflect back what your child says! If your child is building a tower and says “I did it!”, you can:
•Repeat back exactly what they said: “You did it!”
•Put it into your own words: “You built the tower!”
•Expand it without changing its meaning: “You did it all by yourself!”
USING GESTURES: Nonverbal gestures
•Gestures can be as simple as smiling, nodding, or giving a thumbs up.
•Use facial expressions that match their feelings or the situation.
•Touch can include hugs, pats on the back, and high fives. REMEMBER THESE IMPORTANT COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Find all the hospitals and clinicians in your area who could deliver a diagnosis.
Data You Need to Collect
Refer to your local advocacy organization for their preferred method of data collection. Some use Lettercase Excel spreadsheet template, some use the Lettercase online database, and others use different data tracking methods.
You can start or end your training day with a survey about your interests and skills as a potential Prenatal Outreach Representative to help you determine placements after you complete the training. Your organization may use our online Prenatal Outreach Representative Survey Tool or the Microsoft Word template of the Prenatal Outreach Representative Survey and add your own modifications.
Podcast with Katie and Stephanie about the value of medical outreach in an era of prenatal screening:
Study below to learn more about the research, organizational policies, and laws that impact the implementation of prenatal genetic screening and testing:
To better support expectant parents, it’s important to understand what screening and testing options are currently available. Because the prenatal testing landscape is always changing, some confusion may surround different screening options. For example, when cell-free DNA was first released in 2011, some media reports gave the impression that the tests were diagnostic when they are actually better screening tests that can have false positives at times. Watch the video below to learn more about the tests so that you can have a better understanding when speaking to clinicians and expectant parents.
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Lettercase also offers an “Understanding Prenatal Screening and Testing” brochure for clinicians and expectant parents to explain testing.
Video podcast by Stephanie Meredith at the Lettercase National Center for Prenatal and Postnatal Resources and Katie Stoll, Genetic Counselor and Executive Director of the Genetic Support Foundation about the value of medical outreach:
There are a number of reasons why prenatal medical outreach is an important priority for patient advocacy organizations and advocates who serve people with genetic conditions. Let’s explore them below:
Prenatal screening has been consistently expanding over the past decade as the technology has evolved since the release of cell-free DNA/NIPS/NIPT in 2011. Learn more about this technology from the ACOG Cell-free DNA Prenatal Screening Test (Infographic). In addition, screening has been adopted more into practice since the the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended in 2007 that all women be offered screening regardless of age, and ACOG outlined in 2016 how cell-free DNA screening can be utilized. For a full discussion of the evolution of prenatal screening, see the Hastings Center Report. Fundamentally, we can anticipate that the majority of families in the future will learn that their child has Down syndrome during pregnancy.
Dr. Brian Skotko describes the moment of receiving a diagnosis as a “flashbulb memory,” a memory people can describe with near perfect clarity years later. This moment creates the emotional framework for how expectant parents receive the news. Unfortunately, research by Nelson-Goff showed that 35% of patients reported a negative experience when their clinician delivered a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome compared to only 11% reporting a positive experience (2013). So for every one parent having a positive experience, three are having a negative experience. One of our goals with the prenatal medical outreach program is to give clinicians the resources and support they need to help make sure families have a positive experience.
For many families, a prenatal diagnosis is the first point on the life course, and providing them with access to supports and services from the start can help improve longterm health outcomes and emotional well-being.
Medical professionals must focus on a broad array of topics in medical school from best practices for performing a c-section to treating endometriosis. This means that they may not have gotten much time to focus on genetic conditions, particularly information about life outcomes beyond common medical issues. Research by Cleary-Goldman showed that 45% of practicing obstetricians rated their residency training regarding prenatal diagnosis as “barely adequate or nonexistent.” Therefore, they may likely value additional tools to discuss these conditions.
Until the past few years, people with Down syndrome who were black or Hispanic had much lower life expectancies than white people with Down syndrome. This disparity was not because of increased medical conditions but was largely because of disparities in access to supports, services, and healthcare. Therefore, it’s critical that families from all ethnicities and cultures have access to information about available services right from the start. Our Lettercase resources are translated into 10 different languages and are recommended in the NIH HealthReach database for immigrants.
The medical community and expectant parents need information that addresses the concerns of patients, medical providers, and the advocacy community. Research by Sheets and Levis, show that expectant parents want to learn about medical issues and also supports and services like early intervention. They also want to see photographs of people living with the conditions and to get information about family outcomes, adult life, and recreation to provide a more balanced view of what life is like for people living with genetic conditions. In addition, clinicians want resources that are recommended in guidelines, resources that cover medical issues, and resources that cite peer-reviewed research when making claims about life outcomes. Meanwhile, disability advocates want materials that get beyond the medical model of disability to also cover life outcomes, and they want materials to use respectful language and imagery. Prenatal medical outreach efforts can ensure that clinicians have access to credible and balanced resources to give expectant parents the information they need.
Ultimately, medical providers can benefit from a closer relationship with the patient advocacy community so that because advocacy groups can provide reputable contact information and inform clinicians about the most helpful sources of information. In addition, advocacy organizations can benefit from closer relationships with the medical community so that they can learn from the medical expertise and share helpful resources for expectant parents with the medical providers. As these relationships of trust grow, they can start to offer presentations together, serve as trusted advisors, engage in community service together, and more.
