DC early intervention is all virtual??!!?

[Anonymous]

My 15 month old doesn’t have any words yet, so his pediatrician referred him for Strong Start, DC’s early intervention services. I got a call from them, and apparently ALL services are over phone or video because of covid, both the evaluation and any treatment.

How is this possibly a good idea? How can you evaluate a 15 month old over video? My kid doesn’t do any screens other than a weekly FaceTime with the grandparents and he just stares at the screen, there’s no engagement there. How on earth could you possibly teach a 15 month old, or even diagnose the issue, over a screen? Plus, at this point, shouldn’t all these people be vaccinated??

Has anyone done this in the past year? Was it actually helpful?

Any insiders know if there’s a timeline for going back to face to face for this? The lady on the phone couldn’t tell me anything.

[Anonymous]

DD started early intervention around 18 months (we started the process around 16 months when she had no words). This was last fall, so no vaccines, and in MoCo, so different program. But it was all virtual.

In terms of the assessment they did rely a lot on parent observations. Which seems like it would be the case anyway, toddlers don't always perform everything they can actually do in one or two sittings.

The services worked great for us. It is a parent coaching model in MoCo so it is about giving you as the parent strategies for helping your child to talk. Half the time we met with the therapist without DD and half the time we had DD there (DD goes to daycare) to practice the strategies. She graduated from early intervention before she turned 2.

Virtual was actually convenient for us and forced us to learn to implent the strategies. I don't know how helpful early intervention is if it is just an hour with a therapist - we incorporated the strategies into our daily routines. Granted, it's quite likely none of this mattered and DD was going to have her speech explosion around 18-20 months anyway, but I do think the virtual model works fine at this age.

[Anonymous]

Fairfax ITC is still as well. It’s a real problem and it’s putting the most at risk kids at additional risk. I have no good solutions, though, since ITC/EI do their work in the child’s household.

We moved to private therapy because of it.

[Anonymous]

Just another example of how local governments are failing children. I don't know why I'm always surprised to read things like this, but I am. I'm sorry OP. Hope you can go private.

[Anonymous]

Like the PP said - I think the most effective intervention right now is you learning how to do the intervention yourself and maybe the daycare providers as well so I would still try it out.

[Anonymous]

While you wait for EI to get its act together, this book is better than the whole year and change of services we received:

https://www.amazon.com/Takes-Two-Talk-Practical-Children/dp/0921145527/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=60135669270&dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwg4-EBhBwEiwAzYAlspfcliaeVmxfspSNmxDOW6Re7RT1u-d185dU1HEFcb0_9asxjsVFTxoCDfAQAvD_BwE&hvadid=274750399414&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1018624&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11992999237412953153&hvtargid=kwd-300217178610&hydadcr=15153_9511265&keywords=it+takes+two+to+talk&qid=1619292123&sr=8-1

[Anonymous]

I work for EI in a different state-most states are virtual as far as I know. At this age, it should be parent coaching though. It can be successful!

Assessments are going to be mostly based off parent report- nobody expects a child to sit in front of computer.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s horrible. I wouldn’t be surprised if this service never came back, honestly. At least in Virginia, when they turn 2, you can have them evaluated by the public schools to see if they qualify for the preschool special education services which are more likely to be in person I think.

[Anonymous]

MoCo is also virtual. Even the appointment to get DD evaluated for ASD by Kennedy Krieger was via Zoom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD started early intervention around 18 months (we started the process around 16 months when she had no words). This was last fall, so no vaccines, and in MoCo, so different program. But it was all virtual.

In terms of the assessment they did rely a lot on parent observations. Which seems like it would be the case anyway, toddlers don't always perform everything they can actually do in one or two sittings.

The services worked great for us. It is a parent coaching model in MoCo so it is about giving you as the parent strategies for helping your child to talk. Half the time we met with the therapist without DD and half the time we had DD there (DD goes to daycare) to practice the strategies. She graduated from early intervention before she turned 2.

Virtual was actually convenient for us and forced us to learn to implent the strategies. I don't know how helpful early intervention is if it is just an hour with a therapist - we incorporated the strategies into our daily routines. Granted, it's quite likely none of this mattered and DD was going to have her speech explosion around 18-20 months anyway, but I do think the virtual model works fine at this age.

OP here - thank you so much for this!! This certainly makes a lot of sense. They can teach us what to do over video for sure. Thanks for posting! You’ve put my mind at ease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it’s horrible. I wouldn’t be surprised if this service never came back, honestly. At least in Virginia, when they turn 2, you can have them evaluated by the public schools to see if they qualify for the preschool special education services which are more likely to be in person I think.

3. When they turn three they age out

[Anonymous]

I live in NoVa and it was also via zoom. I said no thanks and went private. My insurance covers speech therapy with a $30 copay and we are attending in-person. Now for my 18-month-old, she only has an expressive speech delay and that's it. For many children with serious global delays and who lack good insurance, early intervention not being in person at this point WITH FAIRLY EASY ACCESS TO VACCINATION is a complete tragedy.

[Anonymous]

We did an eval over zoom for MoCo. They dint make the kid stare at screen. I set up the ipad in dds playspace and they watched her interact with me and toys and books and asked me questions for an hour. Wrote a detailed report. We dont qualify but we can get a reeval if we want. There were two people on the call, a PT and a child dev specialist. Seemed very professional and knowledgeable and told me what they were looking for. Dd is 20 months and has few words. Meets and exceeds all other milestones.

[Anonymous]

ridiculous. somebody needs to alert the mayor.

[Anonymous]

My best friend works for EI.. They go into multiple family homes a day with multiple people, indoors, up close (the nature of their work) for 30-60 mins at a time. Completely unsafe during a pandemic.

They have made the correct call to protect their employees. And yes, they exist to teach patents, not to be direct hands on with kids. The parents who complain the loudest about virtual are the ones who want the provider to come in every week and "fix" their kid while the parent gets a "break" and does laundry or plays on their phone, which is not why the services are provided.

Go into it with an open mind, OP. A good service provider can teach you a LOT about ways to work with and help your child long term (long after they age out of EI) virtually.