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Concerned About Your Infant or Toddler?
This video is close captioned.
When parents are worried that their child may have a developmental concern they could talk to their child's doctor as well as contact the early intervention agency.
The good news is that the earlier parents and providers recognize children who are delayed in reaching a milestone, the more intervention may help them to reach their full potential. All children develop at their own pace, and many reach particular milestones slightly late or early.
Each State in the U.S. has an early intervention system. In Michigan, it is called Early On®.
How Early On® Michigan Helped One Family (video)
Don't Worry, But Don't Wait
1-800-Early-On
Early On
wants to help you to:
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Parents are a child's best and longest lasting advocates. Parents with good communication skills can be even more effective advocates for their children.
Parent and professional communication and effective partnerships do not "just happen." It takes time, energy, and effort to build skills to communicate clearly and collaborate effectively. You can decide to become a more effective advocate for your child and then take the necessary steps to achieve this goal. It's worth the effort.
MSEMP Michigan Special Education Mediation Program (MSEMP) offers training to learn collaborative communication and dispute resolution techniques that can help you be more effective in planning and decision making. Learning opportunities near you can also be found by contacting Michigan Alliance for Families at 1-800-552-4821.
There are also several online booklets available to learn collaborative techniques.
- How to Effectively Communicate with Early Childhood Professionals
- Educating Our Children Together: A Sourcebook for Effective Family-School-Community Partnerships
- Communication in The Special Education Process
- PACER: Working Together: A Parent's Guide to Parent and Professional Communication Within Special Education
- Communicate using "Student Snapshot"
The State of Michigan has 57 Intermediate School Districts – (ISD) sometimes called Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESA), Educational Service Agencies (ESA), Regional Educational Service District (RESD) or Educational Service District (ESD). Each ISD has a Board of Education and a Superintendent, just like your local school district. The boundaries of an ISD follow county lines, some ISDs cover more than one county. Each county has several school districts. Each school district has a Board of Education and a Superintendent.
ISD's have a role in delivering Early Intervention services and Special Education services, starting at birth and continuing until age 26 years. By contacting the ISD you may be able to reach:
- Early On Coordinator
- Director of Early Childhood Programs
- Director of Special Education
Typically, school districts provide education starting in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Some school districts also offer preschool programs. Your local school district’s administrative offices can be helpful in contacting your local Special Education supervisor.
Key to clear communication with your Early On Service Coordinator , teachers, therapists, doctors and nurses is keeping all your papers organized! Most parents find it very helpful to organize before it becomes a mountain of paperwork. Learn to manage it! If a dispute every comes up in the future, it will be very important for you to have established a papertrail - document your contact with the school - conversations, meetings and other events.
Being able to effectively communicate your child's needs is another way for you to help your child develop and learn.
Related Videos & Handouts:
- MAF's own Kelly Orginski speaking about parent involvement in their child's education (video)
- A learning module about collaborative communication (multi-media)
- A learning module about collaborative communication (Spanish multi-media)
- A learning module about the partnership between families and professionals (multi-media)
- A learning module about the partnership between families and professionals (Spanish multi-media)
Michigan Alliance for Families, in partnership with Early On® Michigan, is working together to increase the involvement of Michigan families in the growth and development of their infants and toddlers. Visit the Michigan Alliance for Families website:
