When Maylene first entered the Logan County Board of Developmental Disabilities Early Intervention program, her parents were concerned that Maylene was not meeting milestones in several areas of development. She was 20 months old and had yet to take her first steps, with only a few words in her vocabulary. Maylene’s sensory issues posed challenges, particularly during family activities like her sibling’s sporting events, where overstimulation led to meltdowns. She also did not like to pet the family’s dogs and kept her distance from them. An evaluation by Early Intervention determined that she qualified for services.
Maylene’s Early Intervention team, consisting of a developmental specialist, service coordinator, and her parents, sat down to develop her Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). In this plan, the team was able to outline Maylene’s strengths and needs. The team was able to determine the priorities of the family and develop outcomes revolving around those priorities. Once the IFSP was completed, Maylene’s developmental specialist began completing bi-weekly home visits with the family. Her parents made the visits a priority, and attended them together, including Maylene’s older siblings at times. Keeping everyone on the same page was key. Together, her parents and developmental specialist brainstormed to come up with strategies to implement into Maylene’s daily activities that would help progress her towards meeting the goals that her team had set.
The Early Intervention service model is based on the fact that children learn best from people they are most comfortable with in a familiar setting. Maylene was learning in the comfort of her
own home, with her parents as her teachers. Implementing the strategies that the team came up with into her everyday activities helped to give Maylene the practice and assistance that she needed to propel her into achieving her goals. With the introduction of some new strategies and some adjustments along the way, Maylene began to blossom!
In the past 8 months, Maylene’s development has skyrocketed. She is walking everywhere! She is ascending and descending steps on her own, dancing to her favorite songs, and playing dress up with shoes that she proudly marches around to show off! Maylene’s language has taken off as well. Not only has she added a multitude of words to her vocabulary, but she has also started to use two-to-three-word phrases as well. She is feeding herself, drinking out of an open cup, and enjoying her time on outings with her family. Maylene is now dancing through life with sass and spunk! There is never a visit that does not leave a smile on the face of her parents and developmental specialist. Maylene is headed for great things!
