Source: http://drcvi.org/resources/parents/earlyIntervention/key-terms-to-know-in-early-intervention-center-for-parent-information-and-resources
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 00:03:54+00:00

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It’s extremely important to understand that many of the terms you’re likely to hear in early intervention come from our nation’s law authorizing this program for infants and toddlers with disabilities, Part C of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). You’ll find many, many references to this law on the CPIR’s website and in its publications, because IDEA guides how early intervention (Part C) and special education and related services (Part B) are provided to children with disabilities in the United States, birth to age 21.
States develop their own policies and procedures based on what IDEA requires. States are allowed to go beyond what IDEA requires–and frequently do, because the law leaves a great many things to State and local discretion. However, States are not permitted to have policies or procedures that are not consistent with IDEA’s provisions.
This being the case, the starting point of early intervention terms and what they mean is always how Part C of IDEA defines the terms (most of which are provided through this page and elsewhere on this site). Your State’s definition of a term is then important to consider, because it will influence how the term is being used in your area, especially if the State definition isn’t exactly the same as IDEA’s.
Additional provisions of import | The following provisions are also important with respect to parental consent.
§303.420 Parental consent and ability to decline services.
(5) Disclosure of personally identifiable information consistent with §303.414.
(2) Understands that the child will not be able to receive the evaluation, assessment, or early intervention service unless consent is given.
(c) The lead agency may not use the due process hearing procedures under this part or Part B of the Act to challenge a parent’s refusal to provide any consent that is required under paragraph (a) of this section.
(2) May decline a service after first accepting it, without jeopardizing other early intervention services under this part.
Developmental delay, when used with respect to a child residing in a State, has the meaning given that term by the State under §303.111.
§303.111 State definition of developmental delay.
(b) Specify the level of developmental delay in functioning or other comparable criteria that constitute a developmental delay in one or more of the developmental areas identified in §303.21(a)(1).
(9) Are provided in conformity with an IFSP adopted in accordance with section 636 of the Act and §303.20.
(i) Assistive technology device means any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of an infant or toddler with a disability. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, including a cochlear implant, or the optimization (e.g., mapping), maintenance, or replacement of that device.
(F) Training or technical assistance for professionals (including individuals providing education or rehabilitation services) or other individuals who provide services to, or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of, infants and toddlers with disabilities.
(vi) Determination of the child’s individual amplification, including selecting, fitting, and dispensing appropriate listening and vibrotactile devices, and evaluating the effectiveness of those devices.
(3) Family training, counseling, and home visits means services provided, as appropriate, by social workers, psychologists, and other qualified personnel to assist the family of an infant or toddler with a disability in understanding the special needs of the child and enhancing the child’s development.
(4) Health services has the meaning given the term in §303.16.
(5) Medical services means services provided by a licensed physician for diagnostic or evaluation purposes to determine a child’s developmental status and need for early intervention services.
(iii) The administration of medications, treatments, and regimens prescribed by a licensed physician.
(iii) Making referrals to appropriate community resources to carry out nutrition goals.
(iii) Prevention or minimization of the impact of initial or future impairment, delay in development, or loss of functional ability.
(iii) Providing individual and group services or treatment to prevent, alleviate, or compensate for, movement dysfunction and related functional problems.
(iv) Planning and managing a program of psychological services, including psychological counseling for children and parents, family counseling, consultation on child development, parent training, and education programs.
(11) Service coordination services has the meaning given the term in §303.34.
(12) Sign language and cued language services include teaching sign language, cued language, and auditory/oral language, providing oral transliteration services (such as amplification), and providing sign and cued language interpretation.
(v) Identifying, mobilizing, and coordinating community resources and services to enable the infant or toddler with a disability and the family to receive maximum benefit from early intervention services.
(iv) Working with the infant or toddler with a disability to enhance the child’s development.
(iii) Provision of services for the habilitation, rehabilitation, or prevention of communication or language disorders and delays in development of communication skills.
(16) Transportation and related costs include the cost of travel and other costs that are necessary to enable an infant or toddler with a disability and the child’s family to receive early intervention services.
(iii) Communication skills training, orientation and mobility training for all environments, visual training, and additional training necessary to activate visual motor abilities.
(5) Orientation and mobility specialists.
(6) Pediatricians and other physicians for diagnostic and evaluation purposes.
(11) Special educators, including teachers of children with hearing impairments (including deafness) and teachers of children with visual impairments (including blindness).
(12) Speech and language pathologists.
(13) Vision specialists, including ophthalmologists and optometrists.
(d) Other services. The services and personnel identified and defined in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section do not comprise exhaustive lists of the types of services that may constitute early intervention services or the types of qualified personnel that may provide early intervention services. Nothing in this section prohibits the identification in the IFSP of another type of service as an early intervention service provided that the service meets the criteria identified in paragraph (a) of this section or of another type of personnel that may provide early intervention services in accordance with this part, provided such personnel meet the requirements in §303.31.
Definition of health services | You’ve reached the end of the definition of early intervention services in the Part C regulations. Now, here are the additional regulations that define “health services” (at §303.16), which were mentioned in the above definition.
(a) Health services mean services necessary to enable an otherwise eligible child to benefit from the other early intervention services under this part during the time that the child is eligible to receive early intervention services.
(2) Consultation by physicians with other service providers concerning the special health care needs of infants and toddlers with disabilities that will need to be addressed in the course of providing other early intervention services.
(iii) Related to the implementation, optimization (e.g., mapping), maintenance, or replacement of a medical device that is surgically implanted, including a cochlear implant.
(A) Nothing in this part limits the right of an infant or toddler with a disability with a surgically implanted device (e.g., cochlear implant) to receive the early intervention services that are identified in the child’s IFSP as being needed to meet the child’s developmental outcomes.
(3) Medical-health services (such as immunizations and regular “well-baby” care) that are routinely recommended for all children.
§303.21 Infant or toddler with a disability.
(ii) Physical development, including vision and hearing.
(iv) Social or emotional development.
(ii) Includes conditions such as chromosomal abnormalities; genetic or congenital disorders; sensory impairments; inborn errors of metabolism; disorders reflecting disturbance of the development of the nervous system; congenital infections; severe attachment disorders; and disorders secondary to exposure to toxic substances, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
(b) Infant or toddler with a disability may include, at a State’s discretion, an at-risk infant or toddler (as defined in §303.5).
(2) A written notification to parents of a child with a disability who is eligible for services under section 619 of the Act and who previously received services under this part of their rights and responsibilities in determining whether their child will continue to receive services under this part or participate in preschool programs under section 619 of the Act.
(b) The IFSP Team in §303.340 must include the involvement of the parent and two or more individuals from separate disciplines or professions and one of these individuals must be the service coordinator (consistent with §303.343(a)(1)(iv)).
Here’s another short-ish but important definition from the Part C regulations.
(2) For evaluations and assessments conducted pursuant to §303.321(a)(5) and (a)(6), the language normally used by the child, if determined developmentally appropriate for the child by qualified personnel conducting the evaluation or assessment.
(b) Native language, when used with respect to an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, or for an individual with no written language, means the mode of communication that is normally used by the individual (such as sign language, braille, or oral communication).
Early intervention services are to be provided in natural environments to the maximum extent appropriate for the child and for the service being provided. Here’s Part C’s definition of the term.
And what might the provisions of §303.126 have to say?
The purpose of prior written notice is to inform the parents fully of a proposed (or refused) activity or action on the part of the early intervention system.
§303.421 Prior written notice and procedural safeguards notice.
(a) General. Prior written notice must be provided to parents a reasonable time before the lead agency or an EIS provider proposes, or refuses, to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or placement of their infant or toddler, or the provision of early intervention services to the infant or toddler with a disability and that infant’s or toddler’s family.
(3) All procedural safeguards that are available under this subpart, including a description of mediation in §303.431, how to file a State complaint in §§303.432 through 303.434 and a due process complaint in the provisions adopted under §303.430(d), and any timelines under those procedures.
(ii) Provided in the native language, as defined in §303.25, of the parent or other mode of communication used by the parent, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.
(iii) There is written evidence that the requirements of this paragraph have been met.
And last but not least, here’s how the Part C regulations define the term service coordination services, which is referenced in the definition of early intervention services above.
§303.34 Service coordination services (case management).
(a) General. (1) As used in this part, service coordination services mean services provided by a service coordinator to assist and enable an infant or toddler with a disability and the child’s family to receive the services and rights, including procedural safeguards, required under this part.
(ii) Serving as the single point of contact for carrying out the activities described in paragraphs (a)(3) and (b) of this section.
(ii) Coordinating the other services identified in the IFSP under §303.344(e) that are needed by, or are being provided to, the infant or toddler with a disability and that child’s family.
(10) Facilitating the development of a transition plan to preschool, school, or, if appropriate, to other services.
(c) Use of the term service coordination or service coordination services. The lead agency’s or an EIS provider’s use of the term service coordination or service coordination services does not preclude characterization of the services as case management or any other service that is covered by another payor of last resort (including Title XIX of the Social Security Act—Medicaid), for purposes of claims in compliance with the requirements of §§303.501 through 303.521 (Payor of last resort provisions).

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