Source: http://nichcy.org/babies/keyterms
Timestamp: 2014-04-24 21:16:45
Document Index: 140378940

Matched Legal Cases: ['§303', '§303', '§ 303', '§303', '§303', '§303', '§303', '§303', '§303', '§303', '§ 303', '§ 303', '§303', '§303', '§303', '§303', '§303']

Key Terms to Know in Early Intervention — National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
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Help with Listen Feature December 2012
Need to know how key terms in early intervention are defined?
Early intervention is full of terms that people constantly use in writing and in conversation, and it’s important to know what those terms mean. NICHCY is pleased to provide this handy reference to early intervention terminology, and hopes it helps our readers quickly connect with the meaning of pivotal words and phrases in the field.
Infant or toddler with a disability
Back to top Point of Reference: Part C of IDEA
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). NICHCY frequently refers to this law on its 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 NICHCY’s 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.
Looking for another definition? | Can’t find the term or phrase what you’re looking for? Enter the term in the search box at the top of the page and view the results for IDEA’s use of the term.
Back to top Consent
The Part C regulations define consent at §303.7, as follows:
(a) The parent has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought, in the parent’s native language, as defined in §303.25;
(b) The parent understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which the parent’s consent is sought, and the consent form describes that activity and lists the early intervention records (if any) that will be released and to whom they will be released; and
Additional provisions of import | The following provisions are also important with respect to parental consent.
(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.
What’s all that mean? | For a discussion of these regulations and what they mean, visit NICHCY’s separate webpage called Parent Notification and Consent.
Back to top Developmental Delay
The definition of developmental delay in the Part C regulations of IDEA is actually very tiny. Here it is:
§ 303.10 Developmental delay.
As can be seen, the entirety of the term is defined by each State, for use with children residing in that State. This gives enormous flexibility to each State—within the parameters of what specific other provisions in the Part C regulations require–especially the following:
§303.111 State definition of developmental delay.
Each system must include the State’s rigorous definition of developmental delay, consistent with §§303.10 and 303.203(c), that will be used by the State in carrying out programs under Part C of the Act in order to appropriately identify infants and toddlers with disabilities who are in need of services under Part C of the Act. The definition must—
(a) Describe, for each of the areas listed in §303.21(a)(1), the evaluation and assessment procedures, consistent with §303.321, that will be used to measure a child’s development; and
Editor’s note | The developmental areas mentioned in the above definition are:
About developmental delay | NICHCY offers a fact sheet on Developmental Delay.
Do you really want to know how the Part C regulations define the term early intervention services? Of course you do. Brace yourself, though, because it’s a long one. Here goes…
(4) Are designed to meet the developmental needs of an infant or toddler with a disability and the needs of the family to assist appropriately in the infant’s or toddler’s development, as identified by the IFSP Team, in any one or more of the following areas, including—
(A) The evaluation of the needs of an infant or toddler with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the infant or toddler with a disability in the child’s customary environment;
(E) Training or technical assistance for an infant or toddler with a disability or, if appropriate, that child’s family; and
(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.
(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.
(8) Occupational therapy includes services to address the functional needs of an infant or toddler with a disability related to adaptive development, adaptive behavior, and play, and sensory, motor, and postural development. These services are designed to improve the child’s functional ability to perform tasks in home, school, and community settings, and include—
(i) Making home visits to evaluate a child’s living conditions and patterns of parent-child interaction;
(iv) Working with those problems in the living situation (home, community, and any center where early intervention services are provided) of an infant or toddler with a disability and the family of that child that affect the child’s maximum utilization of early intervention services; and
(i) The design of learning environments and activities that promote the infant’s or toddler’s acquisition of skills in a variety of developmental areas, including cognitive processes and social interaction;
(iv) Working with the infant or toddler with a disability to enhance the child’s development.
(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.
Back to top 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) 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.
Key terms don’t get more key than this one! The Part C regulations define infant or toddler with a disability at §303.21, as follows:
(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).
(c) Infant or toddler with a disability may include, at a State’s discretion, a child with a disability who is eligible for services under section 619 of the Act and who previously received services under this part until the child enters, or is eligible under State law to enter, kindergarten or elementary school, as appropriate, provided that any programs under this part must include—
Not a very long definition this time. Multidisciplinary is defined as follows:
§ 303.24 Multidisciplinary.
Here’s another short-ish but important definition from the Part C regulations.
§ 303.25 Native language.
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?
§303.126 Early intervention services in natural environments.
Each system must include policies and procedures to ensure, consistent with §§303.13(a)(8) (early intervention services), 303.26 (natural environments), and 303.344(d)(1)(ii) (content of an IFSP), that early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities are provided—
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.
(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.
(i) The notice is translated orally or by other means to the parent in the parent’s native language or other mode of communication;
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.
(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.
(2) Each infant or toddler with a disability and the child’s family must be provided with one service coordinator who is responsible for—
(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.
(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).
definitions, early intervention, Part C regulations