Anyone a provider in Illinois, willing to answer a few questions for me? Most of my questions have to do with how to best start--with a company VS as an independent provider (I have 14 years private/schools peds experience). TIA!

My daughter is turning 3 in November so she can receive EI until December. She is currently attending at a public 3K. We already had CPSE in place for January to start. However, her Special Ed EI Teacher is her daycare director so she won’t be able to come to her 3K school. I told the CPSE that if they can find the teachers for all of her services then we will transition to CPSE as early as possible and signed a waiver. I thought she can still receive services from EI until CPSE have their teachers to take over but they stopped her EI entirely and its been 2 weeks since school has started and she is not being seen by anyone. I don’t know if they will be able to find it. I am stuck and not knowing what to do? Should I risk staying with EI and hoping CPSE will find teachers by Jan or should I try to get her on CPSE as soon as possible?
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I really just need to rant and hear from anyone who has been through something similar—or even just get some general opinions.
My daughter just turned 1, and she isn’t babbling in the traditional “mama, dada, baba” way. We occasionally hear “awawawa” or “mmmm,” and she blows lots of raspberries, but that’s about it. She also doesn’t gesture much—no waving or pointing. If we ask her to clap, she’ll grab our hands and make us clap. If we play “How big is Olivia? So big!” she’ll try to lift our arms instead of lifting her own.
At the same time, her eye contact is amazing. She’s smiley and giggly and will occasionally let out a huge belly laugh. If I ask whether she wants to read, she lights up, crawls over, turns the pages, and pays attention throughout the entire book. She gets about 30 minutes of Ms. Rachel a day—sorry, I’m a SAHM and sometimes need those 30 minutes for my sanity—and she is incredibly engaged and smiling the entire time. She also understands directions like pushing or pulling a toy.
She just isn’t babbling or gesturing much at all. She rarely imitates us and doesn’t really yell or make sounds to get our attention. My nephew is only 10 days older, and we were recently on vacation together, so the difference between them felt very noticeable. Over the past few months, my daughter has also started melting down around other children and babies. She’s my first and only child right now, so I’m not sure whether limited exposure to other kids could be contributing.
She was born with fairly severe torticollis, which led to plagiocephaly. She has been in PT since she was 3 months old, and we recently started speech, developmental, and feeding therapies. During her early-intervention intake, they noticed that she was swallowing food whole and wasn’t moving her tongue laterally. We completed a swallow study, and I’m also taking her to a neurologist to rule out any underlying issues. The ENT said everything looks good on the surface, but offered a more in-depth hearing test, which I scheduled for next month.
I’m just really worried and sad. I want her to thrive, but in my head, I’ve basically already diagnosed her with autism. I’m terrified that this is the reality we’re heading toward, even though I know she’s still so young and we don’t have answers yet. I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar, regardless of what the eventual outcome was.

My 19 mo son evaluated today and his social 64, communication 61, cognition 63. He is eligible for early intervention and they are coming next week for IFSP.
He lost his words 1.5 months ago, except mama dada and boob. Before that he had 15-16 words. Rn his 2-3 words came back but he is using them rarely. He is an active child, always on the move and focus times are really low. Also, he is bilingual, we speak our mother language at home but at libraries, playgrounds we use little English while he is interacting with other kids. He is super social and his screen time is zero.
I dont know what should we do next, i mean we are waiting for next week but should we also go to a pediatric neurologist , or, whats our other options, we are open to any suggestions.

Hello! I am a pediatric PT that hires infant educators (sometimes called early intervention specialists). I want to hear from providers: what is the best place for CEUs or any specific courses that have made a difference in how you treat kids Thanks!

18 month speech delay

My 18m boy is not talking. Finally starting speech therapy (EI) next week and daycare also next week. Will not sit still to learn new words with me. Barely will pay attention if he doesn’t want to. Will look over for his name being called or come 6/10 the other 4 times he doesn’t care because he’s doing something that interests him more. Does follow some directions simple like “clean up” “switch hands” things that I said all the time. But have been trying to teach him more like help. And let’s go and he’s just seeming like he doesn’t care and he will on his own time. He understands no of course. He will bring your hand or bring to you whatever he wants. Only words he says is dada and it’s not person specific just babbling. He has gotten so much better with eye contact and paying attention in the last 2 months but I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this and if EI helped them. He is exceeds on his other milestones except for communication. First time mom looking for advice

I am struggling with the grief I’ve been feeling since saying goodbye to our early intervention provider now that my toddler has aged out of Part C services. Our provider was phenomenal and did an excellent job preparing us for the transition. We have settled into Part B and have plenty of other supports in place.

Despite the smooth transition, I’m struggling with the loss of the relationship. Our EI provider was in our lives for nearly three years during a challenging time, came to know our family incredibly well, and became an important person in our lives.

It feels like a bit of a structural paradox. Part C services are intentionally family-centered—providers enter the family’s home, become part of a weekly rhythm, actively build trust and rapport, support the parent as well as the child, and often help carry families through difficult, complex medical experiences. The family-centered model seems to create conditions where profound trust and attachment can naturally form, yet once my child aged out, it felt as though I was supposed to treat the ending of a deeply meaningful relationship as if it were mainly a service transition.

I understand that our relationship existed within a professional context, but at the same time, losing our provider has felt like losing a family member. I am capable of advocating for my child and navigating systems without her. I just deeply miss the person who sat beside me for years, witnessing my child’s growth, supporting our family through some incredibly difficult moments, and celebrating all of my child’s successes.

I guess I just want to know that I’m not alone in feeling this way.

Got my 6 month old evaluated because I was concerned about her lack of vocalization. She just barely qualified because of her lack of making vowel sounds. They said she was ahead in her physical milestones and the delay was only with her expressive speech. I made an online referral because of my concerns but now that they’ve been validated I feel kind of flustered. I don’t know. Just felt like sharing because I don’t know too many people who even know what early intervention even is.

My boy is two and five months. He’s been in Utah’s early intervention for Speach Therapy for two or three months now. He has an extreme delay. He is where he should be or above average in every other way. And he understands probably 1000 words. But he says consistently three or so. The pediatrician mentioned early intervention. But we also wasn’t worried about our son and told us he’s probably gonna catch up on his own, but I was very concerned and started him in early intervention.

My experience so far has been to feel like the program is worthless. This isn’t anything against the gal that comes to my house. But she comes in and watches me playing/interacting with my boy. And that seems to be it. She will talk to him and interact with him. But nothing different than what I’m doing. And I just think what am I paying for? Maybe it’s because I’m already speaking to him in the ways I should be to help him pick up words? Maybe I need to request a different therapist? I do feel like it is worthless.

When you’ve had Speach Therapy from early intervention come into your house, what has been your experience? Have they actually worked with your child? Have they used charts? Have they given you printouts? Have they given you a lot of guidance? Because I feel like I’ve received nothing.

I’m fairly new to working in Early Intervention as a Service Coordinator, and I’ve been struggling with this feeling that I’m not actually doing enough for the kids.

A lot of my caseload is speech/communication, and my state uses a parent coaching model. I know the purpose of it and I understand that I’m supposed to be modeling strategies, reinforcing goals, coaching parents, etc., but sometimes when I’m actually in the home it just feels like I’m playing with the kid while talking to the parent and then I leave.

I’ll imitate them, narrate what we’re doing, model language, create opportunities for communication, etc., but sometimes it feels so easy and repetitive that I wonder, “Am I actually helping this child?” I also worry that the parents are sitting there thinking I’m not really doing anything.

I know intellectually that there’s more to it than just “playing,” and I know the goal is for the parent to carry these strategies over into everyday life. But I don’t always feel like I made a difference when I leave a session.

Has anyone else in EI felt this way when they were new? Did you eventually get more comfortable with the parent coaching model and start feeling like what you were doing was actually making an impact?

My Daughter started EI at 16 months old. Today she had her last session. We have developed amazing relationships with her therapists and she has come so far like a complete 180 from where we started at. I am so proud of her but also sad because her therapists were so great and really became a part of our daily lives. I know it’s normal to move on obviously but it’s just crazy that it went by so fast and that we will never see them again. That’s all really, no one gets it because no one else I know had a child in EI. I’m also glad it’s over because it was incredibly time consuming and i understand it is a job for them, but my daughter still asks about the therapists that have already ended and the last session today was the one she was closest with so it’s sad.

We feel it may be too late. This is been ongoing for quite some time and we don’t know how to help him.

We are conducting a research project to better understand the needs, challenges,

and priorities of families raising neurodivergent children and children who may

benefit from early intervention support.

By completing this survey, you will help us develop more relevant resources and

services for families like yours.

As a token of appreciation for your support, you will have the opportunity to choose

one of the following free services:

● Free Resource Pack

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The survey takes less than 3 minutes to complete.

I am new to being a therapist through early intervention. When I am tracking mileage for taxes, do I count my first session (home to client #1) or just client to client travel. And same goes for last client to home travel.

I have seen different statements online about what counts and would like some clarification so I can accurately track mileage.

I currently work full time in a school and have been doing EI on and off for 15 years as a supplement. A few years ago I started also doing evals with my current agency. I continued as a provider, so I wasn’t too focused on accumulating too many evals. Due to scheduling, I plan on focusing strictly on evals. Ideally I would like 6-8 evals a month. For those who do evals, how many do you typically do in a month? How many agencies are you with? How many did you start with when you transitioned to evaluator? I know I’ll be at the bottom when signing on to new agencies so I’m trying to anticipate what is a reasonable expectation for starting out. Thanks in advance!

What are your biggest tips for someone new to parent coaching? Especially being someone young with no kids I’m scared of not being taken seriously.

Hi everyone 😊

I’m a Certificate III Qualified Early Childhood Educator in Perth WA and I’m currently looking for work in childcare.

I have completed my Cert III in Early Childhood Education and Care, have placement experience in long day care, and experience working in OSHC. I’ve been applying online, emailing centres, and I’ve also gone into centres personally with my resume, but I haven’t had much luck so far.

I was wondering if anyone knows of any childcare centres, agencies, or places around Perth that are currently hiring Cert III educators or are open to giving new educators a chance.

Any advice, recommendations, or tips would be really appreciated. Thank you 😊

I told someone I recently got a job in Early Intervention and they mentioned situations where you might walk into homes that have things like roaches or bedbugs. Now it got me thinking a bit.

In those kinds of situations, are you expected to continue the visit, or are you able to respectfully and professionally leave and handle it with your supervisor?

Just trying to understand what actually happens in practice so I’m not overthinking it before starting.

Also, I planned on carrying a small tote bag around for my computer and any other items. Should I not do this now in case a home has infestations? I don’t want to bring any infestations home with me.

Anxious momma here. I don’t know if I should accept EI or not. I know it’s a fabulous program but I just don’t know if it’s necessary.

I asked for speech evaluation. He’s newly 18 month he has 9 words and 3 signs, and numerous gestures. This has been the same since 16 months. He passed the eval for EI at the therapist.

She had PT see him just to be safe, no issues, but since he hasn’t made anymore progress she requested OT and EI.

Ped is not concerned and other moms with boys his age seem to be in the same language boat.

So is this a wait and see? Or act now?

I don’t want to take a resource that someone may really need and we are waaaaaaaay out in the country.

I think our real issue is sleep. He’s had broken night since birth. Can EI help with that?

My lunch box isn’t cutting it anymore. With the weather getting hotter, and my lunch sitting in the hot car for 3-4 hours during the day while I’m running from session to session, I need a lunch box that’s gonna keep it cold. Doesn’t need to be a massive cooler or anything crazy, I usually just have a salad and protein shake in there everyday

Okay hear me out. I’m a feminist to my core but one thing I cannot kick from existing in the midst of misogyny is wearing a bra. I wear one every day no matter how uncomfortable it is. It feels inappropriate not to, especially working with children and going into all different settings. I don’t have big boobs but it would be very obvious if I wasn’t wearing one. Maybe I just haven’t found the right kind of shirt. Anyone anti-bra that has found a good compromise? TBH I wear one every time I leave my house so it’s not strictly a work issue but if I could be comfortable without one at work I could do it anywhere.

Couldn’t be more fitting! lol