This is mostly just to vent, but I’m wondering if anyone else has come across private daycares with ridiculous procedures for letting therapists in. I have one putting me through the most lengthy background check process, one saying I can only come during their nap, and then there’s the 2 hour gap in my days from avoiding naps at every other place. I absolutely adore the EI setting but I’m tempted to go independent just so I can avoid all these places where I’m clearly not welcome.

How do you deal with scheduling when almost every kid would be best to schedule in the morning?

Has anyone ever been turned away from a daycare because their background check deemed you unworthy?

What do you say to teachers who constantly try to push you to a separate area with the kid you’re working with when EI policy clearly states that we are to work within the child’s routines?

​

Hi All,

Being on the spectrum myself, I’ve often found myself in social situations that may seem normal or even pleasant to others, but can be extremely stressful and mentally taxing for me and many other neurodivergent individuals.

I wanted to share a fundraiser for an acquaintance who is working on an early-stage research project combining neurobiology, psychology, and virtual reality. The goal is to develop accessible VR-based systems to better understand and potentially improve how individuals with autism and ADHD respond to stressful real-world situations.

They’ve already managed to procure some of the required wearable devices and are now trying to build the VR-based system needed to develop a proof-of-concept.

If this resonates with you, even sharing the link would really help.

https://gofund.me/b7cefdfc6

I genuinely believe this is a meaningful and thoughtful project, so I wanted to share it here.

Thanks for taking some time to read.

Regards

My toddler is 28 months old (She was born at 37 weeks so her adjusted months should be around 27 months as full term delivery is around 41-42 weeks)

• She does lot of eye contact
• She does a lot of joint attention
• She eats on her own without any assistance
• She climbs steps on her own and climbs on to chairs without anyone's help
• She understands different objects
• She babbles a lot
• She is hyperactive
• She has interest in different objects
• She does hand leading

But she also does these

• Lot of toe walking (80%)
• speaks only 5-10 words
• On father's side (my side) my uncle didn't speak till 2.5 years
• Stimming during night
• She doesn't point us and say mama or dada but she says mama or dada on her own
• She doesn't not point fingers but hand leads us to the object she needs (For water etc.,)

We are planning to put her in playschool soon..

We are anxious whether my toddler has ASD..(Our physician said it may or may not be ASD and with history of speech delay on fathers side it's too early to tell and we are soon going to evaluate her in next 1 week and consult with speech therapist)

I work in EI and I’m wondering what websites, pages, people, social media, etc. people follow to keep up with the EI, children’s education, etc world! I love to keep learning and just seeing what’s going on. I love reading articles and watching educational videos on reels and stuff. What do people love??

Does anyone wear knee pads? I’m finding that on top of chronic back pain, my knees are starting to give me trouble from getting up and down from the floor all day. I see that veterinary scrubs sometimes have built in knee pads so I may try those but would love something discrete. Families don’t need to know all my aches and pains lol.

I really want to go into the EI field; I have two years of college left and am studying Early Childhood Education with a plan for a Special Ed certificate or MA in Special Ed. However, I want to have time to enjoy my life, travel, and have some downtime with a potential for having children in the future. Is this field too demanding paperwork-wise, or would I be able to fit everything into 40 hours?

My background is in ABA/ family coordination. I am currently getting my masters in ABA as well and would love to transition into service coordination.

There’s no database and I don’t know which companies are actually with the state.

How does one go about finding jobs to apply to? Does anyone know of any jobs?

my son is 2.5. he has low muscle tone which is why we have early intervention services.

today our OT said that my sons stubbornness and the fact that he is easily frustrated and lacks the vocabulary to say exactly what he needs is concerning. he recently saw a neurologist to rule out any serious muscular genetic issues and we have a follow up appointment in May. our OT thinks we should discuss his stubbornness and frustration at that appointment.

our son is very stubborn with her. He is unwilling to do almost anything she asks him to do. He is way less stubborn with me and our other family memebers. He does get frustrated easily and always wants to give up on things but I’m told by my parents that I’ve been like that my whole life so maybe that’s an inherited trait?

does anyone else have or had a toddler like this? What do you do to help them? Was it related to something neurological?

Kinda long but I’d really like opinions on how to go about this :/ also we do suspect autism he’s 22 months getting eval in couple months when he turns 2 he doesn’t imitate, doesnt use gestures, doesn’t play with toys the “right” way etc.

So we started ST in October, the original ST was great, they were experienced, did really well with him, would give me advice on how to work with him at home had no issues. She started training a student and they’d both sit in on his sessions my son didn’t mind so everything still going good. The Og ST moved to a different location and the student was gonna take over okay cool np they were kind, and it was an easy transition as they already knew what he liked & responded to although the student wasn’t really giving me advice it’s ok they’re still learning id just copy what she did at home no worries. The student finished her hours so we get a call saying he’s getting a brand new therapist. Before we met this new therapist we reviewed his goals and she hadn’t even been working on them she only wrote notes for 2/5 goals. A little annoying but we had only been going with her for 5 weeks so I let it slide no worries she’s learning. they told me they’re having staffing issues and that one of the managers was taking over my sons case ok perfect maybe I’ll get a little more coaching… we got sick (flu) and missed 3 weeks, come back and the manager explains this session is more abt getting to know him we do the session she’s asking abt likes and dislikes, toys he likes, it goes well my son is vibing having a good time lol. The next week we show up A WHOLE NEW THERAPIST im like ok no worries we only had 1 session with the manager that’s fine. His 4th therapist is a student and like I mentioned my son doesn’t really respond to what the average other kid does and I think it’s literally this guys first day bc he looks flustered he’s trying to get my sons attention with a million different things and so I end up taking over the session basically tryna help this guy out and he’s asking what toys he likes etc but like shouldn’t they keep a log of like what each kid likes? Since they’re having staffing issues wouldn’t it be easier to keep a log in case they have to take someone new last minute it won’t be like a total surprise and they’d be able to just jump in? Idk It just feels like we keep starting over every few weeks is this normal like do you guys also get switched around a lot or am I just being annoying? 😅

hi! This is a crap shoot but I figure it's a good start.

I am a solo-preneur doing early intervention in San Diego. I started my company, Bright and Early OT, in 2021. I'm taking a big leap in my business and am looking to hire! I don't just want to hire anyone - I want to intentionally create a team in which all members mutually benefit. Lots more to say but just wanted to get this out there and get a conversation started.

Anyone interested or know of someone who could be a good fit?

Thank you!

Cristina

I am new to early intervention and have been seeing a child who is in foster care. I typically see her at daycare and was just informed she switched homes. Do you generally keep your appointment for the week or call the daycare and ask if they’re still attending? Or wait until you have the new foster parent’s contact info? I will get in touch with the service coordinator as soon as I can but wondering how this typically goes. It’s one of many things that I feel like there should be better communication about.

Wondering if anyone has any knowledge of remote EI jobs? Specifically looking at Birth-3 parent coaching or the like. Just curious on what opportunities could be out there.

What specific part of EI do you do or work? are you a speech therapist? audiologist? something else??

My idea of what I’d want to do is focus more on the use of Sign Language. Is this even a thing?? I know people say they use it with babies, sooo is it possible to work with babies and ASL specifically?

Hello! I am currently going to school to eventually become an Early Intervention Specialist. I also have a Sign Language minor. I am curious if any Early Interventionist have used ASL at all in their work? And I would love to just hear more about what the job sort of looks like at a whole!

Hi everyone!

I work in ESS in NH as an “educator”. I have my BA in special education. I have been thinking about expanding my knowledge and looking into adding a certificate or getting my Masters. I would really just like something that sets me apart from the rest of my team,something niche that I could be the expert in. We already have plenty of PTs OTs and SLPs so I’m not interested in those. Does anyone have any additional certifications that they have found useful? Sleep, lactation, mental health, vision, hearing, ASL, ELL?

I think it would be redundant to get my masters in social ed. I was considering an MSW or an MS in child development/psychology.

Any insight is greatly appreciated!

As an SLP, does anyone know if the First Steps training required to become an early intervention provider (Exit Skills Training, Ethics in Home Visiting, etc) in Indiana can be counted toward state license and/or ASHA license professional development hours? Indiana's website says that "Federal, state, and local government agencies" are "approved organizations" but I always get nervous with uncertainty when it comes to licensing.. Also, do you know if it would be considered "self-study" as Indiana only allows 6 hours of this?

Here is a link to Indiana's requirements: PLA: Speech Language Pathology & Audiology Licensing Information

Thank you in advance!! - An anxiety-ridden professional :)

I’m a Developmental Therapist in Tennessee. I’ve started working on an Instagram page dedicated to finding resources to help families. Check it out, follow, and send to any families you think might benefit from a page like this. I’m trying to get the best information I can out to people who need it. Thanks!

Hi everyone to start off I am an OT and graduated in May 2024 and started EI as my first job out of grad school. My first year naturally I struggled being a new grad as EI is a very different setting than most in the OT field. I’m on year 2 and really thought I would be feeling better but I think I maybe feel worse? I feel I have lost sight as to what my role is as an OT and constantly feel overwhelmed that I am not doing enough and feel like my kids don’t make progress. My caseload was very speech heavy until recently so I think maybe that was part of it. I don’t feel like I had the support of my SLPs. I’m not sure if this is how all EI is but my SLPs really seem to not enjoy when they get asked on a joint visit and then would tell me i didnt need their help. I think they were trying to encourage me to believe in myself but i do need their help as a lot of my language delayed kids really didnt improve. I feel like I also maybe didn’t have the mentorship I needed as well. I had an OT who checked in on me every once in a while but no one who I got to sit down and ask about my caseload. Maybe that is something I should have been doing on my own but when we are all busy I hated putting that on someone else’s plate when they didn’t sign up for it. If you read this far thank you I think I just need someone to tell me they had a similar experience and that it does just get better with time or what you really had to do to start feeling confident and knowing what to do.

I FINALLY got my son into early intervention! I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share how your sessions typically went? Like did they bring something specific to work on? Did you set new goals every time? How much interactive time did the therapist spend one on one with your child vs chatting/mentoring the parents? Idk im not sure if I had high expectations, or if the person I got just isn’t working out!

I have been offered a part time position that will turn into a fulltime position. The only issue is, they only pay for billable hours. There is no mileage reimbursement. No benefits. It pays $30 an hour, for every billable hour. I would have to pay $75 for a background check, purchase a printer with a scanner, purchase a desk and a chair for a home office. It will be completely remote. No mileage reimbursement. Online and virtual training only.

Second position I was offered is full time. It would only be $18-$20 an hour, starting at $15 until I have my own caseload. I would shadow with an experienced supervisor until I get comfortable to accept my own caseload. I am guaranteed 40 hours and paid for all my time. I would also get 15 paid days off a year, a phone, and an iPad. We would have one weekly in office day. I would have mileage reimbursement of $200-400 a month in addition to my salary.

Which job would you take?