Routines-Based Early Intervention: Supporting Young Children and Their Families

A proven model for family-centered intervention in natural environments, routines-based intervention is the approach thousands of professionals trust to improve the lives of young children and families. Now there's a definitive guide to this highly respected, theoretically sound model-straight from the leading authority on routines-based intervention.

Putting the wisdom and strategies from his popular workshops into book form for the first time, Robin McWilliam gives professionals a detailed framework for early intervention that addresses families' individual needs and helps children participate in daily routines. With the step-by-step guidance on each part of the routines-based intervention model, professionals in Part C programs will reach their key goals during visits to homes and child care settings:

• Fully understand the family environment. Get to know the family by creating a helpful visual depiction of their relationships, supports, and resources.
• Conduct assessment that's truly family-centered. Uncover the whole family's functional needs through an in-depth yet unintimidating interview about daily routines and activities.
• Write high-quality IFSPs and IEPs. Develop clear, specific, measurable goals that directly address the family's priorities and help children develop skills relevant to everyday life.
• Provide coordinated, streamlined services. Implement the primary-service-provider model, so families receive strong, consistent support from one provider.
• Empower families to continue intervention between visits. Coach families on weaving intervention into daily routines, so children have the best chance to learn and retain new skills.
• Support early childhood educators through collaborative consultation, so they have all the tools they need to teach children effectively.

To help readers implement the model successfully and ensure fidelity to its principles, this practical how-to guide gives professionals more than 25 photocopiable checklists and other tools. And the review quizzes at the end of each chapter help make this an ideal textbook for preservice professionals as they prepare to work with children and families.

With this proven model—aligned with DEC Recommended Practices—Part C programs will ensure high-quality services that get right to the heart of each family's needs and improve young children's outcomes.

Implement the model with more than 25 checklists and forms:

• Family Quality of Life scale
• Therapy Goals Information form
• RBI Implementation Checklist
• Infant-Toddler Assessment Checklist
• Family Preparation form
• Service Decision Checklist
• Home Visit Checklist
• Consultation Checklist
• and more

A featured book in our

Effective Early Intervention Kit!

Robin McWilliam is the originator of the Routines-Based Model, implemented in 10 countries and many states in the U.S. He is a professor of special education at The University of Alabama, where he founded and directs the Evidence-based International Early Intervention Office (EIEIO). He is also the founder and leader of the RAM Group, an international community of practice fostering the Routines-Based Model. He has formerly been a professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a senior scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, and a professor of education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. McWilliam's research centers on infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with and without disabilities, with a specific focus on child engagement, service delivery models, and collaboration with families. He has provided consultation, training, and technical assistance across the United States and in some countries overseas on providing early intervention in natural environments and on the Engagement Classroom Model. His Routines-Based Interview (RBI) is a widely used method of assessing families' needs and developing individualized family service plan (IFSP) outcomes and individualized education program (IEP) goals.