Course Summary

There is strong evidence to support coaching during early intervention sessions, but many providers struggle with its implementation. To be successful, providers must have a balance of child-focused skills and adult-focused skills and understand the importance of routines-based intervention. This 2-hour course outlines specific strategies for helping families and caregivers enhance children’s learning and development through everyday routines and interactions. Whether sessions are done in-person or virtually, partnering with parents is the key. While the iconic toy bag is often associated with early intervention, it is critical for providers to understand the rationale for moving away from this safety net. Bagless sessions focus on high quality interactions between the adult and the child instead of tying learning and development to material items. 

Learning Outcomes  

As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to 

1. Explain the primary differences between the medical model, the educational model, and the early intervention model of pediatric therapy service delivery.
2. Describe how the adult learning approaches of coaching and consulting differ.
3. Outline five strategies providers can use to get parents actively involved in early intervention sessions.
4. Summarize the rationale for bagless sessions and list specific guidelines for transitioning away from the toy bag.  
   

Timed Agenda          

Minutes 1-3  Introduction

Minutes 4-8  Pediatric therapy service delivery models

Minutes 9-20  Adult learning models: coaching vs. consulting

Minutes 21-65  Coaching strategies to engage parents and caregivers

Minutes 66-75  What to do when caregivers don’t follow-through on the joint plan

Minutes 76-80 Suggestions for coaching in the childcare setting

Minutes 81-85  Coaching during virtual visits

Minutes 86-95  Recorded Q & A on coaching

Minutes 96-100 Rationale for bagless sessions

Minutes 101-105 What the research says

Minutes 106-115 Best practice guidelines for using toys in early intervention

Minutes 115-120  Recorded Q & A on bagless sessions

Meet The Speaker

Cari Ebert, MS, CCC-SLP is a pediatric speech-language pathologist in the Kansas City, Missouri area. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1993 and her master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1995. Cari is a therapist, consultant, author, product developer, and nationally recognized speaker who gets paid to do what she loves most—TALK! She specializes in autism, apraxia, and early intervention. Cari’s son has dual diagnoses of autism and apraxia, allowing her to engage audiences both as a professional and as a parent of a neurodivergent child. In 2018, Cari co-authored a book with Dave Hammer titled, The SLP’s Guide to Treating Childhood Apraxia of Speech. In 2020, she published a book on autism titled, The Learning to Learn Program. Visit www.cariebertseminars.com to browse Cari’s wide variety of speech therapy and early intervention products.  

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Cari Ebert is author of the Coaching the Caregiver in Early Intervention handout series and the Virtual Visits handout series, which she will reference in this training. Cari receives royalties from all product sales on her website. She also benefits financially from all sales of this self-study course.

Non-financial: Cari Ebert has a neurodivergent son and shares personal experiences in her seminars.

Refund Policy

• If a student orders and completes at least 15%, but no more than 30%, of the course and is dissatisfied with the material, then a refund will be considered on a case by case basis. The student will be required to state their specific issues with the course as it relates to their profession for a refund to be considered.
• If a student completes more than 30% of a course, there will be no refund.
• If a student fails to complete the course within the 120 day time period, there will be no refund.
• If a student purchases a course but never starts it within the 120 day time period for any reason, there will be no refund.
• If a student completes a course but fails to print their certificate of completion, there will be no refund. A certificate of completion will be issued to the student after verifying that the course was completed.