Coaching with Confidence: Partnering with Caregivers in Early Intervention
Although research strongly supports the use of coaching in early intervention, many providers find it challenging to put into practice. Coaching is often misunderstood or mistaken for consulting, which takes a more directive adult-learning approach. To be effective, providers must balance child-focused and adult-focused skills while embracing the value of routines-based intervention.
This 2-hour course introduces five key coaching strategies that bring greater structure and confidence to implementation. Participants will gain practical, actionable tools to foster young children’s learning and development within everyday routines and interactions. Whether sessions take place in person or virtually, at home or in daycare, high-quality early intervention depends on strong partnerships with caregivers.
Learning Outcomes:
As a result of this training, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the differences between the adult learning approaches of coaching and consulting.
2. Outline five coaching strategies that help providers actively engage parents and caregivers during early intervention sessions.
3. Identify steps providers can take when caregivers do not follow through on the joint plan to maintain collaboration and progress.
Agenda:
· Welcome, Introduction, and Overview of Course (5 minutes)
· Contrasting service delivery models in EI (15 minutes)
· Adult learning approaches (15 minutes)
· Coaching Strategies to engage parents and caregivers (60 minutes)
· What to do when caregivers don’t follow through on the joint plan (15 minutes)
· Coaching in the childcare setting (10 minutes)
Meet Your Speaker
Cari Ebert, MS, CCC-SLP, is a pediatric speech-language pathologist in the Kansas City, Missouri area. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa in 1993 and her master’s degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1995. With over 25 years of experience in early intervention, Cari wears many hats: therapist, consultant, author, product developer, and internationally recognized speaker. As an SLP and professional speaker, she gets to do what she loves most every day —TALK! Known for her animated personality and high-energy speaking style, Cari engages audiences with both her professional expertise and her personal journey as the parent of an Autistic son.
Nonfinancial Disclosure:
Cari is the parent of an Autistic son and shares personal stories and insights from her parenting journey as part of her trainings.
Financial Disclosure:
Cari is the author of The Learning to Learn Program and will briefly reference it during this training. She receives royalties from the sale of products on her website and benefits financially from presenting this course.