Home visits and CFSPs

Today I went on some home visits with one of the infant development consultants. This was extremely interesting to me as although I had studied about home visits in some of my early childhood education courses I never anticipated I would actually ever go on a home visit as it’s not common practice for teachers anymore. However the infant development consultants, behaviour consultants and supported child development workers at reach are visiting families in their homes daily!

Everyone at Reach is incredibly family-centred in the true sense of the word. From my observed of IDP, being family centred is the key to getting accurate and helpful assessments on home visits. Here are some of the tips I read that helped me feel prepared to go on a home visit.

• know your own culture and your own biases
• there to assess the child and not the home
• you are a guest in the home
• listen more than you speak
• have a plan but be prepared to go where the family or child wants to go

IDP visits consist of play and observation of the infant as well as conversation with the caregivers. The IDP worker brings a variety of toys and materials to the visit to play with the infant, take some notes and ask some questions. The IDP workers also will often use developmental checklists and assessment tools. They always try and leave the family with some ideas and strategies they can try. The IDP workers help the families work towards predetermined goals as outlined in the CFSP which is similar to an IEP. Like an IEP it has the child’s strengths and interests as well as goals broken down into measurable chunks.

I see that a lot of what we are doing in IDP is showing families how they can extend their play to enhance their child’s cognitive, language or physical development. That being said I frequently hear Reach consultants saying “You know him best” to the caregivers of children. I really appreciate that as I think it gives families power and makes them feel like they are partners with you. It shows that you have respect for them, and the extremely important role they play in the lives of their children.

So far everything I’ve done at Reach has been a really practical blend of what I learned in ECED 421 (Home, School, and Community Relationships) and what I’m currently studying in ECED 438 (Observation and Documentation in Early Childhood Contexts). The observation and assessment part of working with very young children with special needs is so important however it has to be balanced with being accessible and family centred. One of the visits we did was a joint visit with a consultant from Sunny Hill in order to reduce the number of home visits for the infant and family. It was also important for the IDP worker to be there to take detailed notes to be shared (with permission) with the whole team of therapy professionals working with the child. I’m really seeing now how caring for children with special needs is a very multidisciplinary effort.