 Good afternoon. Welcome to Babies and Toddlers Can't Wait. Babies and toddlers can't wait. Learning begins at birth. During the first five years of life, babies' brains develop the connections that influence the way they think, feel, behave and learn throughout their lives. Babies who are born prematurely have significant health needs or who are born with a genetic disorder may have delays in their development. Even babies who are healthy from day one may not progress at the same rate as other babies. How can we help them? Babies can receive special education services in their homes. The services are provided at no cost to the family. If you know of a baby since developing along both developmental you can make a referral to the early development work and early development network services coordinator will help the family with the paperwork that is needed in order to receive a free evaluation. This services coordinator serves as the single point of contact for the family and team members. The early network services coordinator can also help the family access other community resources that they might need such as WIC, food stamps weatherization services for their home or respite care for their child. There are several steps to making a referral for a child birth to three. You can refer them to the early development network. The services coordinator will contact the family within seven days to do the paperwork discover what the family's concerns are for the child and contact team members. Team members may include an early childhood special education teacher, a speech language pathologist a physical therapist, an occupational therapist a deaf educator or a teacher of the visually impaired. These team members will do an evaluation of the child in the home with the parents present so parents can answer questions and ask questions and the child will feel most comfortable. After the evaluation is complete the evaluators, a representative from the school and the parents meet together in a multidisciplinary team meeting. They decide if the child will qualify for special education services. If the child qualifies, the team develops an individualized family services plan based on the concerns and the child's needs. Parents participate in the decision making every step of the way and the services are provided in the child's home or day care setting. These services might come to the child weekly or monthly depending on the child's needs. The IFSP or individualized family services plan team meets again in six months to talk about the child's progress and make changes to services or goals to meet the child's current needs. Babies and toddlers can't wait because they learn quickly and we need to respond to their ever changing needs. Services are also available for children three to five years old. In this case there isn't a services coordinator to help the family but an early childhood special education teacher or a speech language therapist from the local school district can help the family with the paperwork. The evaluation can be done at school at home or at day care for a child three to five years of age. Again the team meets after the evaluation is complete to determine if the child qualifies for special education services. If he qualifies for services the team develops an individualized education plan. The services can be provided for the child at school at home or day care. How do you know if a child between the ages of birth and five years old needs an evaluation or services? How do you know if your child is developing at an expected rate? One resource that you can go to is the ESU8 web page. We have an entire page developed for early childhood. On this page you can find a developmental checklist for three to five year olds. You can find a developmental checklist for birth to two year olds. Some developmental milestones that are based solely on their communication needs. Is he saying enough words? Are the sounds that he's mispronouncing normal for a child his age? You can also find other resources such as do pacifiers and sippy cups cause a speech delay? Or where can I look to find other resources for my family? We also post workshops for parents from time to time on this page. I think you're the only participant. Who can make a referral? They have concerns about their child's development. Parents can make a referral, the medical staff preschool teachers or day care persons. Although anyone can make the referral nothing happens as far as an evaluation or services without parental consent. You can contact the early development network or the educational service unit or your local school district superintendent. Thank you for helping us contact families of young children in your community. If you would like development wheels brochures or speech development charts to share with parents in your school district or in your community please contact the educational service unit or send an email to ruth at esu8.org Thanks.