What is an IFSP?
An IFSP stands for Individualized Family Service Plan. This written legal document is central to early intervention services for children from birth to age three. Mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education act, it establishes why services are needed, what services will be provided, and how, by whom and where those services will be delivered (American, 2023). Rest assured that the family is key to the whole process and an active member of the decision-making team. You and anyone else you choose to invite will sit down with a team of service providers to discuss what your goals are for your child’s development and how everyone can work together to make them happen. These team members may include a program coordinator, school district administrator, occupational therapist, speech language therapist, physical therapist, teacher of the visually impaired or low vision specialist, child development specialist, behavioral therapist, etc. The plan will be designed based on your family’s needs and will respect your concerns, priorities, and insight. Every member of the team should be focused on supporting your family in achieving healthy adjustment and providing your child with rich developmental experiences that lead to positive growth (Minnesota, n.d.).
The first step in the process is determining eligibility and gathering assessment data. (American, 2023). This is done through a meeting with school district representatives in your area who must qualify your child to receive services and determine which developmental areas need addressed. This laundry list of professionals may seem intimidating and that is where having a written plan everyone agrees on about how everything will occur, really comes in handy. Specifically, the document developed at the meeting will describe the current developmental level of your child, family background information, the goals to be worked on, how exactly progress will be measured and documented, the services needed to meet the goals, and how specifically the services will take place. The “how” of service delivery includes when they will begin, how often, how many times, how long, and in what setting (Minnesota, n.d.). The outlined plan should also consider all areas of development: physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and communication in addition to visual and fine motor skills. The plan will be revised every six months so any needed changes can be made. Remember that early intervention services are inherently family centered. You will be the most direct facilitator of your child’s development and have an equal voice in how the plan is set up (American, 2023).
How will Services be Provided?
Most early intervention programs employ a model called the transdisciplinary approach. Don’t let the term transdisciplinary intimidate you. Essentially, it means that, instead of working with each professional separately, the professionals are a combined unit that focuses on training the primary provider in each service area and expecting this one person to carry all areas to the family. What this means is that all services will be delivered to you and your child through one chosen facilitator to minimize the number of folks directly interacting with your child. The team selects the provider who’s skills most directly relate to your child’s needs as the facilitator who will work directly with you. In the case of a young child who is blind, the chosen facilitator is often the teacher of the visually impaired as they have expertise in the primary area of disability. The other professionals observe off site and provide the facilitator with their insight and expertise. Sometimes, they may interact with you the parent to train on specific techniques, but you will be the one to implement those techniques when caring for your child.
Why In-home Services?
It is the job of the team’s facilitator to stay in regular collaboration with the whole team and ensure all of the others’ recommendations, strategies, and resources are communicated to you the parent in an effective manner. Each team member will share expertise with the others in planning how best to support you in caring for your little one, then that expertise is passed onto you during direct service delivery time at your home (Pogrund et.al., 2002).
It is common practice among early intervention programs for family services to be delivered at the home, rather than at a school or medical facility. The primary reason for this decision is that the home is the most natural environment for the youngest children (under 36 months), where the majority of early development naturally takes place. Other benefits include the ability for providers to observe how your family works and practices you are using, less stress on you and your baby because you will be in a familiar setting, you don’t have to worry about driving somewhere and arriving on time, the facilitating provider can see how best to adapt your space to cultivate progress, and most importantly, your family gets to be fully involved in the whole process (Pogrund et.al., 2002). What is more, interventions are most effective when taught as part of the family’s daily routines, ensuring they become regular parts of your daily life.
The Role of the TVI
In addition to working to impart the techniques suggested by fellow team members, the facilitating teacher of the visually impaired brings their own skillset. They are responsible for addressing how physical, cognitive, motor, social, and language development is impacted by vision loss and how this can be corrected through intentional stimulation (Pogrund et.al., 2002). Babies who have no or limited vision have a lot less information to work with when sorting out how the world works, forming spatial concepts about objects and their environment, and knowing how a space is structured to move around it with ease. They also miss out on incidental learning from watching others to see how things work. These concepts must be directly facilitated to them in ways that let them explore using the senses they do have. Don’t worry though. Even if your child does need more time than others to achieve certain developmental stepping-stones, they can absolutely still get there through active participation in your families regular activities (Willings, 2017).
Some other things this professional will likely do are conducting assessments on visual functioning, identifying which senses are the primary learning channel/s for your child, adapting materials to enhance visual or tactile access, explaining eye reports, identifying ways to integrate use of any vision your child may have for a specific purpose, informing other staff on the team about how to support vision needs, and sharing resources available to your family that could provide further support (Pogrund et.al., 2002).
Reacting to Your Baby’s Visual Impairment
There are over five hundred thousand visually impaired children throughout the country and greater than half of them have additional disabilities (Johnson, 2020). All good parents are incredibly anxious when they find out their child has a visual impairment. You love your baby; it is only natural to feel fear when confronted with something that could potentially threaten their wellbeing and quality of life. It is because you want the best for them that you worry about their future. Perhaps the most vital thing early intervention providers seek to give families is hope, encouragement, the support of a community with knowledge of how to help, and assurance that your child really can still have a full life with the right foundation in place.
Resources to learn more and get connected with other parents in the same situation is a wonderful place to start. Make sure to ask your service provider about ones relevant to your situation and context during your early intervention journey together and save their contact information if you can, because time really does fly. You may also want to ask about a state specific support group to stay informed about opportunities in your area.
Check out these excellent resources freely available to all of us on the web:
- Family Connect is an online community formed by the American Foundation for the Blind with the American Printing House for families with visually impaired children to share with and learn from each other. Note that Parent Connect can be freely joined and has a virtual support group.
- The National Federation of the Blind has a division National Organization of Parents of Blind Children for educating families about many areas of living with blindness. Check out this hyperlink to brows the resources section.
- WonderBaby also has a section with support resources for parents and families, this one is a bit more generalized towards special needs.
- This Favorite Resources for POBC WonderBaby link is more specific to blindness
- The Parents’ Perspective video from Family Connect which deals more with the emotional factors involved in learning your child has a disability. Your initial reactions are totally normal, but you must work past them to be an effective support for your child. The more positively you act, the more positively your child will think.
References
American Printing House for the Blind. (2023, February 14). Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP): Early intervention services for families raising a child with blindness or low vision. FamilyConnect. https://familyconnect.org/education/your-childs-iep-or-ifsp/individualized-family-service-plan-ifsp/
Johnson, A. (2020, May 4). A guide for parents of Visually Impaired Children. All About Vision. https://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/visually-impaired-children-parents-guide/
Minnesota Parent Training and Information Center. (n.d.). Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) – pacer center. PACER Center – Champions for Children with Disabilities. https://www.pacer.org/ec/early-intervention/ifsp.asp
Pogrund, R. L., Fazzi, D. L., & Correa, V. (2002). Current Trends, Service Delivery, and Advocacy. In Early focus: Working with young children who are blind or visually impaired and their families (pp. 405–441). AFB Press.
Willings, C. (2017, November 4). Early intervention program for students who are blind or visually impaired. Teaching Students with Visual Impairments. https://www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/early-intervention-services.html