1. In the past, early intervention was provided using a more traditional approach with a medical/clinical focus on fixing a child’s skills. The parent was more of an observer who relied on the provider to influence the child’s development during their clinical session. The provider did not have the opportunity to share with the family what they were looking for, and they were unable to take into consideration what the family wanted or needed. Now, interventions are more routine based and it supports active family engagement. They embed interventions into natural family routines to offer more frequent practice of new skills in an environment that the child i1s familiar with. Providers often go to the child’s home and get to know the family and routine. This is helpful for the provider, but also for the child and his/her family. 2. An example of a routines-based early intervention approach would be: A provider visits the child and their family at their home. Instead of the provider telling the child what to do, they allow the child and family to initiate an activity. The mom might play a game with their child that they play often, and the provider will observe. When the provider notices something that the child 1s struggling with (or if the mom lets the provider know what she is concerned about), the provider can then practice new skills/strategies with the child. The new strategies can then later be practiced without the provider, given that it is a part of the family’s routine, and that the mom was there watching the provider teach the child.
