Speech-Language Pathologists’
Importance in Early Childhood Special
Education: Creating Supportive Learning
Environments for Young Children with
Disabilities – Part 1
Jane Minnema, Ph.D., SLP-CCC
St Cloud State University
jeminnema@stcloudstate.edu
320-308-3969
Preface to Part 1

Who I am … and where I’ve been

Who you are … and where you’ve been

What we “know” from daily professional experiences … to a
much deeper understanding of the field of ECSE

Jane’s approach to adult learning
Session Outcomes – Part 2

What I hope for:
I. Understanding EBP per ASHA and DEC
II. Pondering current research findings for dual
or multiple language learners

What I wish I knew when teaching!
III. The importance of SLPs for setting the ECSE
learning environments!
Session Outcomes

What I hope for:

Realizing our different ways of thinking about
children and families

Re-thinking service delivery within ECSE
learning environments

A deeper understanding of ECSE practices,
settings, and the importance of the SLP
Why is this important to me?

Many, many years invested in our field!

Always hoped to make a difference …

But now … a Grammy!
Ethan Isaiah, 7 mo
At 18 mo – Delayed language skills
Young Children Attend Variety
of Learning Environments

Various settings in which young children w/ disabilities receive
services:
 Early Intervention – Birth to 3 years
 Family Home Visiting Programs
 Child Care Programs*
 Early Childhood Special Education – 3 to 7 years
 Secluded multi-categorical ECSE preschool*
 Inclusive preschool programs*
 Head Start*
 Child Care Programs*
* Our focus today
Starting with Definitions

Supportive learning environments – those
“natural” instructional delivery settings in
which young children progress toward age
appropriate developmental outcomes



Natural – young children with disabilities attend
EC programs with same aged peers
Instructional delivery – service provision per
IFSPs or IEPs
Developmental outcomes – acknowledges
uniqueness of sequence, rate, and proficiency
I am most privileged to observe …

Many wonderful program models that deliver
high-quality services

Highly proficient ECSE service providers,
SLPs, and other IFSP/IEP team members

For that, I am grateful!
On the surface …



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IFSP and IEP education teams are providing
effective, high-quality services
Many models across MN in which SLPs
provide services
Seems simple … without much for us to
learn?!
But, let’s look more closely at various issues
(Information that I wish I knew when I was teaching!)
How did Ethan develop?
Ethan, 12 mo
Delayed language comprehension
Delayed babbling w/ no jargoning
Walking – quickly!
Ethan, 3 yr, 11 mo
Delayed language development
Phonological delay
Riding bicycle – no training wheels!!!
Why would my son deny services?
Because ….
Ethan, age 4 yr
Expressive language delay
Phonological delay
Cluttering (??)
Attending Montesorri Preschool
(Beginning Kg curriculum)
Older brother, Sean, born at 35 weeks
Abbot Northwestern NICU, Level 2
Two weeks
Attended Montesorri Preschool
Family looking for …



Natural milieu language stimulation
Normal language peer modeling
But, were offered –



Individualized therapy
Table top activities w/ SLP in isolation
Family involvement discouraged
Professional “Ways of Thinking”

ECSE/EC Pedagogy Applied CD

Professional ethics and standards + competencies +
principles

Educational practices or Clinical practices

Theoretical underpinnings that guide decision-making
about children and families

Approaches to intervention or teaching
Crossing Speech/Language
Services, ECSE, and EC
Child
ASHA: Knowledge &
Skills per Topic
DEC: Recommended
Practices
NAEYC:
Developmentally
Appropriate Practices
Intervention
Family
Approaches to Service Delivery
Child
Speech/Language:
Clinical Service Delivery
to Remediate
ECSE: Educational
Service Delivery to
Remediate
EC: Educational
Programming to
Support Development
Intervention
Family
So … View of Children
Child
Speech/Language:
One Child
Communication
ECSE:
Child w/in Family
5 Learning Domains
EC:
Groups of Children
Curricular Content
Intervention
Family
Speech Language Service Delivery




My “old” SLP Training
Assessment of child in
isolation for diagnosis
Focused on
communication only
Behavioral approach to
speech/language
remediation through IEPbased intervention
Pull out intervention in
“broom closet”
Observed Today in ECSE



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Integrated SLP “therapy”
Leading group activities
(e.g., Circle Time)
Leading small group
activity (e.g., Center Time)
Supporting child through
activity (e.g., augmentative
communication device)
OR … my “old” SLP
training???
ECSE Service Delivery
My “old” ECSE Training






Assessment of child in
isolation for diagnosis
Isolated learning domain focus
Behavioral approach to
learning + free play
Remediation through IEPbased intervention
Parent training
Supported pull out intervention
in “broom closet”
Observed Today in ECSE

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Evaluation for eligibility
Embedded learning
opportunities
Family systems approach
Adapted learning through IEPbased intervention
Parent partnerships
Inclusive practice across all
domains of learning
Or … “old” ECSE training???
EC Programming
My “old” EC Observations



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Some children attend (missing
ELLs, children living in
poverty except Head Start,
children w/ disabilities)
Considered all learning
domains
Understood play’s importance
Assessment not present
Parent training – if considered
Supported pull out intervention
in “broom closet”
EC Pre-Service Training ‘11
 More children included!
 Holistic view of children
(integrated learning domains)
 Advocate for social-emotional
importance w/ play-based
learning
 Assessment measures learning
 Parent collaborations
 Or … “old” EC format???
What can we say about these
differences?




Cross-disciplinary practice impeded –
communication, overlap or gaps in services,
inefficient service delivery
Present different child assessment, functional,
or developmental information to families
Can de-emphasizes the importance of play
and social/emotional development of young
children with and without disabilities
Other suggestions?
Audience Perceptions?!!

In Pair Share:

What is new information?

Where do you agree?

Where do you disagree?

Where do you fall between the “old” and the
“current?”
What can we take forward?

The BEST from each field:



SLP: Systematic, technical, supported skill
development in specialized area
ECSE: Embedded learning practices
EC: Holistic view of child with integration of
all learning domains
Where does this take us?
Blended Practices
Brown-Grisham, J., Hemmeter, M., & Pretti-Frontczak, K. (2005)



One current recommended approach for c
reating authentic learning environments
Blend of ECSE + EC instructional practices
Can we add SLP service delivery?
What are Blended Practices?

ECSE primarily influenced by special
education – individualized approach to meet
the unique needs of one child at a time

With the advent of inclusive practice … a
movement toward blending EC & ECSE
teaching and licensure pre-service training
programs
How to blend SLP service
delivery?




Think intentionally about authentic learning
environment by analyzing the important
critical elements
Determine communicative critical skill(s)
from speech/language instructional objectives
Embed these critical skills into the daily
preschool routine
In other words, let’s take a step forward from
integrated speech/language service delivery!
Integrated Therapy

“Integrated therapy is the coordination of therapies
or consultative special education within the ongoing routines
of the classroom. While the therapists are working with the
child and classroom teachers in the classroom, those teachers
have the opportunity to see what the therapist does with the
child and implement those same strategies into the rest of the
week when the therapist is not present. When therapists and
teachers work together to provide services and education to a
child, the child benefits by receiving well-coordinated
intervention.”

McWilliams, R. (1993)
Legal Aspects of Integrated Therapy

EI/ECSE programs are required by law to offer a range of services. No
one approach to service delivery is appropriate for every child.

· As used in this part, the term special education means specially designed
instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child
with a disability, including (i) Instruction conducted in the classroom, in the
home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings. (IDEA, Sec.
300.26)

· To the maximum extent appropriate to the needs of the child, early
intervention services must be provided in natural environments, including
the home and community settings in which children without disabilities
participate. (IDEA, Sec. 303.12 (b)
Integrated Therapy …

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Meets continuum of educational needs
 Isolating portion of classroom may be necessary
(e.g., alternative feeding, articulation therapy)
Provides opportunities for consultative services “in
real time”
Maximizes classroom routine-based learning (e.g.,
snack time, circle time, table top activity)
May be isolating for child – even within classroom
activity
A deeper level of Practice
Activity-based Intervention

Activity-based intervention is defined as a
"child-directed, transactional approach that
embeds intervention on children's individual
goals and objectives in routine, planned, or
child-initiated activities, and uses logically
occurring antecedents and consequences to
develop functional and generative skills"
(Bricker & Cripe, 1992).
Activity-based Intervention
Terms Defined

The first key element of activity-based intervention (ABI) is
based on the premise that activities and actions initiated by
children are more likely to attract and hold a child's attention
and as a result maintain their involvement. The term
transactional refers to the child acting upon his or her
environment and the social and physical environment
responding in a reciprocal manner (Bricker & Carlson, 1980;
Sameroff & Chandler, 1975).

When an child reaches out to his parent and the parent responds by
smiling back and giving him a ball, the interaction is considered to be
transactional. The child initiated the interaction and, because the adult
responded in a positive manner the child will be more likely to make
future social gestures.
Activity-based Intervention
More Terms Defined

The second element of ABI involves the
embedding of training and intervention
(addressing IFSP/IEP goals and objectives)
within routine, planned, or child-initiated
activities.


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Routine refers to those events that occur on a predictable or regular
basis.
Planned activities are those which the adults in the environment
organize and prepare for the children's participation.
Child-initiated activities are simply activities which the children
initiate on their own.
Important to Remember …


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The focus of ABI is not on the activity itself,
but rather on the opportunity for the child to
practice target skills during ongoing activities
throughout the classroom day.
Speech/language an EC/ECSE learning
domain – element of developmental practice
Communicative target behaviors can be
embedded in daily preschool instructional
delivery to be meaningfully learning
experiences for children
Blending Speech/Language
Services w/ ABI

Advantages …

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Leave skills with teaching team
Generative skills without targeted programming
Service delivery in natural learning environment
Challenges …

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Time
New practices – change!
Others’ misperceptions
How to embed S/L targets into
classroom learning environment

Understand what the routine, planned, or
child-directed activities
OR …

Think carefully about instructional and
directional language used in the classroom

Meaningfully embed instructional objectives!

By consulting, modeling, direct intervention
For example …

Imitating a simple sentence, embed as:


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At leave taking – T: “I wanna go home.”
During Circle Time – T: “I’m gunna sing.”
At Play Time – T: “I wanna play with Sophie.”

Completing a classification activity:

During Art Time – T: “Can you find everything we use
for art?”

Articulating /s/:

During Circle Time – Surprise Box of all “S” items
How would you apply ABI to
your SLP practice?

Pair-Share or Multiple Share for application
activity by:



Think of a speech or language instructional
objective.
Select – a) routine preschool activity, b) planned
preschool activity, or c) child-directed activity.
How would you embed the instructional objective
(communicative target) into the preschool
activity?
EBP – Where to Begin??!

From a research perspective:
Sam Odom, Indiana University
“Teachers begin using a strategy exactly as it
is proposed. As the teacher gains
experience and collects information about
the students’ performance, he or she may
make modifications where needed.”
Remaining Questions …
Just like kittens … SLPs can
accomplish anything NEW!
Where are the boys now?!