Early Childhood Development Clinic
Gina M. Kunz, Ph.D., Program Director 

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Interdisciplinary Clinical Services Program
     Presentation:  Alternative Roles in School Psychology

 

Goal:                                 To provide young children with identified or suspected developmental delays with comprehensive, interdisciplinary medical and developmental follow-up services, and to improve the abilities of medical and related service personnel to serve these young children and their families.

 

Intended Impact:                                       Enhance medical/developmental services available to high-risk infants and young children in our community

Provide high-risk infants and toddlers with neurological consultation, evaluations of motor and speech/language development, developmental screening, social work consultation, and family-to-family support

Improve the abilities of medical and related service personnel to provide comprehensive services to high-risk children and their familie s.

Assist families in accessing additional evaluation and intervention resources in the community

Provide information and support to families of infants being discharged primarily from the University Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

 

Topics/Areas of Expertise:

Neurological examination of high-risk infants

Use of the Denver II screening instrument to identify developmental concerns in young children

Community services for young children with disabilities and their families

Provision of family-to-family support

Technical assistance and consultation in establishing supportive environments for infants with special health care and developmental needs

Knowledge of typical development and risk factors leading to atypical development in young children

Overview of Selected Accomplishments and Activities:

#       Increased interagency collaboration in the past year, allowing for the incorporation of new personnel and new services into the clinic format

#       Revised a resource guide for pediatric residents and other professionals to assist these personnel in facilitating referrals of young children with special needs and their families to appropriate community agencies

#       Received contract from Children’s Special Health Services to support service delivery in the Early Childhood Development Clinic

#       Conducted training with 30 pediatric residents and neonatology fellows from the LSU and Tulane Health Sciences Centers in 1998-1999; also provided training to occupational, physical, and speech therapy students, as well as Masters of Social Work candidates

#       Developed a booklet for families to record information about their young children’s health, development, and early experiences and received funding from the LSUHSC Faculty Wives Club to reproduce the booklet

#       Participated in quality improvement activities conducted by the NICU staff at University Hospital

#       Established a client database including information about the children and families served by the clinic

#       Participated in a pilot study of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires Social Emotional Screening Tool (ASQ:SE) in collaboration with faculty from University of Oregon

 

Directions for Future Program Development:

#       Development and refinement of supportive materials for parents of high-risk infants

#       Recruitment of clients from other possible sources, such as public health units and local NICUs

#       Provide ongoing technical assistance and consultation regarding developmentally appropriate care of neonates to the NICU staff at University Hospital

 

Revised October 20, 2000