Please join us to hear about national work and discuss issues pertinent to the topic of early identification of autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Alacia Stainbrook from Vanderbilt Kennedy Center will moderate a three expert panel presentation and facilitate questions and comments from webinar participants.

Please join us to hear about national work and discuss issues pertinent to diversity issues in autism spectrum disorder. Brian Be, an artist, self-advocate, peer mentor and LEND fellow with The University of Colorado will moderate a three expert panel presentation and facilitate questions and comments from webinar participants.

Please join us on Wednesday, March 27th from 2-3p ET for our Act Early Network Quarterly Webinar. This quarter we will be highlighting the Preschool Development Grants Birth through Five (B-5).

There are more than 40 million children birth through age 8 in America. One of the best things our country can do to support and improve outcomes for these children and their families is to make significant, substantial, and sustained investments in high-quality early childhood education. And because positive relationships are at the core of quality, investing specifically in early childhood educators is the best thing we can do to improve early childhood education. That is why Power to the Profession is focused on equitably advancing an effective, diverse, and well-compensated early childhood education profession across states and settings. Power to the Profession is a national collaboration to define the early childhood profession by establishing a unifying framework for career pathways, knowledge and competencies, qualifications, standards and compensation. Learn more about this powerful initiative and how you can be involved!

The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children is in the process of developing the first ever, stand alone, Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education Personnel Preparation Standards. Learn more about the standards,what led to this important step forward for the EI/ECSE workforce and what it means to the Early Childhood Field/Systems. We will share opportunities to provide feedback to the DEC Standards Development Task Force.

This year's conference, Dreaming of a Bigger Tomorrow: Building Our Future Through Collaboration and Partnerships, features foremost authorities in Early Intervention, Early Childhood Special Education, and the related disciplines. We look forward to having you join us for four days of programming, three keynote sessions, hundreds of conference and poster sessions, daily opportunities to network and more, this October in Dallas, Texas.

Most professional believe that early intervention (EI) is essential to improving outcomes for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. But how early is "early?" Should screening identify newborns with IDD, even before symptoms appear? Is there value in "pre-symptomatic" EI for children or families? Are pre-symptomatic treatments powerful enough to alter developmental trajectories in meaningful ways? Using fragile X syndrome to exemplify these issues, this presentation describes Early Check, a research program in which screening newborns for several disorders is offered to 120,000 families per year.

Disability is an abstract concept, and the landscape is changing, both in terms of disabilities and in societal response to emerging disabilities. This has implications across systems, including early childhood, education, workforce, health care and aging. Kathy Sheppard-Jones, Andy Imparato, and Phil Rumrill will provide an overview of several emerging disabilities (e.g. autoimmune disorders, mental health, opioid use disorders) and will also explore the notion of emerging disabilities from a state and national workforce context.

The national status of service coordination under Part C of IDEA for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families will be described using data from surveys and case studies. The presenters will describe three data sets collected to measure aspects of service coordination, and discuss the challenges facing service coordinators and families as reported in the data.

Providing home visiting services to families can be challenging work. Families with the greatest needs can sometime be difficult to engage in the home visiting process. The Home Visit Rating Scales were developed based on research examining the practices of home visitors that lead to better family engagement and child outcomes. The Home Visit Rating Scales are in use by programs nationally and internationally with the goal of improving the home visiting process and related outcomes. This webinar will provide a brief overview of the Home Visit Rating Scales including: how it aligns with DEC Recommended Practices, an overview of the measure, research supporting its use, and information on how it is being used in practice.

Maureen Greer, Executive Director of the IDEA Infant & Toddler Coordinators Association, will provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities state Part C systems are experiencing, and alternative methodologies being used to deliver services. AUCD need to use their knowledge, expertise and resources to assist both during the crisis and after states experience what may be a new normal.

John Eisenberg, Executive Director of The National Association of State Directors of Special Education will highlight what is currently happening across the country to support students with disabilities in schools, and he will discuss recommendations on how UCEDD and LEND Programs can be instrumental in helping state and local systems deal with the many obstacles faced by service providers. He will also provide some tips and strategies that participants can use immediately and in the future.

Families are facing many challenges during this Covid-19 Public Health Crisis. If a family has a child with a disability, these challenges are magnified. This webinar will share information collected from surveys of families with children with disabilities from around the country as they cope with Covid 19. A panel of family leaders will then discuss what UCEDDS and LENDs can do to help families and their children now, and in the near future.

As a follow up to the webinar: Families: What They are Saying, and how UCEDDs and LENDs can help. We have invited 3 family leaders from the ECPC/DEC Family Cohort to bring their perspectives to the conversation. Disparities, access to technology, food, housing, job security and appropriate bi-lingual services including adequate support to teach at home have been identified as barriers. This panel of family members will join Ann and Rud Turnbull to discuss their perspectives on these challenges and how the UCEDDs can help.

In this webinar, members of the FASD SIG will present resources for increasing your knowledge about FASD, training others, and supporting individuals with lived experience and their families. Attendees are encouraged to share resources they find helpful. Following the presentation and discussion, participants will have a general conversation about strategies for building a strong network of programs serving individuals with FASD.