Act Early Network News

The Oklahoma Autism Center's Early Access Project, supported by the Developmental Disabilities Council of Oklahoma, promotes developmental monitoring and screening throughout Oklahoma. In addition to continued distribution of Learn the Signs. Act Early. materials, Early Access has recently developed a new resource for engaging families in developmental monitoring. "Let's Play: A Guide for Families" is a booklet that provides play activity suggestions for children ages 12 to 24 months. Play activities are designed to use materials that families have on hand and to incorporate appropriate milestones from LTSAE. The "Let's Play" guide is currently being piloted in partnership with collaborating service providers, particularly with home visitation programs at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. "We have heard feedback from home visitors that one barrier to parents monitoring their child's development is that they do not always know how to engage their child in play so that they have an opportunity to gauge development and track milestones," said LTSAE State Ambassador, Dr. Bonnie McBride. This guide aims to serve as an engaging resource that families will return to as their child grows.

For more information, contact Bonnie McBride, OK CDC Act Early Ambassador. 

As part of New Jersey's Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems CoIIN and Home Visiting CoIIN 2.0 initiatives, the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium (CJFHC) hosted a LTSAE Parent Champion Training in Perth Amboy, NJ on January 15, 2020. The purpose of the training was to identify and train parent leaders who would promote awareness about the developmental health of young children and connect them to supportive resources in their community. CJFHC provides access to an online Family Access Portal where parents can complete the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and an Early Childhood Specialist who gives the ASQ results and helps parents navigate the next steps. Deepa Srinivasavaradan, LTSAE Ambassador to NJ, trained ten Parent Champions on the importance of developmental monitoring and screening and connected them to resources if there were concerns. Parent Champions were from diverse backgrounds, with children with and without special health care needs. Parent Champions were excited to receive LTSAE materials organized into binders, along with a tracking form to track their outreach to families. Incentives and certificates for participation, simultaneous Spanish translation, breakfast, and child care were provided. These Parent Champions will receive ongoing support, so they can successfully promote the Act Early messages.

The CDC Act Early Ambassador for Connecticut (CT) and CT LEND Trainee team up to train child welfare social workers on Learn the Signs. Act Early.
Holly LaBrecque is a Trainee in the Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) fellowship program at the UCEDD. The LEND program's mission is to train graduate students to take on interdisciplinary leadership roles in their respective fields to improve the health of children with disabilities and their families. Upon graduation from the Masters in Public Health program, Holly aims to pursue her PhD in Public Health and continue to help strengthen the early intervention processes for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families. Holly chose a practicum that would involve her assisting with Learn the Signs. Act Early. trainings that are given to groups from the Department of Children and Families across the greater Hartford area. The focus of these trainings revolve around identifying the signs that a child has a developmental delay along with streamlining the referral process to services. Holly had the opportunity to help facilitate parts of the training as well as answer questions professionals had about early intervention. She learned of the current gapis in the field first hand from her experience. Holly's participation equipped her with the necessary interdisciplinary leadership skills to communicate and advocate effectively with other professionals on early intervention. She also learned from professionals about their attitudes around these topics. Holly speaks of her practicum as an invaluable opportunity that has helped to develop her long term career interests.

For more information, contact Bethanne Vergean, CT CDC Act Early Ambassador.

The AAP has recently released two new guidelines:

• "Promoting Optimal Development: Identifying Infants and Young Children with Developmental Disorders Through Developmental Surveillance and Screening" provides a new universal screening model that includes general development, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), motor delays, and high-risk medical conditions. AAP expands developmental surveillance to include factors like social determinants of health and highlights the importance of making referrals and collaborating and communicating with other providers involved in the care of young children, especially those conducting screening.The AAP has recently released two new guidelines 

• "Identification, Evaluation, and Management of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder" provides a summary of current information on ASD for pediatricians including prevalence, co-occurring conditions, and evidenced-based interventions. 

In this webinar archive, Dr. Susan Hyman and Dr. Susan Levy describe effective methods for screening and early identification of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in primary care; report the components of diagnostic and etiologic evaluation of children with ASD; identify evidence-based interventions for the core deficits of ASD and associated co-occurring conditions; and report strategies to engage in shared decision-making and partnership with families/caregivers of children and youth with ASD.