IFSP Interview 1 and IFSP plan

Introduction

Covid19 disrupted and redefined the normal way of life. The onset of COVID-19 pandemic led to an unparalleled decrease in economic operations hence forcing the study to rely on a prerecorded interview. An individualized family service plan (IFSP) is both a procedure ones goes through and a manuscript which an individual and a group of experts generate in order to help a child and his or her parent. In other words, an IFSP plan directs and supports one’s effort to improve a child’s growth. From a professional perspective, the IFSP maps out one’s family participation with early intervention services. It evidently outlines particular services a person’s child should get and the expected outcome. A key aspect of early intervention is that the services takes place within domestic surroundings- this is where the one’s child and parent or guardian feel safe. In this particular interview, the IFSP took into account the child needs and ability to function normally. This way, the IFSP focused on the family needs and the best way to support the child. Furthermore, the IFSP built on personal advantages of family members in order to personalize the final family plan.

The Factual Family Background and Characteristics

Jennifer is in her 40s.She has just moved from Pennsylvania to a small town outside Massachusetts in order to be closer to her family. She has two children and a dog. Her husband is a banker while Jennifer is a marketer. She works part-time and spend most time outside her home so that she can assist her children (IFSP Interview 1, 2020). During the interview, her child would play in between the interview and Jennifer’s sometimes calmed her down. Her child’s disability was suspected about a year ago and forced Jennifer and her husband to their son to the hospital.

 The parents noticed the child’s disability because he was having tremors and seizures. As a result of the partial seizures and tremors, the child zoned out from time to time. The first thing that his parents did was to initiate a primary care and then the child was sent to a neurologist who carried out an electroencephalogram (EEG). After the EEG results, the child underwent an MRI and CAT scan to ensure that he had no brain tumor. During the child’s testing, the parent involvement was minimal. At some medical check points, the parents were asked to leave the medical facility so that the child would be one on one with the testing kits. The test results showed that the child was diagnosed with benign epilepsy and ADHD. After the confirmation of the medical results IFSP personnel. In this point in time, the role of the IFSP was to provide early interventions services.  Early intervention services entailed improving the child’s motor skills and other regular developments. In other words, since the child was diagnosed with benign epilepsy and ADHD, the family has received services from doctors, speech therapy and occupational therapy. In terms of the relationship between the medical IFSP service providers relied on the personality of each service provider. For instance the social worker was not as interested in the case as the family had hoped she would. More so, the social worker was handling numerous cases which desensitized her to the needs of the child’s medical needs.

 Subsequently, the entire experience left the family emotionally drained due to the uncertainty involved in dealing with a mentally ill child in public. Also, communicating with a mentally ill child is difficult and creates a disconnection between the parent and the child. For instance, the parents did not know how to handle the child’s meltdown in public spaces. More so, the child does not look like he has any disability hence these meltdowns sometimes draws negative reactions from members of the public. On the other hand, while the child is in the house, he throws tantrums and he always quarrels with his sister. More so, relatives did not immediately understand the predicament the child’s parents were facing. Therefore, relatives thought that the children were misbehaving and that the parents were neglecting their parental duties.

Family Interaction

In fact, learn through under normal conditions and socialization with family the members may lead to an interrupted lifestyle.  Some of the relatives might think that mentally ill children are being mistreated by the parents. Therefore the children are often separated from the rest of the community due to misunderstood perceptions revolving around the conditioned might be suffering from. Moreover parents are forced to deal with awkward social norms such a child misbehaving in public or being rude at an early age. The interaction between the family members and other community members become constrained and delayed.

Children with ADHD and benign epilepsy needs constant regulations which they can comprehend and adhere to. Behavioral regulations for the family should be simple and straightforward. For instance, Jennifer worked closer from home so that she could assister her children with simple chores and activities.  Hence, the parent writes down the regulations which help parents regulate he children behavior. As the parents constructs these regulations, the child behavior is controlled due to the predictable boundaries set by the regulations placed. More so, the child needs to know the difference between each and every actions he performs so that he complies with the set regulations. In this particular context, Jennifer’s son normally quarrels with his sisters. Sometimes it takes parental intervention to stop the fights from occurring. While some characteristics of mentally ill children might be predictable some are not hence the need to keenly observe the child and cater to all their needs.

The Family Characteristics

 Jennifer is 40 years old married woman who lives with her two children. A nuclear family consists of close family members. Thus, the immediate family members make up the family without close relatives. Therefore, the elementary parts of a family makes up this particular family. As a result, the mother and father of the family cater to the needs of the children. Within a nuclear family setting, one has to keep up with the necessities the children. Both parents play a role of keeping up with a children’s needs. Another characteristic entails living together- the mother, father and children live under one roof and take care of each other. More so, Jennifer’s family is unique because her son was diagnosed with ADHD and benign and she got help from IFSP programs.

Family Functions

While keeping up with legalistic requirements, parents are expected to motivate and facilitate early intervention procedures. Even though including parents seems like the best thing to do, the parents should always form a relationship with a professional in order to ensure that the medical process are designed to meet the immediate needs of the family. The timely involvement of the parents and the services offered through professional partnerships helps in shaping the early intervention procedures. Secondly, parents needs to share a child’s progress and note any inconsistencies so as to establish if the program is working and the extent of its effectiveness. For instance, Jennifer immediate knows that the social worker is not interested in catering to the needs of her son. Noticing any weakness or strengths helps the child recover and gives the people a chance to gauge the process of the child over a certain period of time. The nature and needs of the child are kept first place and the presence of the parents help to cater to the emotional needs of the child. As long as the people around the child play their role well, the parents can always supplement some of the aspects of the medication through love and care. More so, the participation of both the parent and the professional informs on decision making and helps the child recover or steadily progress to the next level. In order to satisfy the legal requirements families have to offer more than materialistic essentials, they have to create a conducive environment which meets the medical requirement of the child. For instance, during some medical checks, the parents had to remain outside so that the child could be offered a one on one checkup. Thus, the parents should never be a stumbling block to the child’s progress. In the meantime, one can always collaborate with the workers in order to bring out the best operative options.

Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP)

Role of IFSP Personnel the Observed Priorities

In Jennifer’s case, the role of the IFSP personnel assisted the child regain his motor and speech skills.  In the process, this helped the child nurture basic growth actions which were interrupted due to epilepsy and seizures (McWilliam, 2010). The IFSP personnel facilitate each activity which ensures that a child the attention he or she needs after the diagnosis is made. A well written plan insists on assessing the challenging and rewarding aspects of living with a disabled child. The chance and place of the IFSP personnel is taking note of any progress the child makes. This ensures that the treatment plans are in line with the objectives and that each needs is being met. More so, the personnel have to hold meetings, formulate objectives on all the detailed information, raise concerns and resources pertaining the child condition. The assessment of a child and the outcome are discussed in terms of the family needs. Thus, the first contact point is through a meeting organized by the IFSP personnel.

 Before preparing a meeting the service coordinator consults with the family, on how they would like to conduct the meeting, setting the agenda and time place of the meeting. The role of the coordinator will be to schedule events and notify family members. Meetings are conveniently, placed within the suitable location for the family. In case of a rescheduling, all the members should be notified on time (McWilliam, 2010). The chance of interacting with family members and the disabled child. Considering the immediate medical needs will help inform on the child’s information and then share the information with parents or guardians. On the other hand, the parent needs to inform the personnel on what his or her child needs to learn. In the end, the family should will witness and increase in motor skills and speech skills of the child.

Recommendations

 The family needs another interested social worker. The present social work is not interested in meeting the needs of the child because she is overburdened by numerous duties. Exchanging the social worker. This situation where the social worker fails to accomplish the tasks assigned to her, reporting the case (Boavida, Aguiar, & McWilliams, 2014). During the early intervention services, the child needs all the attentions he can get as he hopes to regain a normal state of the mind. The inclusion of personal issues tend to hinder proper delivery of social services within a certain period of time. in addition, the family needs to pay more attention to the medical needs of their son so that the seizures episodes can reduce with time. Also, apart from the IFSP service providers, the family should come up with more people to supplement the already provided services. At this point in time, the most thing is getting accurate results. The child needs to develop both physically and educationally. More so, the parents needs to take care of their daughter because she has a mild form of mental illness. Therefore, the approach to early intervention should be holistic in order to cater to social and financial needs of the entire family. In the event of an emergency the family should learn how to handle the intricacies of the challenges before calling outside interventions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Boavida, T., Aguiar, C., & McWilliam, R. A. (2014). A training program to improve IFSP/IEP goals and objectives through the routines-based interview. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 33(4), 200-211.

IFSP Interview 1 (2020) https://www.wevideo.com/view/1635179198 (Links to an external site.

McWilliam, R. A. (2010). Routines-based early intervention. Supporting Young Children and Their Families. Baltimore: Brookes.