US Army Adopts Early Intervention Model from Tennessee

The U.S. Army has adopted an early intervention strategy developed by the director of the Siskin Center for Child and Family Research at Siskin Children’s Institute. Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., will help the Army implement his model for early intervention in natural environments for children with special needs.

The model is designed to empower families with the ability to incorporate early intervention strategies at home or in other natural settings. Essentially, early interventionists train families to play more active roles in children’s therapies at home or wherever the family is. Families learn to use everyday objects and events therapeutically, which result in small changes in children’s daily routines that have a major impact on their future abilities.

Dr. McWilliam will lead two presentations to early interventionists who contract with the Army to provide services to military families. The first presentation was held at the Army’s Educational and Development Intervention System (EDIS) Workshop at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. His second presentation will be June 3 and 4 in Heidelberg, Germany.

The U.S. Department of Defense provides services to children with special needs under Department of Defense rules, which largely correspond to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA). EDIS delivers early intervention services to eligible infants and toddlers in domestic and overseas areas, and medically related services to school-age children in special education programs in schools overseas.

Dr. McWilliam is the Siskin Endowed Chair of Research in Early Childhood Education, Development and Intervention at Siskin Children’s Institute. He joined the Institute from Vanderbilt University, where he led the Center for Child Development. With more than 25 years of experience as an academic and researcher, Dr. McWilliam consults with state and federal government leaders on services for children and families and has testified before Congress regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). He has developed more than 60 tools practitioners use to evaluate needs and serve children with disabilities, many of which have been adopted internationally.

To learn more about Early Intervention in Natural Environments

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About Siskin Children’s Institute

Since 1950, Siskin Children's Institute has served children with special needs, such as autism, developmental delays and Down syndrome. The Institute achieves its mission in a comprehensive way: a quality preschool education where children with disabilities learn together with typically developing children; family support and community outreach programs; innovative research focusing on early childhood development and special education; and in 2009, developmental and behavioral pediatric health care. For more information about Siskin Children’s Institute, visit www.siskin.org.