The Shadow
Early intervention offers a variety of supports and services to families whose children are eligible.
The purpose of early intervention is to help your child learn and develop. Families and caregivers are the first and most important teachers for their children and know them best.
Infant and parent emotional health and caregiver attachment is an important issue throughout the lifespan. It builds the foundation for over all future relationships.
Positive interactions with parents and caregivers is linked to positive outcomes including brain development. Positive attachment help infants regulate negative emotions in times of stress and distress and allows them to gain the skills to begin learning by exploring their environment, watching people and practicing skills.
Parents are often the first to notice if their child is not learning or growing like other babies. All infants and toddlers learn at their own pace and some may need a little extra help to develop certain skills.
If you, as the parent or caregiver, have a concern about how your child is developing a referral for services can be made by you, your primary care physician, or anyone.
There are also many other important areas that can impact child development. Safety and nutrition is an area that is important to child development as well. Physical safety includes immunizations and home safety regardless of child developmental age.
The local Prevention Program also offers items to assist with keeping your home safe for all ages. The local health department offers car seats program and installation assistance, along with the local police departments, as well as pack n play program to promote safe sleeping.
Nutrition information and assistance with a nutrition program is available at both the local health department and department of social services.
Good nutrition during the first two years of life is vital for healthy growth and development.
Low levels of vitamins and minerals can result in mental impairment and central nervous system defects in infants. Starting good nutrition practices early can help children develop healthy dietary choices.
TANF, SNAP and the local food banks provide assistance with nutritional information as well as resources to assist with needs of families.
Physical activity is important for everyone in the household. Physical activity for infants should include interaction with parents and/or caregivers in daily physical activities that are aimed at promoting the exploration of their environment.
Infants should be placed in safe settings that encourage physical activity and do not restrict movement for prolonged periods of time and promote the development of movement skills. Crawling, lifting one’s head, rolling over, and sitting up are activities that promote muscle growth and coordination.
This encourages your child to be in control of their body and able to get their needs met from different positions. It is recommended that toddlers and preschoolers should engage in at least 60 minutes and up to several hours per day of daily, free physical activity. They should not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time except when sleeping.
Toddlers and preschoolers should have indoor and outdoor areas that are safe and promote movement skills. These are building blocks for more complex movement tasks that encourage large muscle activities such as running, jumping and throwing.
Get down on the floor and play with your infant, take a stroller walk with your infant or toddler, or go outside to kick a ball with your preschooler as it encourages parent-child interaction, learning time and family fun.
There are at times that some families may experience complex needs. A few examples of complex needs may include housing, substance abuse, physical abuse/domestic violence, and child abuse and neglect.
These are areas of concern that affect everyone in the household. When these situations occur it affects mental health as well as family engagement, healthy relationships, and positive parenting skills.
Local agencies such as Alleghany Highlands Community Services Board —AHCSB, Safehome, Department of Social Services, local health department and local law enforcement agencies are community resources that are available to help with these areas should the need arise.
Contact information for these resources within our community is provided below:
• Early Intervention: Infant Toddler Connection contact: (540) 863-1620;
• Alleghany Highlands Community Services: (540) 965-2100;
• Alleghany/Covington Department of Social Services: (540) 965-1780;
• Alleghany County/Covington City Health Department: (540) 965-7864;
• Safehomes: (540) 965-3237.
Resources:
• www.infantva.org
• From the National Association for Sports and Physical Activity: Active Start. http://www.shapeamerica.org/standards/guidelines/activestart.cfm
• https://www.learningei. org/learning-modules
• http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/data/maternal-child-health/
• http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/
• https://www.dss.virginia.gov/
• https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/about-nutrition/why-it-matters.html .
