| Description |
Working with newborns and young infants born preterm or medically fragile requires additional training. Appropriate assessment and application of evidence-based approaches to understanding importance of the infant’s early communication as well as the importance of the early baby/caregiver relationship can prevent future developmental difficulties. This session will include rationale for best practice which includes recognition of infant communicative behavior, how to best respond in a family centered, relationship based and neuroprotective approach, and provide evidence regarding the importance of the infant/caregiver dyadic relationship when providing therapies to these babies. Assessing this population requires a different approach, than typically available standardized testing, that captures the intricate behavior of the infant and emphasizes the importance of support for the infant caregiver dyad. This session will introduce a new assessment inventory for evaluating this population to determine service eligibility and guide therapeutic intervention. Opportunities for future training in the FIRST Steps for BABIES, the BABIES and Pre STEPS learning collaborative, and the Babies Adaptive Behavioral Inventory will be discussed. Course is intended for PT, OT, SLP, Nursing, Infant Mental Health, and those working with the preterm and fragile infant upon discharge from the NICU in EI, home health, acute care, and clinic facilities.
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