Infants: Effective Evaluation & Caregiver Empowerment

Infants enter the world with a desire to interact with their environment. Genetic differences, injury during the delivery process, or premature birth may result in impairments. Parents of newborns are growing in their role as the caretaker of a new family member and developing their relationship with the infant. Prematurity, a NICU stay, or abnormalities observed by the pediatrician resulting in a referral for therapy can cause anxiety and parents may not feel confident interacting with their new baby.

Therapists are perfectly poised to empower parents in this new role and provide objective feedback on infant development to assist parents in creating realistic expectations and engaging their infant in developmentally beneficial activities. This course will provide therapists with the tools to conduct a thorough evaluation of the infant and effectively document their clinical observations to support the need for skilled intervention.

As a result of this presentation the participant will be able to:

1. Identify elements of a thorough evaluation of an infant, including pertinent medical history, appropriate standardized/criterion referenced tests and using clinical judgement to identity impairments.
2. Effectively identify developmental/neurological red flags and document clinical findings to support the need for skilled intervention.
3. Describe the importance of engaging parents early in their care of their infant and be able to implement these strategies into their practice immediately.

This course meets the requirement for Professional Development hours towards your ASHA renewal since it is approved by TSHA! You can count these hours towards ASHA renewal when you submit your Compliance Form.