An action plan is critical for speech-language pathologists to use with influential budgetary decision makers when gaining and maintaining support for delivery of services to adolescents with language disorders. Action plans describe what administrators can do to support and sustain clinicians' efforts and how clinicians can enlist this…

This article discusses Medicaid's EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment) program, which is a significant funding source for a wide variety of early intervention services for Medicaid eligible children. Strategies and questions that can help clarify and improve programs in each state are discussed, and important issues to…

This issue of the "Early Childhood Bulletin" identifies and discusses issues of concern regarding financial support for parent members of Interagency Coordinating Councils (ICCs). Information gathered via letters, conversations, and interviews with parent ICC members from around the country is summarized. The article consists of six…

This issue of the "Early Childhood Bulletin" describes some of the ways in which parents are learning to speak out on behalf of young children and their families being served through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part H early intervention programs. The document consists of four sections in which parents share…

This issue of the "Early Childhood Bulletin" summarizes the main issues discussed during the first National Meeting of Parent Members of state Interagency Coordination Councils (ICCs), held in Washington, D.C., in June 1989. Some of these issues include: (1) processes for influencing state policies; (2) tips for helping families in rural…

Input from a variety of viewpoints is essential in complex policy discussions. Families serving on local interagency coordinating councils (LICCs) and state interagency coordinating councils (SICCs) should reflect the diversity of families served within the early intervention or preschool service system with respect to income level, ethnicity,…

This directory lists 96 organizations that provide information, services, and/or referral to parents, educators, persons with disabilities, and others concerned with disabilities. Organizations are grouped according to their primary emphasis, as follows: (1) general disability information; (2) information for families; (3) legal rights and…

This paper examines issues identified in a qualitative study in nine diverse local service systems as program administrators of early intervention programs for young children with disabilities sought to obtain United Way funding and other sources of philanthropy. Data are based on issues raised in nine focus groups conducted with community…

Reauthorization of P.L. 99-457, which became the Individuals with Disabilities Act Amendments of 1991, mandated the establishment of the Federal Interagency Coordinating Council (FICC) in order to help mobilize all available resources to assure appropriate services for the nation's infants and young children with disabilities and their families.…

This issue of the "Early Childhood Bulletin" consists of excerpts from recommendations prepared by the Education Task Force of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), which were presented to the Senate and the House of Representatives as part of the reauthorization of Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).…

The Consensus Validation Conference on Augmentative and Alternative Communication Intervention brought together researchers, educators, parents, clinicians, and persons who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems to arrive at consensus on best practices and benefits of AAC. Questions addressed include: definition of AAC and…

This issue of the "Early Childhood Bulletin" highlights some of the major concerns raised by parents during the second national meeting of parent members of state Interagency Coordinating Councils (ICCs) for early intervention, which was held in conjunction with the Partnerships for Progress Conference IV in Crystal City, Arlington, VA,…

This directory lists over 80 national organizations that provide information, services, and/or referrals to individuals in the disability field, including parents, special educators and general educators, early interventionists, administrators, related services personnel, persons with disabilities, and others. Addresses, telephone and fax numbers,…

These newsletters are produced by Voices for Illinois Children, a child advocacy group that works to make kids "count" in Illinois and to ensure that the basic needs of all children, families, and communities are met. The spring 1996 issue provides membership information and network news, as well as articles addressing the following…

Designed to respond to the information needs of parents of children with disabilities, this digest includes articles on coping with and raising a child with a disability. In the first article, "You Are Not Alone" (Patricia McGill Smith), a parent of a child with a disability speaks candidly about the emotions that many parents of…