Despite an emphasis in the field on triadic approaches to the delivery of early intervention (EI), remarkably little is known about the shared experiences of caregivers (CGs) and providers during home visits. Within the context of developing, refining, and evaluating the Embedded Practices and Intervention With Caregivers (EPIC) approach, two studies were undertaken with 11 EI providers and 19 CGs of infants/toddlers with moderate-severe delays/disabilities to gather their perspectives about and experiences with the EPIC approach. The EPIC intervention has two components: CG coaching and a fivequestion (5Q) process for supporting embedded practices. Interview, focus group, and rating scale data were collected in both studies and aggregated for reporting purposes in the present article. Findings are described with regard to the coaching and 5Q components and the extent to which participants found the intervention to be feasible, acceptable, and useful. Implications for future research and professional development on coaching and embedded intervention practices are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of coaching caregivers to embed both communication and motor outcomes concurrently within daily routines of their infants or toddlers with significant disabilities using Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) strategies. The coaching and embedding practices were part of a multicomponent intervention known as Embedded Practices and Intervention with Caregivers (EPIC). Three children, aged 15 to 23 months with significant disabilities, their caregivers, and an early intervention provider participated in this single case multiple probe design study. Primary dependent variables were caregivers’ number of naturalistic teaching strategies used and rates of correctly embedded instruction for each learning target in each routine. Child motor and communication outcomes were also examined. Results provide initial support for the positive effects of the EPIC approach using EMT strategies to embed intervention on two developmental domains concurrently in caregiver’s daily routines.

No abstract

No abstract