It is our pleasure to introduce you to the newly revised Family Guide for the Illinois Early Intervention Program. This revised guide is the very best guide we have ever had – the culmination of several years, various committees, dozens of drafts, a long process of reviews that gathered input from a wide range of stakeholders, several parent liaisons, and a focus group that included parents who were or have been in the early intervention system.
The newly revised Family Guide includes:
- Language that reflects early intervention philosophies and practices
- Clearer & more concise language
- Repeated use of common early intervention terms
- Definitions of early intervention services
- Sample communication notes for families interested in initiating changes
- Updated language on extended services and auto-eligibility
- An expanded glossary of terms
We hope this easier-to-use and more engaging Family Guide will make it easier to incorporate it in your discussions with families during different stages of their journey in the early intervention system, not just when they first enter it. For the first time, we are excited to share that the complete “Family Guide” is available in not only English and Spanish, but also the following languages: Arabic, Simplified Chinese, French, Kiswahili, Polish, Russian, and Urdu
