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THE MODEL:
Intense cooperation among
experts, children and their family
The organization provides services for families with
children aged seven and under. In the beginning, an
individual family support plan is created together with
family input identifying key child-oriented require-
ments. The plan is in the family’s ‘language’, using
their own words.
The individual plan (IP) consists of:
• Information about the family
• Starting date of IP
• Frequency of family visits
• Needs identified by family
• Goals family would like to achieve
• Each goal includes a description of the actual situa-
tion and the degree of skills of the child.[
• Often, a video is used at the beginning of the plan
and after a six-month period when the IP has been
completed (see more on the use of video below).
• At the end of the IP there is a conversation among
the team and the family about which goals were
achieved.
SOCIA uses the following tools to train children and
to evaluate their progress:
• Developmental scales describe the actual skills of
the child and suggest the next steps in supporting
the development of the child in different areas
(communication, gross motor, fine motor. etc.).
• Special tools for sensorial and sensomotorical
stimulation.
• Conversation as a basic tool for supporting and
empowering parents.
• Video – for evaluating progress, for identifying
strengths and needs, and for training of parent-child
interactions.
• Other tools and devices according to actual situa-
tions and the specific needs of the child and his/her
family.
• Special interview techniques for identifying actual
problems and needs.
The staff of an ECI centre typically include: a
psychologist, a physiotherapist, a speech therapist,
social workers, special needs educators, and an
occupational therapist.
The team works in a transdisciplinary way. Each ex-
pert gets to know the child and his/her parents, and
the team cooperates (in accordance with the parents)
to suggest the best way of supporting the child and
family.
EXAMPLE OF A SIX YEAR OLD BOY WITH EPILEPSY:
How physiotherapists, social workers
and families work together
A six-year-old child who has had epilepsy since he
was four has been stabilized and started to walk five
months ago. Until he was four years he could only lay
down without significant motoric and mental progress-
es. Now that he has begun to walk, to communicate
nonverbally, and to use his specific sounds and ges-
tures, his family needs support to help him to progress
and develop his potential. He is not yet attending
school, though one school has offered him one hour
per week individual consultation with a psychedelic
worker. This child does not have any opportunity to get
community services or to visit child groups and learn
from other children.
SOCIA has initiated its services and the family has
identified actual needs and has shared ideas on how to
stimulate the child´s development at home. During the
first consultation, the attendance and support of a psy-
chologist, a physiotherapist, a social worker, and a spe-
cial needs educator will be offered. The psychologist
will identify the child’s actual psychometrical degree of
development and will continue to monitor the child for
a period of six months. The psychologist will identify
ways to motivate the child, will test what is working
or not working, and will focus on the behaviour of the
child. The special needs educator and the parents will
look for the best options for organizing a playing area,
how to use toys that they have at home according to
the child’s actual development degree, and suggest
forms of play to stimulate the child´s cognitive skills.
Careful integration into School
The physiotherapist will cooperate with the organiza-
tion of the playing area; practice with parents on how
to support the child with changing positions during
some activities, especially during play; how to support
the child with physically suitable sitting positions; etc.
The social worker will offer the family information
about what financial support they could apply for from
the Office of Labour, Social Affairs, and Family; will help
the family with administrative tasks; and will accom-
pany them to the Office of Labour, Social Affairs, and
Family when they make their application.
The psychologist and the social needs educator will
organize support meetings with an educator from the
local school, and they will try to find a solution and suit-
able support for the child when he/she actually starts
visiting the school (e.g., in September 2016).