07/14/11 - Institute welcomes early childhood special education professionals for week-long training

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: July 14, 2011
Contact: Jan Hollingsworth
jan.hollingsworth@siskin.org
423.648.1730, office

Siskin Children’s Institute welcomes early intervention and
early childhood special education professionals for week-long training

Institute researchers Drs. McWilliam and Casey will lead the Routines-Based Interview
Certification Institute July 18-22.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Twenty-seven early intervention and early childhood special education professionals will be better equipped to help families of children with disabilities after a week-long training in Chattanooga focused on  conducting Routines-Based Interviews (RBI).

The RBI is a semi-structured interview technique that helps early interventionists learn more about activities that occur in a typical day for a child and family. The information is used to identify a child’s abilities and a family’s challenges and set effective goals to improve the family’s quality of life.

This year’s Routines-Based Interview Certification Institute welcomes  training participants from 12 states—Alabama, Alaska, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Utah and Washington.

The RBI technique is making a positive mark on the field of early intervention and early childhood education, Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., director of Siskin Children’s Institute’s Center for Child and Family Research, said. “Consequently, this year, we had more applicants than ever for the annual certification institute,” McWilliam said. “The process has become quite competitive, which means this year’s group is especially well qualified.”

Twenty-eight local families are volunteering as interviewees to give the trainees hands-on experience in conducting an RBI.  

To earn the certification, professionals are required to practice the RBI for several months after the week-long training. “Additionally, the trainees must pass a written test in late August,” Amy Casey, Ph.D., BCBA said. “Three months after the training, each professional submits a video of himself or herself conducting an RBI with a family as well as a report on the functional goals the family identified. Coaches then review the submitted items and determine if trainees meet the certification criteria.”

Nine previously certified professionals from five states will serve as coaches to this year’s participants. “It is very gratifying to see so many of our certified trainers attend as certification institute volunteers in subsequent years,” McWilliam said. “They make great coaches for new trainees, it allows us to reconnect with them, and they get a refresher about the finer points of training professionals to conduct RBIs.”

For more information about the Routines-Based Interview Certification Institute, visit www.siskin.org/rbi.

ABOUT SISKIN CHILDREN’S INSTITUTE
Siskin Children's Institute makes life better for children with special needs and their families. The non-profit organization achieves its mission locally and nationally through four areas of focus: education, outreach, health care and research. The Institute provides early childhood education where children with and without disabilities learn together; family support and professional development programs; developmental behavioral pediatric health care; and innovative research in early childhood development and special education. For more information about Siskin Children's Institute, visit www.siskin.org.