07/18/12 - The Institute welcomes special education professionals for week-long training

                                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: July 18, 2012
Contact: Laurie Stevens
laurie.stevens@siskin.org
423.648.1708, office

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

 Institute researchers Drs. McWilliam and Casey lead the annual Routines-Based Interview Certification Institute July 16-20.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Twenty-one 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 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.

“Now that so many states are adopting the Routines-Based Interview,” said Robin McWilliam, Ph.D., director of Siskin Children’s Institute’s Center for Child and Family Research, “we are really happy to provide this intensive training to yet another cohort of potential RBI trainers."

This year’s Routines-Based Interview Certification Institute welcomes training participants from ten states— Nebraska, Alabama, Vermont, Wisconsin, Ohio, South Carolina, Oklahoma, California, Oregon and Maryland – and two countries, Portugal and Spain.

Cami Stevenson, early interventionist and special education teacher from Oregon, first heard McWilliam when he conducted an initial training on RBI in Portland, her home town. “I was so intrigued, and our program immediately began adopting some of the RBI ideas and philosophies,” she said. “I flew all the way across the country because I want to learn more from Robin McWilliam.”

Twenty-two local families are volunteering as interviewees to give the trainees hands-on experience in conducting an RBI. Six previously certified RBI trainers from five states are serving as coaches to this year’s participants.

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,” said Amy Casey, Ph.D., BCBA-D, research scientist at the Institute. “Three months after the training, each professional submits a video of himself or herself conducting an RBI with a family as well as a list of the functional goals the family identified. Coaches then review the submitted items and determine if trainees meet the certification criteria.”

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 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.