Breaking Down Barriers in Early Intervention

Early Intervention Providers (EIPs) are at the forefront of helping children with autism and their families navigate social-emotional development. However, their work often comes with logistical and technological challenges that can impede progress. Many EIPs work in home settings where reliable Wi-Fi isn’t always available, and they need secure, easy-to-use tools for data collection, reflection, and coaching. This is where TORSH has made a transformative impact.

Bridging the Technology Gap

The Building Interactive Social Communication Project (BISC), an innovative early intervention program through Indiana University, turned to TORSH to address key field challenges. EIPs needed a way to record video reflections and review them in real-time without storing data on their devices—a requirement to maintain HIPAA and FERPA compliance. With TORSH, they can:

• Capture video in the field without needing an internet connection.
• Securely store and manage intervention data, ensuring privacy and accessibility for the right team members.
• Engage in structured video reflection, allowing providers to assess and adjust their approaches for better outcomes.
• Collaborate seamlessly, connecting field providers, mentors, and researchers to improve intervention fidelity and effectiveness.

The TORSH Talent platform shows recent video uploads

The Impact: Measurable Improvements for Providers, Parents, and Children

Since integrating TORSH, BISC has reported significant improvements across multiple areas:

• Provider Success: EIPs have quickly adopted the system with minimal training time, allowing them to focus more on their work with families.
• Parent Empowerment: TORSH enables parents to actively participate in their child’s development, fostering a stronger parent-child bond and increasing self-efficacy.
• Child Development: Children demonstrate increased motivation to engage socially and take a more active role in their learning journey.

What Makes BISC’s Approach Unique?

Two key aspects set BISC apart from other early intervention models:

1. A Unique Developmental Sequence – BISC provides a structured approach that EIPs can easily implement. Providers see early progress, reinforcing their confidence and effectiveness.
2. Mediated Learning – The program focuses on fostering an internal desire in children to engage socially and learn, rather than relying solely on external motivation.

Seamless Implementation with TORSH

A major concern for the BISC team was the potential learning curve in adopting a new technology. However, the transition to TORSH was remarkably smooth. Providers quickly adapted to the platform, eliminating the need for additional expensive hardware like iPads. One of the program leaders shared their initial skepticism:

“I was expecting it to take a lot of startup time and a learning gap with providers, and it didn’t. Your team did so well with the implementation. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking, what if this doesn’t work, and we have to buy iPads again (and never get them back)? But thank goodness, everything is smooth.”

The Future of Early Intervention with TORSH

As BISC continues its work, the team seeks to expand research efforts and scale implementation with TORSH. By leveraging data-driven insights and enhancing collaboration between intervention providers, mentors, and researchers, BISC aims to refine and improve intervention strategies that make a lasting impact on children and families.

TORSH is more than just a coaching tool—it’s a solution that empowers early intervention teams to work more effectively, drive measurable change, and ultimately help children learn how to learn.

For more information about BISC and how to participate in their upcoming Early Intervention research, click here. 

To learn more about TORSH and see a demo of the Talent platform, click here.

The post How TORSH is Empowering Early Intervention Providers in the Field appeared first on Torsh.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES, May 17, 2024 — TORSH is excited to announce its strategic collaboration with Indiana University’s Special Education program. Their partnership will implement a five-year research project investigating a framework of systematic support to early intervention providers who serve families of toddlers with autism and its effects on provider, parent, and toddler outcomes.

The research team behind this project selected TORSH Talent, a HIPAA-secure web-based platform with a mobile app, to centralize collaboration between the university’s team of intervention consultants and study participants, made up of early intervention providers selected from across multiple states. Kathryn Horn, Intervention Coordinator with Building Interactive Social Communication (BISC) at Indiana University, said, “Using TORSH Talent will make participation in this research project seamless and easy for all participants, storing and transmitting our data to allow for analysis of BISC’s impact on provider, parent, and child learning.”

TORSH’s innovative platform is a useful resource that enables providers to collaborate with the research team. The free mobile app and video recording features allow providers to capture parent-child interactions remotely by seamlessly uploading data and video clips into the platform. The app stores curated resource collections for providers’ easy access to needed tools for weekly sessions with families and allows them to submit self-reflection notes. Secure user permission management maintains the integrity of the study, protecting the “double-blind” nature of data collection and analysis.

“TORSH embraces this unique opportunity to enable critical research on ways to empower the early interventionists who provide essential early intervention services to children with specific developmental needs,” said Courtney Williams, Founder and CEO of TORSH.

About TORSH, Inc.
TORSH, a New Orleans-based education technology company, is dedicated to improving childhood outcomes by increasing educator instructional effectiveness. TORSH Talent, an online coaching and professional learning platform, enables organizations to support educator growth through the entire development cycle of observation, assessment, goal setting, feedback, and coaching. Learn more by visiting torsh.co.

About Indiana University Graduate School of Education, Special Education
Indiana University’s Special Education program prepares teachers and researchers to work with all kinds of learners. The faculty and staff of the School of Education embrace an ambitious mission “to improve teaching, learning, and human development in a global, diverse, rapidly changing, and increasingly technological society.” Through fieldwork, collaborative coursework, and research experiences, students gain knowledge and confidence to pursue educational careers. More information is available by visiting education.indiana.edu and the PI’s faculty profile.

The post TORSH Talent Streamlines Critical Research Project on Innovative Framework for Early Intervention Providers appeared first on Torsh.

First Connections is a Little Rock-based agency within the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Office of Special Education (OSE) that provides early intervention support and services to parents and other caregivers of program-eligible children from birth to three years old. First Connections also provides technical assistance to early intervention professionals to meet program certification requirements, offers ongoing professional development, and supports providers in applying evidence-based practices in their work with families.

First Connections employs only two full-time technical assistance and training professionals to support a diverse group of early intervention professionals spread across the state. With such a small team and such a big mission, First Connections needed a better way to provide certification training, ongoing professional development, and technical assistance beyond in-person training workshops. The program also needed more effective ways to track completion and collect data on the effectiveness of their technical assistance and training. Last, early interventionists working toward certification needed more flexibility in when and how they accessed training while they managed full caseloads.

These challenges led First Connections to search for a comprehensive online platform to help them manage and deliver technical assistance. In particular, First Connections wanted a solution to enable early intervention professionals to navigate certification requirements at their own pace. They also wanted an intuitive, simple-to-navigate platform to accommodate different technological abilities.

The goal: Ensure that all early intervention professionals, regardless of their location or schedule, have equitable access to essential resources and support opportunities.

The Solution 

First Connections was excited to discover TORSH Talent, a HIPAA-secure online platform that streamlines technical assistance and certification processes for staff in early intervention programs. With TORSH’s extensive expertise in supporting early intervention and care programs, First Connections found an ally to help them meet their goals and overcome obstacles.

Using TORSH Talent’s advanced suite of tools, First Connections has successfully launched a robust, accessible online environment for practitioners to tap into technical assistance services that support their practices. First Connections immediately began using TORSH Talent to:

• Offer on-demand, asynchronous courses
• Track completion of certification requirements
• Offer a variety of on-demand technical assistance modules to support in-service development of
  practitioner’s knowledge, abilities, and skills
• Offer Learning Paths tailored to the core competencies needed for specific roles

Core Competencies For Early Interventionists:

• Teaching families their IDEA rights in the context of the Part C Program process;
• Completing the Child Outcomes Summary (COS) rating as a team with the family using the state-approved tool
• Determining Part C Program Eligibility as a team with the family
• Developing a family-centered Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) around typical routines, child and family interests, and family priorities and concerns
• Selecting the Part C service necessary to reach the goals and objectives on the IFSP

Core Competencies For Therapists:

• Evaluation practices and sharing results of evaluations in the evaluation report within Part C Program guidelines and timelines
• Providing IFSP services within typical child and family activities to meet Natural Environment requirements
• Documenting Home and Community Visits (service sessions) in ways that describe the parent or caregiver participation

With its expanded reporting on practitioner engagement with content, TORSH Talent also enables First Connections to assess the effectiveness of their courses and course content in ways that the program was unable to do previously with in-person workshops or even in live webinars.

“The TORSH system provides an online platform to coordinate a variety of technical assistance activities and offer content and ongoing certification training courses to meet the needs of home visitors around their schedules.”

Tracy Turner
Part C Coordinator
The Arkansas Department of Education, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Special Education

Initial Successes

With the comprehensive technical assistance and certification platform now fully operational within TORSH Talent, early intervention professionals are successfully engaging in coursework that historically had limited offerings. The result is that the statewide network of early intervention professionals are obtaining certification credentials in a timely manner with minimal support. And so far, feedback from in-the-field professionals about the experience has been positive.

First Connections is seeing significant improvements to both engagement and satisfaction levels among early intervention professionals, who appreciate the flexibility offered by TORSH Talent to access technical assistance on their schedules and supportive content specific to their needs. The collaboration between First Connections and TORSH has also yielded improved data collection, collaboration, and communication among stakeholders through the use of reporting tools.

As their partnership with TORSH progresses, First Connections anticipates a notable improvement in the effectiveness of their technical assistance offerings. Ultimately, bettering this support will also strengthen the practices that early intervention professionals leverage to serve families and children across the state.

What’s Next

The next step for First Connections is to work with TORSH to develop internal reports that group leaders can use to track their Provider Program staff’s completion of certification and annual professional development hours to further engage users. Additionally, First Connections plans to leverage TORSH Talent’s data collection capabilities to enhance the fidelity of technical assistance implementation and ongoing quality improvement. The program anticipates additional growth for practitioners and transformational practice improvements across the state through this collaboration.

The post Arkansas Department of Health Expands its Offering of Early Intervention Technical Assistance with TORSH’s Innovative Platform appeared first on Torsh.

The post Arkansas’ First Connections and TORSH Catalyze Statewide Early Interventionist Certification and Technical Assistance appeared first on Torsh.

While you’re attending the show for education and inspiration from your peers, it’s important to get out and explore Daytona. With that in mind, our team put together their top five plus must-see and must-do lists in no particular order.

#1 The Beach, Boardwalk & Pier

Who doesn’t love a beach? And when you add in fun activities and yummy food, the Daytona beach area is a good time if you go solo or with a friend!

#2 Shopping

Whether you want to do a little window shopping or pick up something festive from a boutique. There are many options if you explore the shopping district, Volusia Mall, Tanger Outlets, and ONE DAYTONA. Shop till you drop!

#3 Daytona Speedway Tour

While you just missed DAYTONA 500, you should stop by and get a tour. It’s a great opportunity to go behind the scenes of the world center racing epicenter.

# 4 Golfing

The savviest golfers know that Daytona Beach area golf is truly one of Florida’s premiere destinations. There are nearly 20 golf courses to choose from. If you have time, make a special trip to LPGA International, a highly-acclaimed 36-hole facility.

#5 Galleries & Museums

While we have to visit MOAS (Museum of Arts & Sciences) any time we are in town, there is no shortage of places to stop. Explore news collections, see interesting artists, support the local community, and, most importantly, take in the culture.

Bonus Meet with TORSH

Ok, we had to add this in; after all, we are on tour! We’d love to connect with you if you plan on attending FASA and/or ALEC events this quarter.

Stop by our table, or if you want to schedule some time to talk with an EIC specialist today, sign up here.

The post From Daytona with Love appeared first on Torsh.

The practitioner would arrive carrying a bag stuffed with educational goodies. They’d spend the session pulling teaching tools from their bag, working with the child on much-needed skills. At the end of the session, the supplies would be packed up, and the practitioner would say goodbye until the next visit.

But what about the span between visits? Did the parents and caregivers have the knowledge and tools needed to practice the early intervention strategies that were demonstrated?

Generally, the answer was no. 

That’s why early intervention coaching was developed — to enlist  parents and caregivers as partners in achieving the goals of an early intervention plan.

We discuss how early intervention coaching helps families develop skills to support their child’s growth, and how coaching utilizes the child’s natural environment to create a place of collaboration and education. 

Table of Contents

• What Is Coaching in Early Intervention?
• What Is the Main Goal of Early Intervention Coaching?
• How Can Caregivers Receive Early Intervention Coaching? 
• What Does the Provider Do During Early Intervention Coaching?
• TORSH Talent: Professional Learning Platform for Early Intervention Coaching Providers

What Is Coaching in Early Intervention? 

Early intervention coaching involves an early intervention coach working with a child’s caregivers to integrate developmental strategies into a family’s daily routines that will help a child make progress toward achieving their intervention plan’s goals. 

Early intervention coaching views the caregivers as the experts on their child, and coaching is done in the child’s natural environment. 

An Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is at the heart of early intervention coaching and is provided to any child found eligible for early intervention services.  An IFSP is an outcome-based road map developed by a team of … 

• Parents
• Caregivers
• Professionals
• Early intervention providers

The IFSP outlines the services that will best help the child reach the desired outcomes, and describes … 

• When
• How
• Where 

… the services will be delivered. 

In order to see progress, all early intervention coaching activities must be family-focused. 

What Is the Main Goal of Early Intervention Coaching?

The goal of early intervention coaching is to help caregivers learn new ways to support a child’s learning with support and guidance from an early intervention practitioner. 

This goal is achieved through:

• Ongoing observation of the child’s routines 
• Conversations with the family and other caregivers
• Documentation of child and family history, interests, and strengths
• An understanding of family routines, goals, concerns, priorities, and resources 
• Helping families learn new and appropriate routines to support the child’s development throughout the day 
• Discussing the ways that best help the child learn
• Problem-solving and brainstorming issues and learning strategies

How Can Caregivers Receive Early Intervention Coaching?

Early Intervention is Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and is generally offered for children from birth to three years of age. Depending on the state, older children may also be eligible for services.

Each state has a developmental assessment and qualifications a child must meet in order to receive services. When a child qualifies, they are referred for early intervention. During early intervention coaching, caregivers collaborate with a trained early intervention coach to learn how to best help the child. 

Any caregiver of a child who qualifies for early intervention services may receive early intervention coaching.

What Does the Provider Do During Early Intervention Coaching?

Each state has different guidelines outlining the role the coach plays in the early intervention plan. 

Some early intervention therapies might be center-based and have a group model. But ideally, coaching in early intervention takes place in the child’s natural environment, which may be: 

• The child’s home
• Grandparents’ home
• Aunt or uncle’s home
• A foster care home
• Childcare facility

Some states have specific coaching therapy techniques, such as Family Guided Routines Based Intervention (FGRBI) which facilitates the collaboration of early intervention coaches and caregivers to engage young children in learning. This is done as caregivers participate in everyday activities and routines that are natural and meaningful to the child.

In today’s early intervention model, the provider is offering guidance and support through collaborative coaching. Early intervention coaching is a partnership. Here, the provider is stepping down from the role of “expert” and taking on the role of a “coach,” allowing the caregiver or parent to step into the “expert” position.

For example, Sasha is having difficulty making eye contact with her caregivers. The coach and caregiver collaborate to create a ball-rolling game to play with Sasha that incorporates making eye contact each time she catches the ball. The coach introduces the game, teaching the caregiver how to do the activity with Sasha. The caregiver plays the game with Sasha several times before the coach leaves so they are comfortable with the process. The caregiver then will continue the activity with Sasha throughout the week, noting any questions or concerns that may develop. These will be discussed during the next coaching session to improve as needed to best meet the developmental goals established in the IFSP.

Request Demo

Check-In

At the start of each early intervention coaching session, the coach will check in with the caregiver to get a feel for what’s going on that day or in the time since the last home visit and to understand the current emotional vibe. 

• Has the child had a rough morning? 
• Are they overly excited about a special event planned for later in the day? 
• Is there emotional upheaval in the home? 
• Has someone been ill?  

The coach will also take a few minutes to ask questions, such as: 

• “What do you want to work on today?” 
• “Tell me about any progress you’ve seen.”
• “Have there been any setbacks or do you have any concerns?” 
• “How is Sasha doing with the ball-rolling activity we did last week?”

In addition, it is important to consistently check in with families to get their input and help them reflect on how they could best use previous strategies. 

Remain Flexible

When coaching parents and caregivers in early intervention, the coach must be flexible.

For example, as the coach is checking in with the parent or caregiver, they mention that all of a sudden Sasha has started banging her head on the floor. 

Since this is a safety issue and a critical piece of information, all pre-planned coaching activities will immediately be tossed aside. The coach will instead ask questions about the new development to find out more, such as, 

• “When did this behavior start?”
• “What happens immediately before and after Sasha begins banging her head?“
• “How do you respond to this new behavior?”

Maintaining flexibility allows the coach to address any unforeseen situations that may arise and to best meet the needs of the child and their caregivers.

Discover and Utilize the Caregiver’s Learning Style

Since early intervention coaching is family guided, it is critical you discover their learning style and leverage their strengths. 

Is the caregiver’s learning style:

• Auditory
• Visual
• Kinesthetic
• Reading/writing

The coach is training the caregiver to work with the child and, by coaching in a way that aligns with the caregiver’s learning style, can help to ensure the caregiver is grasping the concepts being addressed.

Problem Solve With the Caregiver

Let’s revisit Sasha’s recent head banging during the ball activity. 

Once the coach has investigated the details of the behavior, the caregiver and coach can work together to problem solve and come up with several possible solutions. 

They may discuss the best time of day to practice, by asking questions such as:

• “Is Sasha a morning girl, or does she tend to do better in the late afternoon?” 
• “Should the learning activities take place after she eats or takes a nap?”

The coach will then go through the revised plan several times to see how Sasha responds. Then the caregiver may take a turn if they feel comfortable doing so. 

This collaborative problem solving enables the coach/caregiver team to rework strategies to best meet Sasha’s changing needs.

Hands-On Coaching

The coach will work with the caregiver hands on. They will describe and model activities, providing insight, as needed. 

As the early intervention coach goes through each activity, they will describe:

• What they are doing
• Why they are doing it
• The impact of the strategy on the child

This gives the parent or caregiver the opportunity to see what the strategy looks like when it’s implemented with fidelity. The caregiver is encouraged to ask questions and offer suggestions to fine tune the activity to meet their child’s unique needs. 

Next, the coach will encourage the parent to try the strategy themselves. This is a critical component in early intervention coaching since once the coach leaves, the caregiver is on their own until the next session. If the caregiver is not comfortable with the plan, the child won’t  have the opportunity to benefit from the intervention until the coach returns.

Session Reflection and Review of the Plan

Finally, the coach and caregiver will wrap up by reflecting and reviewing what was covered during the session. 

If the caregiver doesn’t feel comfortable or confident with the intervention, they’re not going to practice it with their child. 

This is where the importance of the reflection piece comes into play. Reflection involves thinking back through the session — what skills were covered, how did the child respond, and what questions does the caregiver have.

The practitioner will review with the caregiver what they should work on with their child throughout the week. 

The coach’s goal is to build the caregiver’s capacity This empowers the caregiver to feel comfortable and competent in working with the child on the identified skill deficits. 

It’s important to remember that the caregiver is the expert on their child. They know best how the child communicates and functions from day to day. This is why establishing the caretaker’s competence during the reflection and review time is so valuable.

TORSH Talent: Professional Learning Platform for Early Intervention Coaching Providers

Early intervention coaches need coaching too… When practitioners record their sessions with families they can use the videos for self-reflection to improve their services and also share them with a coach or colleagues to get feedback. When working with young children, HIPAA compliance and data privacy and security are non-negotiable. Does your organization have a HIPAA and FERPA compliant platform to share video? And a way for practitioners and coaches to easily collaborate? Take a look at TORSH Talent.

We provide early intervention coaches with a simple to use, intuitive platform to provide time-stamped feedback on videos of practice and collaborate asynchronously or synchronously with practitioners to help them develop their practice and meet their goals. 

Using TORSH Talent, practitioners and coaches can watch, listen to, and re-watch recorded early intervention coaching sessions with families in order to fine-tune their practice.

Click below to schedule a consultation and demo with one of our early intervention coaching specialists. 

Request Demo

The post Early Intervention Coaching: A Partnership With Families appeared first on Torsh.

“TORSH has so much capacity to be helpful in both research and clinical work, because film as a modality of intervention is just so powerful…  This platform is really supporting innovative changes in autism research and intervention.”

Dr. Carrie Alvarado serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Autism Community Network, San Antonio (ACN).  We sat down with her to discuss the ways in which leveraging TORSH for telediagnostics and teletherapy has transformed her practice, as well as allowed ACN to provide critical access to life-changing intervention and support services for families who would otherwise experience financial barriers to equitable assistance.

Autism Community Network (ACN) is a nonprofit that was established in 2008 by a consortium of health care funders concerned about the lack of development services available to vulnerable children suspected of having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ACN addresses the diagnostic, therapeutic, interventional, and recreational needs for families affected by ASD living in San Antonio, TX, and surrounding counties.  Their mission is to maximize the potential of children with autism by providing early diagnosis for those with limited access and educating and empowering the community to support them.  Though ACN works with families in many different socio-economic levels, the organization primarily helps those being served by Medicaid.

“Our agency is so excited to be engaged in this kind of innovative work with families.  In the traditional world of autism intervention, you’ve got your clinical outpatient therapies, you’ve got home health therapies, but this is very different.  We still develop goals for the child, we still want specific outcomes, we want coregulation and reciprocal joy between caregivers and their children.  But we’re capturing more than social communication improvements in the child — we’re seeing global improvements.  We’re working with and helping the whole child, and really the whole family system, access a higher quality of life and relationship,” Carrie asserted.

Revolutionizing Early Autism Intervention

“Our agency provides families with the most innovative, up-to-date, evidence-based interventions available, and then they can go out into the larger world with confidence and advocate for their child until their child can advocate more fully for themselves.”

Dr. Carrie Alvarado, COO for Autism Community Network

Carrie is the creator and director of the Earliest Connections Clinic, ACN’s diagnostic program geared toward early identification and therapeutic intervention for high-risk infants and toddlers.  Additionally, she leads ACN’s intensive therapy/teletherapy intervention programs supporting families impacted by autism through dyadic coaching using both in-vivo and reflective video feedback modalities.

“As I’ve been in practice, my work has increasingly moved towards a parent coaching model while my role as a clinician has become increasingly facilitative in nature,” Carrie said.  “The pandemic shifted our agency, just as many others, into full tele-practice overnight.  Finding the TORSH Talent platform and combining it with a power-packed intervention model like Pediatric Autism & Communication Therapy (PACT) was a winning combination that was timed just perfectly.  It had a synergizing effect for our clinicians and our families, which added a wonderful sense of stability and productivity as we ventured into new terrain together.”

Autism Community Network’s infant and toddler diagnostic program is making a significant difference in the lives of young children who have or are suspected of having autism and their families.  Children 30 months and younger who are referred to ACN no longer have to wait until they receive an official diagnosis in order to begin intervention.  Furthermore, the time these children spend on a waitlist is roughly one-fifth as long as wait times were before the establishment of the clinic.

Overall, this clinic ensures that these children and families are receiving the help that they need much sooner than they would be able to access it elsewhere.

This early intervention “sets the whole family on such a healthier trajectory moving forward,” Carrie explained.  “Families can now access help as soon as they have concerns.  Our skilled clinicians can team up with them and help alleviate some anxiety, help them better understand their child’s developmental differences, and help them understand the essential role that THEY can play in their child having a happier and healthier life.”

The children and their parents build a foundation for continued intervention and what best practice intervention should look and feel like.  Because caregivers take a lead role from the very beginning, they can more aptly help their children generalize their social communication capacities to other important people in their lives.  When caregivers can capitalize on every opportunity to promote their child’s sense of relational safety and communicative effort, this helps the kids develop a greater sense of agency.  Over time, this builds capacities in the child that are sustained.  The caregiver(s) begin to feel less scared or anxious about their child’s diagnosis and future.  

“Plus, families leave our programs knowing a lot more about autism, which itself is empowering,” Carrie said.  “We help families unpack their preconceived notions about what autism means.  We help them celebrate the strengths that their child brings to the table.  We help them learn to ‘see’ their child and their relationship through new eyes.  I wish this was a situation that every family could encounter at their child’s diagnosis.”

Putting Parents in the Driver’s Seat

“Putting the parent in the driver’s seat is crucial if we want to have a skill sustained and generalized.”

Dr. Carrie Alvarado, COO for Autism Community Network

“Okay, so TORSH Talent is perfect for my work,” Carrie explained.  “What PACT has allowed me to do, and what TORSH has supported PACT in doing, is really put the parent at the forefront.”  

PACT is a parent-mediated, strengths-based, relationally-focused approach that uses reflective video feedback.  The parents lead the therapy sessions and set goals for themselves as they and their child progress.

For sessions, parents videotape themselves playing with their child for 10 minutes “in their own home, with Brother there, with Dad there, with the dog there, with their own toys.”  Carrie then works with the parents to review the video footage.  “We can see right into what that relationship looks like and how that communication style is working or not working.  And we really shine the light on those moments of success.”

The idea, Carrie said, is basically like teaching someone to ride a bike.  “The parent is on the bike, I’m holding onto the back, and little by little they learn to balance themselves and become confident in the direction they’re heading.  I fade my hands off of the back of the bike, and there they go into the sunset with their child.”

Throughout our conversation, Carrie emphasized that incorporating film into teletherapy can be revolutionary for families — and parents of children with autism in particular — as they adjust to life with a diagnosis.

“It really helps them learn to change their perspective and to internalize and reflect on beautiful moments of connection that we want to build more of, because now they can see themselves in action being successful,” Carrie explained.  “It really starts to be a game changer for the way they perceive themselves as parents.  They start to see themselves as capable, which is a dramatic change for so many of our parents who arrive having gone through really emotionally difficult terrain.”

Empowering parents and families to use the most optimal strategies in promoting their child’s development in all areas of life — at home, in the grocery store, in the backyard, at Grandma’s house — is beneficial to both parents and child.  Carrie emphasized that “putting the parent in the driver’s seat is crucial if we want to have a skill sustained and generalized over time.”

After a year and a half of working with families virtually, Carrie explained that she does not think that she will return to a model of coaching with parents en vivo.  “I have seen too much efficacy and growth in the parents in telepractice.  I’ve seen the amazing changes that PACT and Floortime, another fantastic relational-developmental model we use, have done for the kids.  You know, before, I thought I was doing the parents a service by modeling behavior, and jumping in, and asking questions in the moment, and I am sure I was to some degree.  Now, though, I think that may have been distracting… Those magic moments of connection belong to them.  I want them to feel that THEY were the gamechangers, and I want them to feel as competent as possible moving forward.”

Using TORSH Talent as a Comprehensive Home Base

“Being able to go in with Talent and meticulously rewind, and tag, and analyze video with a parent is invaluable.”

Dr. Carrie Alvarado, COO for Autism Community Network

“I’m really grateful to have TORSH Talent as a home space for our ACN families, clinicians, and trainees.  Everybody who’s touched the platform has been really impressed,” Carrie enthused.  

Before switching to TORSH, ACN families were sharing video content with Carrie and her team in a piecemeal fashion, juggling different content sharing platforms and more complicated means of exchanging feedback, questions, and comments.  Having Talent as a collaborative and easy-to-use home base where everything “lives” — and where content is being shared both ways, instead of only to the therapist — is much more convenient.  It also gives a stronger sense of ownership and empowerment to the families. 

“The parents like to be able to go back and fiddle around with the videos during the week, to show it to Grandma, to tag it in the app.”  And when families are finished with their 18-week course, they can now “download all of this great footage that they’ve acquired of themselves and their children in our reflective video feedback sessions.  And they can refer back to them if they need to or share them with family members.  It has been a really nice way to commemorate and celebrate success for the whole family system.”

Furthermore, the combination of PACT methodology and TORSH’s innovative video feedback tools has proven to be revolutionary for parents’ mental and emotional health.  “Being able to go in with Talent and meticulously rewind, and tag, and analyze video with a parent is invaluable.  To reframe things that they’ve experienced in the moment and assign a new, more positive meaning… you can’t put a dollar sign on that gift,” Carrie emphasized.

These PACT therapy sessions serve to empower caregivers and strengthen parent-child relationships within the context of family life, rather than negatively disrupting that flow.  And being able to access the platform at any time and from anywhere helps to integrate intervention efforts more fully into the families’ everyday lives.  

As both a researcher and a clinician, Carrie sees the benefits of TORSH Talent as twofold.  “TORSH has so much capacity to be helpful in both research and clinical work, because film as a modality of intervention is just so powerful.  We’re just getting started with harnessing all that TORSH has to offer in terms of coding video footage and charting child progress.  We love the features of the platform that allow laser-focused cataloguing of specific strategies or skills for training and mentorship purposes.  This platform is really supporting innovative changes in autism research and intervention.  ACN is so excited to help in creating synergies between technologies like TORSH and parent-mediated teletherapies that will change the quality of access and intervention for so many families to come.”

Let Us Help You, Too!

Reach out to our team to learn more about how TORSH can support your organization’s efforts in Early Intervention or Special Education!

In the meantime:

Read about how The Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning used TORSH Talent to switch to a virtual teacher coaching model, overcoming the barriers of time and distance associated with their state-wide Preschool for All Coaching Project and becoming more equitable in the process.

The post Revolutionizing Early Intervention with Autism Community Network appeared first on Torsh.

TORSH Partner Presentations at DEC Conference

We are excited about the 12 sessions being presented by TORSH partners throughout the week!

One session that we want to make sure you don’t miss is “Sustaining Fidelity: A Cost-Effective, Comprehensive & Scalable Plan” with Jennifer A. Kampmann and Bobbi Brink. TORSH is a proud partner of South Dakota Birth to Three and we look forward to their presentation.

List of partner presentations:

Tuesday, 09/21/2021

• 10:20 am – 11:20 am: Sustaining Fidelity: A Cost-Effective, Comprehensive & Scalable Plan
• 10:20 am – 11:20 am: Supporting Coaches’ Use of PBC: Ingredients for Sustained Success
• 2:50 pm – 3:50 pm: BEST in CLASS: Supporting Teachers of Children with Challenging Behaviors
• 4:10 pm – 5:10 pm: Journal of Early Intervention Editorial Board

Wednesday, 09/22/2021

• 10:30 am – 11:30 am: Partnering with Families: Building Relationships through Coaching

Thursday, 09/23/2021

• 10:30 am – 11:30 am: Evidence-informed PD Program Enhances EI Provider Coaching Fidelity
• 11:50 am – 12:50 pm: Making Data-Informed Decisions About Coaching: An Effort and Effect Tool
• 1:10 pm – 2:10 pm: Michigan Innovations in Building and Integrating EC Systems with the PDGB-5
• 2:50 pm – 3:50 pm: Using Data-Informed Decision Making to Inform Practice-based Coaching
• 2:50 pm – 3:50 pm: Linking Authentic Assessment and Embedded Instruction: Lessons Learned

Friday, 09/24/2021

• 9:30 am – 10:30 am: The Complexity of Repetitive Behavior in Autism: Examining the Environment
• 12:40 pm – 1:40 pm: Leveraging Interprofessional Teaming to Maximize Outcomes and PD
  

Enter to Win our “New Orleans Misses You” Prize Basket

As the location of our home base and headquarters, New Orleans is special to TORSH. Because we were unable to gather in our favorite city for this year’s conference, we want to send a little of The Big Easy to you!

Enter to win — double your chances to win by entering before September 20th!

Congratulations to last year’s prize winner, Catherine Daentl!

Let Us Help You, Too!

TORSH allows you to do more and do better while saving critical time and money. Through our comprehensive online platform of tools for learning and collaboration, TORSH Talent, we help organizations improve services and outcomes for children by ensuring high-quality practice and programs.

Reach out to our team to learn more about how TORSH can support your organization’s efforts in Early Education or Early Intervention!

The post Connect with TORSH at the 2021 DEC Annual Conference appeared first on Torsh.

“Preschool teacher practices in the state of Illinois are improving because of our coaching model and virtual practice.  And we know that a high-quality teacher positively impacts student outcomes.”

In a state with a significant proportion of rural areas, providing equal professional development opportunities to isolated educators becomes a logistical challenge.  This can be particularly difficult for providers in a state such as Illinois, in which there are scattered programs with only one or two teachers working with any given grade level.

We sat down with three members of The Center: Early Childhood Professional Learning (ECPL) team to discuss how TORSH Talent allowed the organization’s Preschool for All (PFA) Coaching Project to overcome the barriers of time and distance associated with state-wide programming.  Cindy Berrey serves as Director, Lynn Burgett as Program Manager, and Suzy Finn as Project Coordinator.

ECPL provides free professional learning and resources that support programs funded by the Illinois State Board of Education in implementing evidence-based practices that improve outcomes for young children and their families.  Their Preschool for All Coaching Project partners with Early Childhood Care and Education staff, families, and community stakeholders to support sustainable, reflective practice that drives continuous quality improvement and results in high-quality outcomes for educators, children, and their families.

Program Made More Equitable with Virtual Coaching

“I think that our experience with TORSH Talent is validation of a good product.”

Suzy Finn, Project Coordinator at The Center: ECPL

One of Berrey’s concerns was the logistic and financial feasibility of providing coaching services to Preschool for All teachers regardless of program size or location.

“Just because you’re in a town with only 3500 people should not preclude your equal access to a coach, even if we don’t have someone based nearby,” Berrey explained.  However, it becomes quite expensive very quickly when coaches must drive several hours and then stay overnight in hotels to reach certain programs.  “We weren’t happy with the expenses that we were seeing associated with travel, even as we were pushing to make access to the program more equitable.”

So, the team began searching for a solution in the form of a virtual platform that would serve as a home base for everyone involved in the Project.  They wanted a space that included a resource library, easy communication channels, and easy access to virtual meetings.  Initially, they tried to build their own platform before turning to TORSH.

“We realized quite quickly that we didn’t have the capacity to build it with sufficient security ourselves, and that’s when we found TORSH.  Talent has more than fulfilled our wish list!  And we have been able to collaborate with TORSH throughout the year to make sure the platform meets our specific needs,” Berrey enthused.

The Talent virtual platform also provided some unexpected bonuses. Their team now has the ability to provide teachers with flexible 24/7 access to educator resources and direct communication channels with their coaches.  Their coaches are able to leverage the platform’s built-in coaching tools to easily and collaboratively set goals and action steps, provide in-the-moment evidence-based feedback, and measure progress. Talent also helps to significantly lessen classroom disruptions.  These benefits of virtual coaching quickly dissipated any reluctance on the part of teachers and coaches to switch to a virtual model.

“I think that our experience with TORSH Talent is validation of a good product,” Finn stated.  “When we started our pilot program, there were some concerns about moving to a virtual coaching model.  But by now the coaches have fully embraced the TORSH platform.  This step was really important to us, because the coaches’ support of the platform ensured the buy-in with the teachers they work with.”

Using Actionable Data to Drive Progress

“TORSH Talent provides us with the actionable data and documentation we need in order to answer these questions [from the Illinois State Board of Education].”

Lynn Burgett, Program Manager at The Center: ECPL

Burgett was with the Illinois State Board of Education before joining The Center.  This perspective has allowed her to focus on administrative concerns about program efficacy, value, and data collection.  

The ability to easily obtain, access, and analyze data in TORSH Talent was a vital feature for The Center.  This data is necessary for government reporting and budgeting.

“Coming from the State Board, I know the questions they’re asking contractors and grant holders — What’s the outcome?  Is this worth the taxpayer dollars?  How are you having an impact on children’s lives?” Burgett explained.  “TORSH Talent provides us with the actionable data and documentation we need in order to answer these questions.”  

In a survey conducted after the onset of the pandemic, The Center found that educators identified other teachers as the most valuable resource for their own practice.  However, the ability to come together to share ideas, collaborate on methods, and provide mutual moral support is more difficult for rural teachers in isolated programs.  

Transitioning their coaching program from a traditional in-person model to a virtual one expanded The Center’s reach and offerings.  Not only did TORSH Talent dramatically increase their capabilities for facilitating one-on-one coaching sessions for all PFA teachers, but it also opened the door to innovative group collaboration for isolated educators.

When coaches first started working virtually with these teachers, they called it the Isolated Teachers Group.  

“These initial sessions were powerful,” Burgett said.  “I mean, it got emotional.  These isolated teachers were so glad to have other people who knew what their experience was.  They felt like they were in it together.”

Over the past year, this programming blossomed into Collaborative Learning Sessions.  In these sessions, participants decide collectively on a discussion topic, project, or other professional development activity.  For example, one group decided to study the Pyramid Model, a conceptual framework of evidence-based practices for promoting young children’s healthy social and emotional development.  This model can be particularly helpful for children with developmental or learning disabilities.

In the end, “preschool teacher practices in the state of Illinois are improving because of our coaching model and virtual practice.  And we know that a high-quality teacher positively impacts student outcomes,” Berrey asserted.

Let Us Help You, Too!

Reach out to our team to learn more about how TORSH can support your organization’s efforts in Early Education or Early Intervention!

The post TORSH Talent Breaks Down the Barriers of Time and Distance for The Center: ECPL appeared first on Torsh.

Update 11/17/21:

Angela Daliet, TORSH Director of Early Education and Intervention Partnerships, has been named Chair of the Nominating Committee for LAAEYC! Deadline for nominations is 29 November 2021. Elections will be held December 6 – December 27.

To learn more about the LAAEYC inaugural election process, positions available, to nominate or self-nominate for a position, or to join LAAEYC, please visit: https://www.laaeyc.org/elections

TORSH sends a very warm welcome to the Louisiana Association for the Education of Young Children (LAAEYC) as the state affiliate for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)!

As a Louisiana-based educational technology firm dedicated to improving outcomes for children, we are excited about this expansion of organizations in our state working to support both high-quality learning and the professional development of educators.

TORSH is proud to announce that Angela Daliet, our Director of Early Education and Intervention Partnerships, is a founding member of the LAAEYC Advisory Council. 

This past Wednesday, Daliet co-hosted an LAAEYC Informational Town Hall meeting for the Greater New Orleans Region, welcoming area members of NAEYC into their new local chapter and detailing the organization’s commitment to operating as a high-performing, inclusive organization with values deeply rooted in the early childhood profession.   

The establishment of LAAEYC welcomes roughly 500 National members into a local affiliate. Members include early care and education teachers, faculty, and administrators; advocates; students at high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels; as well as families and companies invested or vested in the early care and education field.

LAAEYC advances a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession and supports all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children.

LAAEYC seeks to elevate and unify early childhood professionals so together they can serve families through leadership, advocacy, and professional development. Their goal is for every child and family to have access to quality services, and for every early childhood professional to be highly respected, fully supported, skilled, and equitably compensated for the valuable role they play in the lives of children and families. 

Click here to register your interest in becoming involved with LAAEYC.

We here at TORSH are proud to promote an early childhood profession that exemplifies excellence and is recognized as essential to society — here in Louisiana, and beyond. 

Welcome to Louisiana, LAAEYC!

The post Welcome to the Louisiana Association for the Education of Young Children appeared first on Torsh.