After School Programs
Many children receive most of their recreational experiences through these programs. Coaches can be wonderful mentors and for some families after school programs eliminate some daycare needs.

Audiologist
An audiologist provides intervention strategies and services for individuals with deafness or hearing impairments.

Classroom Teacher
Your child’s classroom teacher is the person who will spend the most time with your child and will know her best. A classroom teacher is a valuable resource for helping identify any educational, emotional or social issues the child may be having in school.

Early Intervention Services
Every state offers an early intervention program to help identify infants and toddlers (up to age three) who may have developmental delays or disabilities. An evaluation is completed to determine the child’s cognitive, physical/motor, speech, language, social, emotional and adaptive development. A physician or the local school district can direct families to those services.

Educational Advocate
An Educational Advisor or Advocate helps parents work with the child’s school. As an additional member of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) team, an Educational Advocate provides additional experience and expertise to get the best outcome for the child.

Occupational Therapist
An occupational therapist is a licensed health professional who provides strategies and services to assist individuals with motor or sensorimotor functions, including fine motor manipulation, self-help, adaptive work skills, and play or leisure skills.

Physical Therapist
A physical therapist is a licensed health professional who works with individuals with motor or sensorimotor functioning in such areas as mobility and positioning.

School Counselor
A school counselor may assist in the identification of a child’s needs and may help to determine appropriate responses.

School Nurse
A school nurse provides medical care during the school day, monitors allergic reactions and may administer medication needed during school hours.

School Psychologist
A school psychologist assists in the identification of a child’s behavioral, social, emotional, educational and vocational needs and helps to determine appropriate responses.

School Social Worker
A school social worker is trained to assess a child’s educational needs including social, emotional, behavioral and adaptive needs. She provides intervention services including individual, group, parent and family counseling and serves as liaison between home, school and community.

Special Education Instructional Specialist
The special education instructional specialist provides ongoing support to special and general education instructional personnel. The specialist helps to identify and plan for the least restrictive environment appropriate for the child.

Speech-Language Pathologist
A speech-language pathologist provides intervention strategies and services related to speech and language development as well as disorders of language, voice, articulation and fluency.

Transportation Specialist
A transportation specialist works with the school district to provide special transportation and equipment for students with disabilities.

Tutoring Services
Many children can benefit from short or long-term use of a tutor. Families receiving federal (and some state) subsidies should look to the schools for help rather than Children and Family Services.

Facial Abnormalities:

• Flattened midface
• Small eye openings/short eye slits
• Skin webbing between eyes and base of nose
• Drooping eyelids
• Near-sightedness
• Failure of eyes to move in the same direction
• Short, upturned nose
• Sunken nasal bridge
• Flat or absent groove (philtrum) between nose and upper lip
• Thin upper lip
• Opening in roof of mouth (fistula or cleft)
• Small jaw
• Low-set or poorly-formed ears

Prenatal and Postnatal Growth Retardation:

• Small body size and weight
  • lower birth weight
  • disproportional weight not due to nutrition
  • height and/or weight below the 5th percentile
• Slower than normal physical development and failure to catch up
• Skeletal deformities
  • deformed ribs and sternum
  • curved spine
  • hip dislocations
  • bent, fused, webbed or missing fingers or toes
  • limited movement of joints
  • small head

Central Nervous System Dysfunction:

• Small brain/head
• Faulty arrangement of brain cells and connective tissue
• Mental retardation (usually mild to moderate but sometimes severe)
• Lower IQ
• Learning disabilities
• Short attention span
• Irritability-particularly in infancy
• Hyperactivity in childhood
• Poor body, hand and finger coordination/impaired fine motor skills
• Poor judgment and impulsive behavior
• Other behavior disorders