Increasing numbers of infants, toddlers, and young children with special health care needs, some of them requiring multi-disciplinary service providers to know more than in the past about technology, are entering our Kansas service systems. The 1997 Seminar in Early Intervention has been designed to help professionals in early childhood intervention become more confident and competent in meeting the needs of such children and their families. The 1997 Seminar, entitled Juggling the Elements in Quality Care: Demystifying Service Issues for Infants and Young Children with Significant Health Impairments and Their Families, will be held June 2-4, at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. The session is co-sponsored by the Associated Colleges of Central Kansas (ACCK) and the Kansas University Affiliated Program (KUAP) at the University of Kansas, and will be facilitated by Janet Valluzzi of Medically Fragile In-Services for Related Services Teams (M-FIRST) at the University of Washington.

The first day will deal with legal and ethical issues and assist participants in developing IFSPs / IEPs and health, transportation, and medical plans for case study infants, toddlers, and young children with special health care needs. Co-presenters will be Carolyn Graff, a nurse at the Child Development Unit, University of Kansas, and Doug Phelps, an attorney with Kansas Advocacy and Protective Services.

Day 2 will focus on issues of respiration and feeding / nutrition / elimination, with brief lectures and discussions and extensive hands-on experience with equipment and procedures used by young children challenged in these areas. Multi-disciplinary personnel will guide Seminar participants in using equipment safely and carefully to meet young children's needs, while they participate at home or in group settings. A multi-disciplinary advisory team has planned this seminar day.

Serena Umstead, a parent and colleague of Dr. Carl Dunst at the Building Community Resources Project in Pennsylvania, will describe her own experiences on day 3 and provide guidance in accessing informal community resources to help families of children with special health care needs meet developmental objectives. In the afternoon, three Topeka teachers, Barbara Reinertson, Debbie Wolgast, and Ann Jedele, will provide strategies for helping very young children with special health care needs be cared for at home or included successfully in natural community environments.

Participants may enroll in the Seminar for no credit, undergraduate credit, or graduate credit. Cost is $150 for the three days plus a $15 meal and refreshments charge. For further information, contact Kim Sawyer, Cindy Shotts, or Dr. Sharon Rosenkoetter at ACCK, (620) 241-5150, or Dr. Pat Gallagher at KUAP, (913) 864-4950.

Additional coursework available at ACCK this summer includes Methods for Facilitating Infant Development (undergraduate or graduate) and Communication Development/Communication Disorders.

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