Page 30 - WV NE PRACT HANDBOOK - FINAL 9-1-22.pub

WVBTT PROFESSIONAL
TEAM MEMBERS

A family’s team will consist of state licensed practitioners, certified specialists and service
coordinators who have been trained to work with children in need of early intervention services.
Below is brief description of the role that each discipline will participate as part of a family’s team.

American Sign Language (ASL) Specialist: Certification
by the American Sign Language Proficiency Interview
(ASLPI), Level 3 or above
Counselor: A specialist who is trained to assist families in
understanding their child’s special needs and how to cope
with the everyday pressures and emotional feelings
a ssociated with raising a child with developmental delays.
Developmental Specialist: A Developmental Specialist provides families with the information skills and
support needed to the enhance the child’s development including designing learning environments,
curriculum planning related to the materials, and activities and strategies that will help achieve the child’s
outcomes. This specialist typically has an understanding of general development across all developmental
areas, and may have specific areas of specialty such as promoting learning strategies, parent and child
relationships, social emotional development, adapting everyday activities to help the child learn, or helping
other caregivers in settings such as childcare to know how to enhance the child’s development, and include
the child in typical activities.

Hearing Specialist: The Hearing Specialist assists families in understanding the type and severity of the
hearing loss, provides unbiased information on communication options and coaches families in intervention
strategies that are embedded in daily activities and routines where children learn. The Hearing Specialist
provides the family with resources related to hearing loss and can support the team in providing quality
services and supports. This specialist is knowledgeable of a variety of modes of communication including
sign, auditory aural, auditory verbal, cued speech, total communication, etc., and can provide information to
the family and IFSP team on educational acoustics in the home and other locations where the child spends
time.
Nurse: A trained specialist who is knowledgeable in the evaluation of how specific medical conditions
impact the health and development of young children. This specialist can provide parents with information
and support as well as make recommendations to assist parents in working more closely with their child’s
primary care providers and/or other medical specialists.
Occupational Therapist: A specialist in the evaluation and assessment of developmental disorders with
emphasis on fine motor and perceptual motor skills, sensory integration, and functional activities of daily
living. Some of these specialists may also have knowledge in oral motor and feeding disorders
Psychologist: A specialist who is trained to perform psychological and educational testing, evaluation, and
intervention strategies.

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