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Improving Systems, Practices, and Outcomes

Telepractice in Early Childhood

Topic Editor: Anne Lucas

anne.lucas@unc.edu

This topic provides information and resources to help states improve systems that support the integration of telepractice into everyday practice and plan for disaster response. It guides states to:

  • Establish clear policies and guidance regarding the use of telepractice.
  • Acquire needed equipment and technology.
  • Enhance financial resources to support the use of telepractice.
  • Enhance provider capacity to use telepractice effectively.
  • Develop processes to evaluate the implementation of telepractice and make improvements to -port the use of telepractice over time.

How We Got Here

During the COVID-19 pandemic, states rapidly expanded telepractice to ensure infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and their families could continue to receive essential services. Most states adopted telepractice quickly and often without established policies, infrastructure, or sufficient training for personnel.

As a result, implementation varied widely across programs and communities. Confidence in the effectiveness of telepractice among parents, providers, teachers, administrators and policymakers remained limited. Following the pandemic, many states returned to primarily in-person or classroom services, with some using telepractice independently or in a hybrid approach. Given the numerous benefits of telepractice in addressing state-level challenges related to access to and delivery of early childhood services, expanding its use and enhancing its effectiveness is critical.

Improving Access for Children and Families

Families continue to face challenges accessing services because of provider and teacher shortages, long waitlists, tightening budgets, and limited availability in some communities. Telepractice offers a powerful solution to bridge these gaps by minimizing service delays, expanding access to services for young children with disabilities in rural or underserved areas, and reinforcing family-centered care and inclusion.

What is Telepractice?

We use telepractice to describe the methodology used as an alternative to providing in-person services and supports to young children with disabilities and their families. States, agencies, funding sources, and professional organizations may use different terms, including:

  • Remote early intervention
  • Remote learning
  • Distance learning
  • Tele-intervention
  • Telehealth
  • Telemedicine
  • Teletherapy
  • Virtual home visits
  • Virtual learning

Regardless of the term used, telepractice uses audio or video technology to connect providers, educators, and parents or other caregivers in ways that support their child's learning and development during everyday activities and routines. Telepractice can also include low-tech options—for example, delivering instruction via a packet dropped off at the child's home.

What IDEA Requires

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), states are required to ensure that early intervention and preschool special education services are individualized to meet the unique developmental and functional needs of each child and their family. Services must be delivered with the appropriate frequency, intensity and duration and may include:

  • Occupational therapy
  • Physical therapy
  • Speech-language pathology
  • Audiology
  • Other services

Decisions about how services are delivered—in-person, through telepractice, or a mix of both (hybrid)—must be based on the individual needs of the child and family to ensure access to appropriate services. When the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) or Individualized Education Program (IEP) includes a service and identifies how it will be delivered, the child is entitled to receive that service using the method described in the plan.

How Telepractice Can Help

States continue to face challenges in providing early intervention and preschool special education services. Telepractice can help programs and families by:

  • Expanding access to qualified providers, including aiding recruitment and retention.
  • Reducing service delays, missing services, and waitlists for services, which cause gaps in meeting IDEA requirements.
  • Reaching families in rural or remote areas, especially with specialized providers.
  • Reducing travel times for providers.

Explore Telepractice Resources

ECTA Center Resources

COVID-19 Era Information

The following pages were developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to support early intervention and early childhood special education programs in providing virtual services to infants, toddlers and preschoolers with disabilities and their families. These resources continue to be relevant following the end of the pandemic.

Resources from Professional Associations

Additional Resources