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Early
Intervention
Clearinghouse
http://eiclearinghouse.org Spring 2021 • Volume 34, Issue 1
IN THIS ISSUE
EI Provides Critical Supports
for Children with
Lead Exposure 1
EI Provides Critical Supports
for Children with Lead Exposure
Family Update from the EI
Clearinghouse 2 By Nicole Hamp and Amy Zimmerman
Lead poisoning is one of the greatest environmental health hazards facing
young children. Each year in Illinois, thousands of children are poisoned by lead,
Great eBooks for Family Fun 3 often through exposure in their homes. Young children are more vulnerable to the
effects of lead poisoning because their brains are still developing. They are also more
Addressing Lead Poisoning likely to ingest lead from the environment because of their interactions with their
Prompts Paradigm Shift in EI 4 surroundings (e.g., crawling, putting their hands in their mouth, biting/chewing toys).
When a child has low levels of lead, there are usually no outward symptoms.
You cannot look at a child and know they have lead poisoning. They likely won’t
State Systemic Improvement complain of anything out of the ordinary. That said, children with low levels of lead
Plan (SSIP) Update 4 can still suffer negative health outcomes. Such outcomes may include: problems in
school, lower IQ, impaired reading readiness, reading disability, attention deficit/
hyperactivity disorder, and behavioral disorders. All of these things can be incredibly
difficult for the family of a child with lead poisoning. All of these things can result in
increased use of special education resources and increased health care costs.
Please see LEAD, Page 2
Funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Early Intervention
LEAD Family Update from
Continued from Page One Many children who receive these the EI Clearinghouse
tests on or near their first and second March 25, 2021
Supporting Children With Lead birthdays have not received them because We hope you and your family are
Poisoning they haven’t visited the doctor’s office. doing well. This is an update from
Until recently, in Illinois there was Because many zip codes in Illinois are the Early Intervention Clearinghouse
little offered to families of children high risk for lead exposure, including about relevant resources for the Ear-
with lead poisoning. Lead in the home all Chicago zip codes, it is important to ly Intervention (EI) Program during
(e.g., lead paint, lead dust, lead in water, reach out to your primary care provider COVID-19.
children’s imported toys, and imported about having your child tested. • You have three ways to receive
cookware) can be mitigated or removed. If your child has an elevated blood EI services: in-person, live video
In contrast, services to protect children lead level, you should be notified by your visits (LVV), and phone consultation.
from the negative developmental impacts primary care physician as well as the local Recently, Illinois has started allowing
of lead exposure were unavailable to chil- department of public health or the Illi- EI providers to have in-person visits
dren who were not exhibiting delays. nois Department of Public Health. with 20 families, instead of 10 fami-
This is true even though many of The best way for early intervention lies. For more information on what
the deficits caused by lower-level lead to process referrals for services is by hav- to consider when deciding how to
poisoning are unlikely to be apparent ing your child’s primary care provider fax receive EI services, check out our lat-
until a child is school-age, when they are an early intervention referral form with est tip sheet: Live Video Visits, Phone Con-
expected to do and understand more. By information that indicates the elevated sultations, and In-Person Early Intervention
then, it can be too late to intervene mean- blood lead level to your local Child and (EI) Services: What’s Right for My Family?
ingfully. Early childhood experiences can Family Connections office. • The EI Training Program
greatly impact brain development, posi- Local or state departments of public compiled a list of relevant resources
tively and negatively. health are also capable of referring your about LVV. The list includes an over-
As a result of effective stakeholder child and family for early intervention view of LVV, resources for service
advocacy, Illinois has become a national services. For families already in early in- coordinators, technology checklists,
leader in supporting families of children tervention, it is important to let your case resources for EI direct service pro-
with lead poisoning. The General As- manager and therapists know if you have viders, and resources for families/
sembly passed legislation that provides received a positive lead test. It will help caregivers.
automatic early intervention eligibility and them to think about additional ways to • If you need technology (e.g.,
services for children with elevated blood support your child and family. devices, Internet access) to par-
lead levels greater or equal to 5 micro- For more information about lead ticipate in live video visits, you may
grams per deciliter, effective July 2020. poisoning, visit http://www.dph.illinois. consider:
Now, Illinois children with lead gov/topics-services/environmental- — Technology for LVV
exposure are able to access early inter- health-protection/lead-poisoning-preven- This tip sheet provides resources
vention services with or without signs tion/families-of-lead-exposed-children for accessing technology and
of delay. Early intervention services and For more information about the Internet access for LVV.
supports will help a child with lead poi- benefits of early intervention for children — EIC Technology Loan Program
soning to learn and hopefully overcome with lead exposure watch these videos: The EI Clearinghouse is loaning
any damage from their exposure during a • Understanding the Neurocognitive Ef- technology (i.e., iPads with data
critical period of brain development. fects of Low-Level Lead Poisoning, June 2019 plans, iPads with WiFi, and WiFi
• The Benefits of Early Intervention for hotspots) to families/caregivers
How Do You Identify Lead Children Who Have Been Lead Exposed, April for free.
Poisoning? 2019 (Spanish) There is a workgroup composed
COVID-19 has made it harder to Dr. Nicole Hamp, M.D., is a developmen- of relevant stakeholders (including
identify children with lead poisoning tal behavioral pediatric fellow at the University families and providers) addressing EI
because many families have been unable of Michigan. She also serves as an Early Child- needs during COVID-19. For weekly
or unwilling to bring their child into doc- hood Champion to the state of Michigan for the updates about the workgroup, see
tor’s offices for visits. Simultaneously, American Academy of Pediatrics. COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Information and
increased time indoors because of the Amy Zimmerman, J.D., is a member of Resources.
pandemic may lead to increased lead ex- the Illinois Interagency Council on Early Inter- We will continue to update you
posure. vention, a board member at the National Center about changes to the EI program.
The only way to determine if your for Healthy Housing and the assistant vice presi- If you have questions, comments, or
child has lead poisoning is to have a dent for state government affairs at the Jewish concerns, please reach out to Meghan
blood lead test. United Fund. Burke (meghanbm@illinois.edu).
2Everyday Early Intervention: Outdoor Fun
Outdoor play can be great for working on early intervention outcomes. Positive interactions
between you and your child are key to supporting your child’s development. Here are some fun
ideas to do with your child, using only materials you might find around your house.
Notice the Practice Walking on Say Hello! Have a Snack Picnic
Outdoors Different Surfaces If you see a neighbor on When you go to the
Go on a walk with your Try going up and down your walk outside, show park, you can stop for
infant or toddler. Talk stairs. Hold on to the your child how to say a snack break! Toddlers
about what you see railing! Try walking “hello.” There are many love finger food like
and hear outside. What up and down ramps, ways to connect with Cheerios and cheese
do you notice – bugs, balancing, and working others, such as waving, cubes. While your child
leaves, clouds, trees? on gross motor skills. saying hi or hello, and uses their fingers to pick
Your child is developing What about on snow, even using your AAC up their snack, they are
their vocabulary and grass, leaves, or gravel? device. All of these working on improving
language skills! Cheer your child on! are ways to practice fine motor control.
social skills in your
community.
For more information, visit the Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse at https://eiclearinghouse.org
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Early Intervention.
Illinois Early Intervention Clearinghouse
Illinois Early Childhood Collective
Funded by the Illinois Early University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Human Services Children’s Research Center
Bureau of Early Intervention Intervention 51 Gerty Dr. • Champaign, IL 61820-7469
3/21 Clearinghouse Telephone: (217) 333-1386 • Toll-free: (877) 275-3227
E-mail: Illinois-eic@illinois.eduGreat eBooks for Family Fun
Screen-Free Fun: 400 Kitchen Science Lab for
Activities for the Whole Kids: 52 Family Friendly
Family Experiments from the
Shannon Philpott-Sanders Pantry
Adams Media, 2018 Liz Lee Heinecke
Quarry Books, 2014
The Book of Gardening
Projects for Kids: 101 The Grandparents Handbook
Ways to Get Kids Outside, Elizabeth Laban
Dirty, and Having Fun Quirk Books, 2010
Whitney Cohen and John
Fisher Everyday Play: Fun Games
Timber Press, 2012 to Develop the Fine Motor
Skills Your Child Needs for
Game On! Screen-Free Fun School
for Children Two and Up Christy Isbell
Linda Armstrong Gryphon House, 2010
Redleaf Press, 2018
The Toddler Bistro: Toddler-Approved Recipes
The 52 New Foods Challenge: and Expert Nutrition Advice
A Family Cooking Adventure Christina Schmidt
for Each Week of the Year, Bull, 2009
with 150 Recipes
Jennifer Tyler Lee 365 Toddler Activities
Penguin, 2014 That Inspire Creativity:
Games, Projects, and
Project Kid: 100 Ingenious Pastimes That Encourage
Crafts for Family Fun a Child’s Learning and
Amanda Kingloff Imagination
Artisan, 2014 Joni Levine
F+W Media, 2012
Teach Your Child Meditation:
70 Fun & Easy Ways to Help
Kids De-Stress and Chill Out
Lisa Roberts eBooks Are Here!
Sterling, 2018 You can now check out and
download eBooks instantly, using
Talking with Your Toddler: the cloudLibrary or Overdrive app
75 Fun Activities and on most devices. For more
detailed instructions, visit
Interactive Games that eiclearinghouse.org/resources/
Teach Your Child to Talk library/ebooks/ or click on one
Teresa and Laura Laikko of the icons on the right.
Ulysses Press, 2016
3Addressing Lead Poisoning Prompts Paradigm Shift in EI
By Pamela Epley year pilot program. We continue to assess clude working memory, flexible thinking
Until recently, strategies to address children’s development annually after and problem solving, and self-control.
childhood lead poisoning have focused they have turned 3. We’ve already learned When EI providers work with fami-
on prevention and a “wait and see” ap- from the experiences of children and lies on how these skills can be intention-
proach to services. Prevention initiatives families as well as their EI providers and ally supported through daily activities,
include eliminating sources of lead ex- service coordinators. We hope to learn we take advantage of the explosive brain
posure and decreasing the lead level in more about longer-term benefits of EI development during the first three years
children’s blood. services for children with lead poisoning. to eliminate or minimize effects of lead
The “wait and see” approach refers Perhaps the most important thing poisoning.
to special education services provided af- we’ve learned is that serving children with This three-prong approach to lead
ter a child demonstrates challenges or dif- lead poisoning requires a paradigm shift poisoning—preventing exposure to lead,
ficulties in school and receives a diagnosis in how we think about EI. Before the proactively supporting the skills and abili-
of development delay or disability. While General Assembly passed legislation pro- ties often impacted by lead exposure dur-
prevention and special education are im- viding automatic eligibility to receive EI ing children’s earliest years, and providing
portant in addressing this environmental services for all children with lead poison- special education supports to school-age
health hazard, they are not sufficient. ing, services had been limited to children children as needed—provides our best
During the summer of 2019, the with a 30% or greater developmental chance of helping every child reach their
state Bureau of Early Intervention part- delay or established medical condition fullest potential..
nered with Erikson Institute and Legal that put them at substantive risk for later For more information on best prac-
Council for Health Justice on a pilot delay. tices for working with children with el-
program that made children with elevated For children demonstrating a delay, evated blood lead levels, visit Best Practices
blood lead levels automatically eligible for EI providers focus on supporting those for Working with Young Children with Elevated
early intervention (EI) services in three area(s) of development and reducing or Blood Lead Levels.
areas (Rockford, Cicero-Berwyn, and part eliminating the delay. For children with Pamela Epley, Ph.D., is a clinical professor
of Chicago). The pilot program included an established medical condition, EI and director of special education at the Erikson
• training service coordinators and providers monitor their development and Institute.
EI providers on the common sources implement direct services when a delay
and effects of lead poisoning, becomes apparent.
• sharing information and resources This approach is insufficient to sup- Illinois Early Intervention
regarding lead poisoning with families, port children with lead poisoning. We Clearinghouse
and must do more than respond to children’s
• providing appropriate services developmental challenges after they arise. Early Childhood Collective
when children are demonstrating little to We must proactively support areas of College of Education
no developmental delay. development we know will likely be im- University of Illinois at Urbana-
We are halfway through the three- pacted by lead poisoning. Such areas in- Champaign
Children’s Research Center
51 Gerty Drive
State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) Update Champaign, IL 61820-7469
We are preparing the report on our activities for the federal Office of Special Phone: 877-275-3227 (in Illinois)
Education Programs. It will be submitted no later than April 1.
We are sharing information about our efforts to improve family engagement. Principal investigator: Meghan
Information about the impact of professional development and local support on prac- Burke
tices is also included. Contributors: Sarah Isaacs,
Leadership teams continue to support providers’ shift in service delivery. These Natalie Danner, Jill Tompkins,
teams also have begun piloting a tool to help us understand how families are being & Meghan Burke
supported. We remain hopeful that the strategies being used are helping families during
Opinions expressed in Early
these challenging times!
Intervention are the responsibility of
the author and are not necessarily
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Human Services or the University
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