Authentic, routines-based methods for program planning and progress
monitoring during intervention visits
Interventionists observe the child in his/her routine activities, and
interview family members and other important adults, to gain an understanding of
each child's unique developmental profile as the child functions in his/her
natural environment. Data include the child's strengths, needs, and learning
characteristics within the context of everyday life, as well as the
developmental impact of the social and physical environment. This authentic
picture provides data for identifying individualized approaches that fit the
child, his/her family, and the routine activities in which the child
participates.
What are Routine Activities?
Routine activities are essentially what the child does during the day.
Routine activities are where the child lives, learns, and
grows. For some families, routine activities are very structured and
comprised of specifically defined activities occurring at certain times of the
day. For other families, most of the day is comprised of “hang out” time,
unstructured and casual. And a lot of families are somewhere in between.
Routine activities might not be “activities” and might not be
“routine”: While many routine activities are similar across families,
the way those routine activities occur are individual to each family. And, each
family decides for themselves whether a certain routine activity is an
opportunity for their child to learn, and therefore a time for intervention.
Interventionists identify the routine activities individual to each
family, and determine how each particular family engages in a particular routine
activity. Routine activities are the places, times, occurrences in
which child outcomes are addressed.
Routine activities can* include:
| Home |
Child care |
Community |
| Playing with toys |
Playing with peers |
Going for a walk |
| Eating |
Eating |
Playing in the park |
| Taking a bath |
Playing outside |
Shopping |
| Reading stories |
Putting on/taking off coat or jacket |
Listening to a story at the library |
| Feeding a pet |
Engaging in messy play |
Riding the bus/subway |
| Getting dressed |
Changing diapers |
Swimming at the JCC |
| Playing with other children in the building |
Saying goodbye/hello at drop off/pick up |
Hanging out at the barber shop/beauty salon |
*REMINDER: It’s the family who identifies the
routine activities important for embedding interventions. Also note that routine
activities are not places, but activities within places.
