Building Early Intervention Teams

From The Critics

Reviewer: Elizabeth Burroughs, PhD(Bowling Green State University)
Description: This book is the most recent volume in the Excellence in Practice series edited by Katharine Butler, a well-known series highly respected as a valuable resource for practicing clinicians in speech-language pathology. This volume focuses on the challenging issue of working effectively in early intervention teams.
Purpose: It is intended as a practical guide for building strong and effective early intervention teams. Contemporary practice in early intervention is built solidly upon a team approach. Professionals need a thorough understanding of principles and practices relevant to teams. The author indicates that she is attempting to help professionals in the field of early intervention "establish, maintain or grow their teams." She covers much of the theory underlying teamwork. However, her focus is primarily directly practical.
Audience: The book is intended for members of early intervention teams, administrators, speech-language pathologists striving to create teams, and for members of allied professions. It may also be useful for members of teams working outside of early intervention.
Features: The material is presented in a very interesting manner. Dr. Briggs has included a number of quotations that stimulate a type of thinking and reflection that is not commonly associated with this sort of volume. In addition she has included several clinical vignettes and case studies that illustrate well her main points. She also presents many tables that are extremely clear and that provide excellent summaries of the information in he text. Finally, the book contains several activities that may be completed by the reader or by entire teams.
Assessment: Dr. Briggs' book would be an extremely valuable resource for professionals who work in teams. Although the book is designed to specifically address work in early intervention, it would likely also be a great resource for those working in teams with other populations.

Elizabeth Burroughs

This book is the most recent volume in the Excellence in Practice series edited by Katharine Butler, a well-known series highly respected as a valuable resource for practicing clinicians in speech-language pathology. This volume focuses on the challenging issue of working effectively in early intervention teams. It is intended as a practical guide for building strong and effective early intervention teams. Contemporary practice in early intervention is built solidly upon a team approach. Professionals need a thorough understanding of principles and practices relevant to teams. The author indicates that she is attempting to help professionals in the field of early intervention "establish, maintain or grow their teams." She covers much of the theory underlying teamwork. However, her focus is primarily directly practical. The book is intended for members of early intervention teams, administrators, speech-language pathologists striving to create teams, and for members of allied professions. It may also be useful for members of teams working outside of early intervention. The material is presented in a very interesting manner. Dr. Briggs has included a number of quotations that stimulate a type of thinking and reflection that is not commonly associated with this sort of volume. In addition she has included several clinical vignettes and case studies that illustrate well her main points. She also presents many tables that are extremely clear and that provide excellent summaries of the information in he text. Finally, the book contains several activities that may be completed by the reader or by entire teams. Dr. Briggs' book would be an extremely valuable resource for professionalswho work in teams. Although the book is designed to specifically address work in early intervention, it would likely also be a great resource for those working in teams with other populations.

4 Stars! from Doody