Pediatric Occupational Therapy and Early Intervention

From The Critics

Reviewer: Mary C. Lawlor, ScD, OTR/L, FAOTA(Univ of Illinois at Chicago Coll of Associated Health Professions)
Description: The book addresses several major topics in early intervention: family-centered services, screening, assessment, service delivery, emotional development, sensory processing, play, feeding, parent-child interactions, sensory integration, and assistive technology.
Purpose: This book was written to provide guidelines and strategies for occupational therapists who work in early intervention. The topics covered are relevant. However, greater emphasis on family involvement in the early intervention process, public policy and legislature influences, educational programming, evaluation of treatment effectiveness, inclusion, transitions, and interdisciplinary processes would have been beneficial.
Audience: According to the author, the book was written to address the needs of occupational therapists who work in early intervention. I believe much of the book is written at a very basic level and would not be beneficial to practicing clinicians.
Features: Although the book's features are generally adequate, the appropriateness and completeness of references is quite uneven. For example, several tables do not include needed references. There are a number of instances in the text in which materials are not referenced or the use of certain authors to support statements is questionable.
Assessment: The topic is important and there is a need for resources for occupational therapists in early intervention. The chapters by Glass and Wolf, Holloway, Burke, and Sahler are well written, summarize current scholarship in the field, and provide useful information. In general, much of the other materials are written at too basic a level, are inadequately referenced, contain some conceptual problems, and do not adequately represent "best practices." Several of the contributor(s) appear to struggle with achieving a balance between descriptions of normal development and discussing abnormal or delayed developmental patterns. The author tends to provide strategies that are prescriptive and that oversimplify the complexities of practice. Although there are many references to family-centered models of services, I believe that the language used and limited conceptualization of this model inadequately represent the philosophical basis for this model. The contributors have attempted to provide resources in a very challenging and constantly evolving field and should be commended for their efforts. However, I am unable to recommend this book.

Susan Andersen

This book presents the philosophy and principles of the family-centered approach for occupational therapists working with young children and their families. These principles are applied to specific challenges encountered in clinical practice in areas such as the neonatal intensive care unit, feeding and oral motor skills, and the assessment of play, motor control, and sensory processing. The editor proposes to combine the best practice models, current research, and experience of expert clinicians to provide recommendations to practitioners in the form of principles, strategies, and illustrations. This is a commendable objective. The theoretically diverse and ever-evolving field of pediatric therapy can prove baffling to the new therapist or to the experienced therapist attempting to incorporate current trends. This book is clearly targeted toward the practicing therapist. The emphasis on the family-centered approach will be immediately relevant to all early intervention pediatric therapists, who are mandated by law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) to incorporate family-centered care in their therapy. The editor has co-edited a major pediatric occupational therapy text, currently in its third edition, and is a highly-respected authority in the field. Illustrations in this book, particularly photographs of therapy sessions, are not plentiful, but are informative. The many tables in the book are its most outstanding feature. Their presentation, synthesis, and organization of information provide a valuable resource for the busy clinic therapist. This book admirably accomplishes its mission to provide authoritative guidelines for model practice in early intervention settings.Therapists will find the trends and approaches discussed relevant to their daily practice and focused on the challenges they most frequently encounter. This book is highly recommended as a complement to a traditional comprehensive text for those wishing to begin or renew their practice in pediatric occupational therapy.

Mary C. Lawlor

The book addresses several major topics in early intervention: family-centered services, screening, assessment, service delivery, emotional development, sensory processing, play, feeding, parent-child interactions, sensory integration, and assistive technology. This book was written to provide guidelines and strategies for occupational therapists who work in early intervention. The topics covered are relevant. However, greater emphasis on family involvement in the early intervention process, public policy and legislature influences, educational programming, evaluation of treatment effectiveness, inclusion, transitions, and interdisciplinary processes would have been beneficial. According to the author, the book was written to address the needs of occupational therapists who work in early intervention. I believe much of the book is written at a very basic level and would not be beneficial to practicing clinicians. Although the book's features are generally adequate, the appropriateness and completeness of references is quite uneven. For example, several tables do not include needed references. There are a number of instances in the text in which materials are not referenced or the use of certain authors to support statements is questionable. The topic is important and there is a need for resources for occupational therapists in early intervention. The chapters by Glass and Wolf, Holloway, Burke, and Sahler are well written, summarize current scholarship in the field, and provide useful information. In general, much of the other materials are written at too basic a level, are inadequately referenced, contain some conceptual problems, and do not adequately represent "best practices."Several of the contributor(s) appear to struggle with achieving a balance between descriptions of normal development and discussing abnormal or delayed developmental patterns. The author tends to provide strategies that are prescriptive and that oversimplify the complexities of practice. Although there are many references to family-centered models of services, I believe that the language used and limited conceptualization of this model inadequately represent the philosophical basis for this model. The contributors have attempted to provide resources in a very challenging and constantly evolving field and should be commended for their efforts. However, I am unable to recommend this book.

Booknews

Specialist clinicians define and explain occupational therapy for young children and their families, combining best-practice models, current research, and their own experience. They outline principles, define therapeutic approaches, describe strategies, and provide illustrations of infants and their families. Includes a glossary without pronunciation. No date is noted for the first edition. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

A practical guide for therapists who provide services to young children and their families. The volume is divided into two parts: Part I defines the early intervention process and Part II provides specific information about occupational therapy interventions related to the developmental problems incurred in young children. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

2 Stars from Doody