Questions about your child’s development?

Are you are wondering about your infant or young child’s development? The Golden Birth to Six Team provides Early Intervention Services for your child and support for parents. The Birth to Six Team is a member of the Golden Early Childhood Development Coalition – which acts as an umbrella network of quality programs and services in Golden and our rural communities - based on our growing understanding of just how important the early years are for children’s growth in social, emotional, cognitive, behavioural, physical, and communication skills. Contact the following community helping professionals if you would like to learn more about your infant or young child’s development:

Services Available:

Public Health Nursing:

Anne Hooper-Johnston:

Phone: 250-344-7555

- Information and support through pregnancy.

- Health and developmental monitoring and support to newborn, infants, and families.

- Ages and Stages Parent Completed Developmental Questionnaires to 18 months.

- Assists in accessing community resources and programs.

- Immunization (infants through school age).

- Communicable disease information and follow-up.

Pediatrician:

Dr. Robert Wilson:

Phone: 250-344-2211

Infant Development

Program:

A program of the Golden

Family Center.

Contact: Rhonda Smith

Phone: 250-344-2000

- Serves children from birth to 3 years old.

- “Family-centered” – parents decide on what kind of support needed.

- Ages and Stages Parent Completed Questionnaires from 18 months to 5 years (including Social-Emotional Development).

- More in depth developmental assessments and written reports.

- Assess the following areas: large and small muscle development; personal-social; social emotional; behavioural; language; and intellectual development.

- Parent and Tot Program in partnership with the Town of Golden, Wednesday mornings from 10:30 to noon at the Civic Center.

- Therapy consultation.

- Service co-ordination.

- Provides resources (specialized toys, parent resource books and information).

As a parent, you may contact the Infant Development Program directly, or you may consent to a referral on recommendation by your doctor, pediatrician, public health nurse or other community professional.

Speech and Language Pathologist:

Tom Coe, Speech

and Language Pathologist:

Phone: 250-344-7555

- identify, assess children with communication difficulties.

- assess, plan, and provide intervention in language (understanding and expressing), pre-literacy, speech, articulation, voice, fluency, swallowing disorders, hearing loss related language/speech deficit, respiratory co-ordination.

- Help parents, childcare providers, and other professionals understand and help a child’s communication skills grow through specific training and education.

Physiotherapy:

Kim Meggison

Contact Golden Infant Development Program for referral process:

- Promote child’s physical activities and motor milestones such as sitting, crawling, standing, walking, and playing ball.

- Assess, plan and provide intervention with joint problems, balance, postural reactions, muscle tone and strength; range of motion, body awareness and posture.

- Assess the need for specialized equipment, i.e. wheelchairs, walking aids, standing frames, splints.

Occupational Therapy:

Sandra Jones:

Phone: 250-344-5271

- Assess and provide intervention for fine motor co-ordination (hands/fingers), sensory processing, self regulation, school readiness, and self help skills such as dressing for feeding.

- Assess for adaptive equipment and splinting needs.

Supported Child

Development Program:

Leslie Hein:

Phone: 250-344-6322

- Provides a Support Worker so the child can successfully participate in child care setting, i.e. pre-school, day care.

- Provides developmental intervention and support to child care providers.

- Assists parents in finding appropriate settings for children.

- Liaison with other professionals and agencies.

- Helps with transition from pre-school to Kindergarten.

- Regional resource library.

Child (and Adult)

Cousellors:

Golden Family Center:

Phone: 250-344-2000

- Counselling and therapy for children who have:

- Experienced physical, emotional, and/or sexual abuse.

- Social and emotional difficulties.

- Challenging behaviour.

- Experiences separation and loss.

- Witnessed abuse.

- Experienced trauma.

- Use of art and play therapy.

- Consultation with family, professionals and community services.

Other Programs/Services:

- Child and Youth Mental Health.

- Ministry for Children and Family Development.

- At Home Program.

- Hearing and Audiology Clinic - Cranbrook.

- Nutrition and Dental – East Kootenay Health Unit - Cranbrook: 1-888-426-7566.

- Complex Behaviour Clinic – Kelowna.

- Alberta Children’s Hospital – Calgary.

- Child Care Resource and Referral: 250-344-4996 – For more information about Group Programs and Child Care Settings.

Who can refer?

- Referrals can come from any source

- Parent/guardian

- Friend/relative/caregiver

- Child care provider/ pre-school

- Doctor/nurse

- Community professional

Parents’/families’ participation is voluntary and information shared is confidential. Parental consent is provided to participate in the program.

Submitted by Rhonda Smith,

B.A. (with distinction), Faculty of Human and Social Development

School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, B.C., 2001