If this is your first encounter with this four letter acronym, then you may be wondering exactly what is an IFSP and what will happen at your child's meeting. IFSP stands for "Individual Family Service Plan." It is a written document that states the services that will be provided to your child, how often, and by whom. This plan will also discuss your child's current level in language, learning, social (i.e. how he/she interacts with others), and adaptive development (i.e. how the child adapts to his/her environment and situations).
Definition of an IFSP:
The IFSP has a unique quality. The IFSP not only focuses on the child, but also on the child's family. This plan looks at the family's resources, wants, and concerns for the child. The service provider(s) will address these topics with the family and incorporate it into the child's Individual Family Service Plan so that they can work together to improve the child's development.
Your next question may be, what happens at the IFSP meeting? At your child's first IFSP meeting, the child's performance on the functional assessment (assess language, learning, social, and adaptive skills) will be shared with you. The following individuals may be present to share this information with you: home intervention teacher (ages birth to 3), speech language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, etc (it depends on the services that your child may need). These individuals and your family make up your child's IFSP team.
What Does The IFSP Team Do?
The IFSP team will work together to develop a plan to identify which services will be provided to your infant or toddler. It is also a time for parents to convey their observations and discuss concerns that they may have in connection with their child's progress. The IFSP team will address your concerns as a parent as well as help provide additional information in regards to techniques, activities or skills that you can provide.
Once the IFSP team is assembled, the team will work together to meet your family's specific needs (click to visit the next part of this article).
