Our Mission
FIRST WORDS Project is a model early identification and intervention program based in the Department of Communication Disorders at Florida State University. Staffed by speech-language pathologists and interdisciplinary consultants, we are funded to evaluate the communication development of children from 6 to 24 months of age in Leon County. For children who are delayed in communication development, we offer families a menu of service options. Services are offered at no cost to families or service providers, based on availability of grant funds. In addition to services provided in Leon County, we are developing educational materials for training of healthcare and childcare providers to build their capacities for earlier detection of communication problems in young children.
The goals of FIRST WORDS project are:
- to demonstrate the effectiveness of our early identification and intervention program in Leon and surrounding rural counties;
- to provide educational materials and technical support to increase referrals made by healthcare and child care providers for communication evaluations of children under the age of 2 years; and
- to provide educational materials and technical support to increase the capacity of families and service providers to enhance early communication in young children. The service delivery model of FIRST WORDS Project is based on principles of family-centered practice.
We incorporate family-centered principles by:
- starting with family members' own perceptions of their child's strengths and needs; respecting family members' priorities and preferences;
- planning for active participation of family members in assessment and intervention; building consensus on expectations and goals for their child; and
- sharing decision-making to build the family's capacity to support their child's development.