 Families are the Foundation of Wisconsin's Birth to 3
Program
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Natural Environments
As you identify outcomes, strategies, supports and early
intervention services, you and the other members of the IFSP team will discuss the
settings in which those services and supports will be provided. In determining the
appropriate settings for services, it will be important for the IFSP team to consider your
child’s needs in the context of your family’s typical routines. The team will
help you to determine how early intervention services will fit most naturally into your
family’s routines, lifestyle and activity preferences.
The team discusses the places where your child and family currently spend time. For
example, your child may be at a child-care provider during the day, attending a local
playgroup, or at home with a parent or other caregiver. The team looks at ways in which
your child’s development can be encouraged in everyday activities and places where
your child is already present. You and your service coordinator may also discuss other
settings in which you’d like to see your child participate. These everyday home and
community settings are called natural environments.
For each child, the natural environment may be a different
setting. It is important that your child develops new skills in the settings where he or
she will use them. It is also helpful to your child’s development to be with children
who have a variety of abilities. This gives children a chance to learn from other
children, care providers, parents, and brothers and sisters, in addition to early
intervention professionals. Early intervention services are provided in natural
environments, unless there is a reason your child will not be able to achieve the outcomes
the team has identified in those settings. These exceptions will be rare.
 Early intervention services are to be provided in
natural environments, which include the home and community settings where children without
disabilities participate, unless your child's outcomes cannot be satisfactorily achieved
in natural environments Ch.
DHS 90
(exit DHS) |
Natural Environments (cont.) 
Last Revised: March 24, 2009 |
