Resources for Supporting Young Children with Disabilities
STAR NET Region II and VI Resource List
Our Resource List is organized into categories and cross-categorized to serve both families and professionals.
Categories include:
The Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities (ICDD) was created under a federal mandate in 1974 as an amendment to the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act), and is administered by the federal Administration of Developmental Disabilities. ICDD works to promote the independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion of those with disabilities into the community, ensuring that those individuals with developmental disabilities have the same opportunities as others in the community. Moreover, the purpose of ICDD is to ensure that people with developmental disabilities participate and be included in everyday life, and be able to choose the services and supports that best fit their needs. To accomplish this, ICDD makes investments in people and organizations that serve people with disabilities throughout the State of Illinois.
Educating the public about the importance of early intervention and early childhood special education services for eligible children as early as possible in their development, the Child Find Project develops and disseminates informational education materials, and resource and service information to Illinois school districts, early intervention providers, health care providers, families, child care providers, educators, families and the general public.
The Early Intervention Toolkit includes a number of tools and resources for medical providers and families on developmental screening, the EI referral process, and more.
Illinois Cares for Kids is a place where Illinois families can go to find resources, programs, and assistance for their children based on their age.
Illinois AEYC advances high quality learning for all children birth through age 8 by promoting practice, policy and research to support all families and professionals.
IATP promotes the availability of assistive technology services and programs for Illinois residents with disabilities and/or health conditions. IATP focuses on education, employment, community living, information technology and telecommunications. Their goal is to improve the quality of life of all Illinoisans with disabilities and enable them through greater access to assistive technology devices to fully participate in all aspects of life.
IATP provides free information and assistance on assistive technology and other related disability and aging topics, including seeing and trying devices, recycling and reusing devices, and provides training on AT and Information and Communication Technology Accessibility.
Transforming Children’s Lives Through Child Care and Early Learning Opportunities
We connect families to excellent early childhood programs, advocate for supportive policies, and engage communities across Illinois so that every child can have the strong foundation they need to thrive.
HLAA is a nationwide community of support bringing education, advocacy, hope and empowerment to the growing number of people with, and at risk of, hearing loss. Local HLAA chapters are listed on the website.
The Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF) Effective Practice Guides provide information about domain-specific teaching practices that support children’s development. The guides show what these practices look like in early learning settings, and assist early learning professionals to work with families to provide experiences that support the child’s development and learning, engage in responsive interactions, and use the home as the learning environment.
This collection provides information about key features of early childhood curricula. All are identified in the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS). and include Research-Based Curriculum, Curriculum Scope and Sequence, Supporting Staff to Effectively Implement Curricula, Curriculum Alignment with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF), Standardized Training Procedures and Curriculum Materials to Support Implementation.
Looking for Pre-Recorded Videos?
STAR NET Region II and VI recorded webinar library.
Both Parents and Professionals will find videos on useful topics, such as Inclusion, Transitioning from EI to ECSE and more!
PLEASE NOTE: STAR NET Region II and VI is unable to award CEs for watching these recordings.