Contact: Maridith Geuder
A Mississippi State program is broadening its efforts to provide assistance to area young children with delayed development.
Focusing on infants and toddlers, Project IMPACT is adding several professional services to its established in-home consultation efforts. Provided at no cost through the university's T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability, the early intervention program aids families in Oktibbeha and nine surrounding counties.
IMPACT--Insuring Mississippi Parent's and Children's Tomorrows--is directed by the Martin Center under the auspices of the Mississippi Department of Health's First Steps early intervention program. First Steps is designed to help meet the cognitive, social skills, language, and motor development needs of children under its care.
First Steps-referred children now have access to the center's special education instructor, occupational therapist, and speech and language pathologist. Individualized plans of assistance are provided for each child, regardless of disability.
Other counties served by IMPACT include Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Lowndes, Monroe, Noxubee, Webster, and Winston.
"Our center is unique in its ability to provide a family-centered team approach," said Martin interim director Janie Cirlot-New. "We've even designated a room in the center especially for the children."
Named for a former MSU vice president, the Martin Center was established by the state in 1996 to deliver a range of services to persons of all ages with disabilities severe enough to limit communication, vision, motor skills, or cognitive functions.
"The state program recognizes the importance of matching needs with available professional resources," Cirlot-New said. "Toward that end, our IMPACT team also provides such services as parent and caregiver training, as well as physical and educational therapy."
For more on Project IMPACT, telephone Denise Perkerson or Cirlot-New at (662) 325-1028.