The Matrix Approach

Teachers working in the schools use prepared lesson plans to guide their work with children. But, recommended practices in early intervention (i.e., services for families of children aged birth to 3 years) involve collaborating with families and following their lead. Consider using the Matrix Approach to help you effectively align your early intervention practice with family-centered practices. This page describes how to use this approach including a completed example and a link to a FREE downloadable Session Planning Matrix form.

The Matrix Approach promotes family-centered practices by helping EIVI professionals collaborate with families to:

  • Identify family concerns and priorities
  • Identify daily routines in which priorities can be addressed
  • Identify child strengths and adaptive needs

HOW IS IT IMPLEMENTED?

The Matrix Approach has three phases including Planning, Engagement, and Reflection. Each is described briefly below.

Planning Phase

  • EIVI providers should ask caregivers about their priorities. This could be centered around struggles that they are having in their child’s daily routine (i.e., mealtime, playtime, etc.) or around goals that they would like their child to develop (i.e., self feeding, play with a sibling).  EIVI providers write family concerns down the left column of the matrix and routines across the top row. Caregivers may need help in focusing goals down to manageable steps. For example, if a parent wants their child to feed himself, the professional can help the parent determine what skills would be a next step toward this bigger goal. This mini-step becomes the goal for today’s session with the understanding that this is just one skill toward reaching the larger goal of learning to eat independently.
  • Together the provider and family work to brainstorm strategies to meet family priorities that support the child’s strengths and adaptive needs. These strategies are entered into the matrix as ideas the family can implement throughout their daily routines.
  • Next the family chooses one or two strategies to practice with their child during the early intervention session. In this way, the caregiver leads the focus of the session.

Engagement Phase

  • The EIVI provider encourages the parent carry out the plan that was just discussed by interacting with the child.
  • The EIVI provider observes the parent and child providing coaching and/or modeling as needed.

Reflection Phase

  • The EIVI provider and the parent discuss what worked and what did not as the parent worked with their child making adjustments and notes on the Matrix Form as needed.
  • The EIVI provider and the parent make plans for how the strategies can be integrated into the family routine through the week. This could include extending use of the strategy in other daily routines and/or with other materials. This could also include the need for the parent to teach other caregivers about the strategy and its use.

Click on the following links to download examples of the planning process of the Matrix Approach.  (Example 1, Example 2)

FAMILY-CENTERED…OUTCOME DRIVEN

The Matrix Approach has many benefits. It helps providers follow family priorities rather than teacher-made plans. It promotes collaboration and family input. Collaborative creation of the matrix empowers parents by reinforcing their involvement and using their ideas within daily routines. Families can use the matrix between intervention sessions editing ideas as needed. When other therapists on the early intervention team work from the same matrix, it becomes a tool to promote teaming and collaboration.

GET THE TOOLS

To help you employ this strategy in your early intervention work we have made available

RESEARCH BASE

Ely, M. & Lartz, M. (2019). Building our early childhood training programs on aligned standards of practice. Visual Impairment and Deafblind Quarterly, 64(4), 20-30.

Ely, M. & Ostrosky, M. (2017). Survey results for training and resource needs cited by early intervention professions in the field of visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 111, 225-238. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X1711100604

Ely, M. & Ostrosky, M. (2018). Apply the foundational concepts from early intervention to services provided to young children with visual impairments: A literature review. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 112, 527-542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X1811200302

Ely, M. & Ostrosky, M. (2021). Single case design: Changing practices of early intervention professionals serving children with visual impairments. Early Childhood Education Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-021-01222-0

Ely, M., Ostrosky, M., & Barton, A. (in press). The social validity of using the matrix approach in early intervention with children who are blind or visually impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.

Ely, M., Ostrosky, M., & Burke, M. (2020). Self-Efficacy of providers in early intervention visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 114, 114-126.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X20913138

Hatton, D., Chen, D., Snyder, D., Smyth, C., Greeley, K., Anthony, T., Ely, M., Lind, L., Hillier, L. & Dewald, H. P. (2018). Family-centered practices for infants and young children with visual impairments. Position paper of the Division on Visual Impairments, Council for Exceptional Children. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children. Retrieve at https://community.cec.sped.org/dvi/resourcesportal/positionpapers

Landa-Vialard, O., Ely, M. & Lartz, M. (2018). Early learning visual impairment services training and advancement (EL VISTA) project: Leading the way for a new profession within a profession. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 112, 103-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X1811200110

Ely, M., Gullifor, K., & Hollinshead, T. (2017). Matrix session planning: Family-centered early intervention. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 111(2), 169-174. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X1711100209