Provides services to children and adults with disabilities. Services include developmental screening; physical, speech, and vocational rehabilitation programs; and family support. Also includes direct intervention in the areas of language, socialization, cognitive, motor and self-help with emphasis on parent training. Trains NAU students in practicum settings. Conducts research on problems of people with disabilities.

Northern Arizona University Institute for Human Development | Northern Arizona University Institute for Human Development

Programs that offer a procedure that is designed to identify children who should receive more intensive assessment or diagnosis for potential developmental delays. Screening tools can be specific to a disorder (e.g., autism), an area (e.g., cognitive development, language, or gross motor skills), or they may be general, encompassing multiple areas of concern; and rely heavily on parent observation. They do not provide conclusive evidence of developmental delays and do not result in diagnoses. A positive screening result should be followed by a thorough assessment. The goal of developmental screening is to allow for earlier detection of delays in order to improve child health and well-being for identified children.

Pediatric Developmental Screening

Programs that are designed to help patients who have autism or another disability or have been disabled by a stroke, heart attack, arthritis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, hip replacements or other surgeries, a chronic disease or other illnesses or injuries to restore or reinforce fine motor and other performance skills that are essential for activities of daily living. Therapy may include tasks to strengthen weak muscles and improve such skills as coordination, visual perception, body mechanics, equilibrium and endurance for standing and sitting. Practitioners helping people with autism may adjust tasks and conditions to match their needs and abilities which may include adapting the environment to minimize external distractions, finding specially designed computer software that facilitates communication, or identifying skills they need to accomplish tasks.

Disability/Rehabilitation Related Occupational Therapy

Programs that conduct research which focuses on ethnicity, ethnic groups, intergroup relations and the cultural life of ethnic minorities. Research in this area addresses a wide variety of topics including immigration and immigrant adjustment, Native Peoples, race and race relations, attitudes towards diverse cultures, minority group conflicts, and cultural diversity policies.

Diversity and Ethnic Studies

Programs that enable individuals with disabilities, people who abuse drugs or alcohol, or people who have emotional problems to obtain the training and employment experiences they need to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Services may include vocational evaluation, work adjustment, work experience, training in marketable skills and placement in competitive employment or a sheltered work environment.

Vocational Rehabilitation

Programs that evaluate joint motion, muscle strength and endurance, heart and lung function and the ability of people to perform activities of daily living; and utilize the therapeutic properties of exercise, heat, cold, electricity, ultraviolet, water, manipulation and massage to improve circulation, strengthen muscles, reduce pain and restore mobility to people who have been disabled by a stroke, arthritis, back or spinal cord injuries or other debilitating conditions. Physical therapists practice in a variety of settings including hospitals, private offices, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers, developmental centers, home health agencies, schools and pediatric centers.

Physical Therapy

Programs that evaluate the skills of children who are having difficulty with the practical and social skills necessary for everyday life and provide therapy whose objective is to help them become as physically, psychologically and socially independent as possible. Occupational therapy is provided for children when there is a disruption in one or more of the following areas:  gross motor skills, fine motor skills, cognitive-perceptual skills, sensory motor integration, visual motor skills, motor planning skills, play skills, socio-emotional skills and/or activities of daily living (self-care skills such as dressing, eating and personal hygiene). Included are programs for children with birth injuries, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and a wide range of other conditions.

Pediatric Occupational Therapy

Programs that offer individual or group therapy sessions which focus on the remediation of specific articulation problems in which speech sounds are omitted, replaced by substitute sounds or distorted; voice problems in which pitch, loudness or quality of voice is affected; or stuttering.

Speech Therapy

Provides home visitation program for pregnant women and families with newborns. The goal is to promote child development and school readiness, enhance parent-child relationships, and increase self-sufficiency. Program is voluntary.

Southwest Human Development HEALTHY FAMILIES | Southwest Human Development HEALTHY FAMILIES

Programs that promote pre-literacy and language development skills in children from birth to age five with the objective of preparing them to read. Program activities are both educational and social and focus on helping participants develop oral language skills, expand their vocabulary, develop the concept of a word, have exposure to printed words and connect them to stories, develop phonological and phoneme awareness (sounds associated with letters and words), and recognize letters of the alphabet and connect them to words. Specific activities that promote early literacy development include reading aloud, summarizing stories read, conversations and dialogue, learning new words, exposure to books, rhyming and singing, imitating sounds, identifying syllables, writing and naming letters, attaching sounds to letters, and recognizing words. Counting and elementary math may also be incorporated. Programs may be formal or informal, and may include parent participation. Classes are often held at schools, churches, libraries and community recreation centers.

Early Literacy Development Programs

Programs that provide educational and supportive services that help new parents or those expecting a child, to prepare them on an emotional and practical level for the impact the newborn will have on their lives and relationships. The programs are open to all parents. Initial focus areas include healthy eating for the mother, danger signs in pregnancy, sibling preparation and being ready for labor and delivery, followed by practical information on basic infant care, newborn behaviors, baby supplies, bathing techniques, diapering, breastfeeding and other feeding options, as well as infant and childhood illnesses. Later topics may include walking, talking, toilet training and other aspects of child development, all to help ensure that infants and toddlers are nurtured, live in a safe environment and receive proper health care.

General Expectant/New Parent Assistance

Programs that provide educational and supportive services that help teens who are or are about to become parents, to prepare them on an emotional and practical level for the impact the newborn will have on their lives and relationships. Initial focus areas include healthy eating for the mother, danger signs in pregnancy, sibling preparation and being ready for labor and delivery, followed by practical information on basic infant care, newborn behaviors, baby supplies, bathing techniques, diapering, breastfeeding and other feeding options, as well as infant and childhood illnesses. Later topics may include walking, talking, toilet training and other aspects of child development, all to help ensure that infants and toddlers are nurtured, live in a safe environment and receive proper health care.

Teen Expectant/New Parent Assistance

Programs that visit the homes of parents who want to acquire the knowledge and skills to be effective in their parenting role and provide parenting education services in the family setting. The programs may focus on teen parents; parents who need to develop skills to handle a difficult child; families who want to learn school-readiness activities to share with their child; individuals for whom parenting is a new experience; families at risk for child abuse, neglect or out-of-home placement; or others who have issues that are most effectively resolved in the home environment.