Ruby Batz, Ph.D., assistant professor of special education in the College of Education & Human Development, received two prestigious grants to explore and expand the literature regarding early intervention services.

The first award is the Racial Equity Grant from the Spencer Foundation for $75,000. The research consists of a multi-pronged comparative multiple case study, including Spanish-speaking parents with young children with disabilities receiving Early Intervention (EI) services from the Nevada Early Intervention Services system and their providers. With this grant, they seek to understand the experiences of Spanish-speaking families with young children with disabilities receiving early intervention services in Nevada.

Batz spoke to the aims of this research, “our goal is to support institutes of higher education in critically preparing EI providers to serve Spanish-speaking families, support EI agencies to equip their providers to serve this population, and support individual practitioners in serving this population.”

The racialization of language impacts perceptions of Latinx children’s abilities, and the racialization of ​​disability affects the way these children experience disproportionate special education trajectories. This double bind produces material and social inequalities for emergent bilingual children with disabilities and their families.

This grant also supports graduate student Valeria Savage, who is working on the project.

The second grant, Addressing Structural Disparities for Children with Early Communications Disorders (ASCEND), with a subaward for $287,760, is the oldest and the most prestigious grant awarded to independent research investigators that the National Institutes of Health funds. It is a large multi-state and transdisciplinary team that includes pediatricians, speech-language pathologists, early interventionists and data scientists. The study is leveraging a mixed-methods model to develop a comprehensive, multi-state analysis of the sources of structural racism and discrimination in EI with a specific focus on early communication disorder care.

Batz remarked, “The research seeks to increase equitable access to EI by identifying structural disparities in EI access and service provision. We also seek to develop feasible, evidence-driven practice and policy recommendations for EI agencies at the national level.”

The team will engage stakeholders, including parents, early intervention providers and primary care physicians, to detect and understand these disparities and develop feasible, evidence-based practice and policy recommendations. They hope this research will level the playing field for all children and families enrolled in EI services, improving health outcomes and overall quality of life. Early intervention efforts must be inclusive of all families and their needs.

Batz is the primary investigator for the University’s subaward. Chloe Yocom and Yajaira Benitez are the graduate student researchers on this project.

"Dr. Batz's research is innovative and has the potential to positively influence the development and outcomes of young children from diverse backgrounds at the local and national level," Lindsay Diamond, Ph.D., department chair of Educator Preparation and associate professor of special education said.