The RBI 1

Protocol for the

Routines-Based Interview™

R. A. McWilliam

© 2009

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 2

Introduction

The Routines-Based InterviewTM (RBI) is a semi-structured clinical interview designed to

help families decide on outcomes/goals for their individualized plans, to provide a rich
and thick description of child and family functioning, and to establish an immediately
positive relationship between the family and the professional. Ideally, interviewers are
trained to conduct the RBI. On the other hand, with the use of this protocol, a
professional who is knowledgeable about child development, knowledgeable about
child and family functioning, and who has good interview skills should be able to
conduct a successful RBI.

The protocol can be used from the beginning of the process (i.e., making arrangements)
through to the family’s putting goals they’ve selected into priority order. Space is
provided for the professional to write down information at the different stages of the
interview. Because the RBI is a needs assessment as well as a descriptive assessment of
child and family functioning, some professionals will want to keep a copy of a
completed protocol. The family should approve of how the protocol is being used.

The protocol is organized in the order in which steps in the process happen. Spoken
statements, which of course the interviewer can modify, are in bold italics. The
document is organized as a fillable pdf to protect the original version. It can be
completed by hand or with typing.

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 3

Arrangements
1. When scheduling the RBI, tell the family,
a. “The meeting will last 2 hours;
b. “It’s an intense discussion about your day-to-day living or as much of
it as you want to tell us;
c. “The main purpose is to help you identify your priorities to go on the
intervention plan we’ll be developing;
d. “The meeting works best if there aren’t too many distractions, so is
there anyone to watch the child(ren)? If not, it’s OK. We can manage.
e. “Remember, we’ll need 2 hours, but we do this only once a year.”
2. Decide on location. It can be the home or another quiet place, as the family
chooses. If the child is to be present, ask for the home to increase the likelihood
that materials such as toys, diapers, and food will all be available.
3. Decide on a time.
4. If you prefer, find a secondary interviewer. This is recommended, especially for
inexperienced interviewers or those who find it difficult to take notes while
keeping a conversation going.
5. Be clear with the secondary interviewer what role you would like them to play.
Examples include
a. Writing notes;
b. Helping to ask questions about most routines (if you really want the
secondary interviewer to do almost a joint interview);
c. Asking questions if you miss something important (if you really want to do
the interview mostly on your own);
d. Minimizing distractions, such as by entertaining children (always the role
of the secondary interviewer, not the primary, if someone has to do it);
e. Scoring an instrument based on the interviewees’ answers.

Name of parent making arrangements:________________________________________

Child’s name:_____________________________________________________________________

Child’s age: __________ Date & Time of interview:__________________________

Place of interview: _______________________________________________________________

Primary interviewer: _____________________________________________________________

Secondary interviewer: __________________________________________________________

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 4

Set Up

1. Seat primary interviewee (e.g., mother) at 45 degrees to primary interviewer.

2. Seat family members together and secondary interviewer next to primary.
3. If given a choice, a kitchen or dining room table is slightly better than living room
furniture, but it’s not worth insisting.
4. Introductions: Make sure everyone knows who everyone is and why he or she is
there.

Present for Interview

Name Role

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 5

Introduction to Interview

1) “The purpose of today’s meeting is to go through your day-to-day activities

with your family to find out what you really want and need from early
intervention. This is the best way of organizing our thoughts. Is that OK?
Anything you don’t want to say, don’t say! You can end this at any time. OK? At
the end, we’ll have a list of items that you would like the team to work on. OK?
If we don’t finish today, we’ll find another time, but we should try to finish
today so we can get started on interventions as quickly as possible.

2) “Let me begin by asking who lives in the house with your child.”

Who Lives in the House Ages of Children

a) “Why is [your child] in [or referred for] early intervention?”

Reason for early intervention:

3) “Before we get into the day, can you please tell me what your main concerns for
your child and family are?”

Main concerns:

a) [Show interest and write these down but do not seek much elaboration.]
b) [At any time in the interview, if the parent mentions something that is a problem,
a desire, or otherwise a likely candidate for an outcome, mark it for easy retrieval.
I draw a star next to it.]
c) “I will ask you more about these things as we go through the day.”

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 6

The Day

Getting Into the Routines

4) “How does your day begin?”

a) [Make sure the discussion is about how the parent’s day begins, not the child’s]
b) START TAKING NOTES ON ROUTINES PAGES.
5) “What’s everyone else doing?”
a) [If the child is awake, get a description of what the child is doing?]
b) [Regardless of whether the child is awake,] “On a scale of 1 to 5, how much do
you like this beginning of your day?”
6) “What happens next?”
a) [This is the transition question throughout the interview. It allows the parent to
describe their day, rather than having the interviewer assume what the family
does, including the order in which they do it.]
7) “Let’s back up and deal just with your child’s getting up.”
a) [Commonly, parents have to be slowed down, because they don’t yet know the
level of detail desired. These early-morning routines are the time to show the
parent how much information to give in each routine.]
8) [Assuming this is the first routine involving the child,] “What is everyone else doing?”
[Trying to determine normative conditions for this routine and what the family has to
contend with.]
9) ”What is your child doing?”
a) [Allow a response to the open-ended question and then, if necessary, follow up
with these next questions.]
b) “How is your child participating in this activity?”
i) [Try to find out whether the child is highly engaged, just following the routine,
or not participating.]
c) “How much does your child do for him- or herself?”
i) [Ask developmentally appropriate questions about the child’s independence.
You have to know your child development!]
d) “How is your child interacting [use simpler terms if necessary] with others at
this time?” [Ask developmentally appropriate follow-up questions about
communication, self-regulation, cooperation, and social skills. Generally, getting
along with others during the routine.]
10) “On a scale of 1-5, how well do you feel this time of day goes for you?” [This is a
variation on the satisfaction question.]
11) [Repeat Questions 5)-10) for each routine.]
12) [If necessary,] “Let’s skip to dinner preparation time” [or another possible later
routine. With some interviews, it is necessary to move the conversation along].

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 7

Routines
Concern Routine
Rating


 What does this look like? Where is everyone?

 How does the child participate?
 How independent is the child?
 What’s the child’s communication like?
 How does the child get along with others?
 Anything else?
 Optional: What else could the child be doing?
 1-5 (terrible-fantastic) scale

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 8

Concern Routine
Rating


 What does this look like? Where is everyone?

 How does the child participate?
 How independent is the child?
 What’s the child’s communication like?
 How does the child get along with others?
 Anything else?
 Optional: What else could the child be doing?
 1-5 (terrible-fantastic) scale

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 9

Concern Routine
Rating


 What does this look like? Where is everyone?

 How does the child participate?
 How independent is the child?
 What’s the child’s communication like?
 How does the child get along with others?
 Anything else?
 Optional: What else could the child be doing?
 1-5 (terrible-fantastic) scale

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 10

Concern Routine
Rating


 What does this look like? Where is everyone?

 How does the child participate?
 How independent is the child?
 What’s the child’s communication like?
 How does the child get along with others?
 Anything else?
 Optional: What else could the child be doing?
 1-5 (terrible-fantastic) scale

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 11

Concern Routine
Rating


 What does this look like? Where is everyone?

 How does the child participate?
 How independent is the child?
 What’s the child’s communication like?
 How does the child get along with others?
 Anything else?
 Optional: What else could the child be doing?
 1-5 (terrible-fantastic) scale

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 12

Concern Routine
Rating


 What does this look like? Where is everyone?

 How does the child participate?
 How independent is the child?
 What’s the child’s communication like?
 How does the child get along with others?
 Anything else?
 Optional: What else could the child be doing?
 1-5 (terrible-fantastic) scale

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 13

End of Interview

13) [After the last routine,] “Is there another typical event or activity we should
discuss?” [If time, ask about weekends.]
14) “Now let me ask you a (couple of) general question(s). When you lie awake at
night, what do you worry about?” [Write down the answer, marking it as a concern,
if appropriate.]

Worry:

15) “If there’s anything you’d like to change about your life, what is it?” [Write
down the answer, marking it as a concern, if appropriate.]
Change:

16) “Now I’ll go back through and remind you of the concerns you mentioned.”
a) [Review the list of marked items so the parent can see them. The parent is
looking at the notes with the interviewer. This is symbolically important as well as
pragmatic.]
b) [Parents will sometimes elaborate, but this is not encouraged at this late stage.]
c) [Do not write a list of starred concerns.]
Outcome selection
17) [Setting the pages down,] “Now tell me what you would like to be on the actual
list of things to work on.”
a) [Write down what the parent chooses. If necessary, refer to the marked items to
remind the parent.]
b) [If the parent mentions a skill with no reference to the context or function (e.g., “I
just want him to be able to talk”), ask during which “times of the day” it would be
helpful for the child to be able to have that skill.]
c) [If the parent mentions a service with no reference to the function (e.g., “I just
want him to have physical therapy”), ask what skill that would be helpful for, and
then, if necessary, during which times of the day it would the skill would be
helpful.]
d) [Refer back to starred items if the family doesn’t remember important things,
especially if the parent seems to think some things, such as parent-level needs,
shouldn’t be on the plan.]
18) [Once 6-10 priorities have been listed and no more seem to be forthcoming,] “Now
let’s put this list into order of importance. Which one is the most important one
to you?” [Put a 1 next to that priority.] “Which is next?” [Continue for the whole
list.]

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA
 The RBI 14

Things to Change—to Work On

(Outcomes/Goals)

Priority Outcome/Goal
Order

19) “This is a great list of things to work on. I’ll consult with other team
members and the next time we meet we’ll write down their ideas and your ideas
for the strategies to begin addressing these. At that time, we’ll decide what
services are needed to get these priorities or “outcomes” addressed.”

McWilliam, R. A. (2010). Routines-based early intervention: Supporting young children

with special needs and their families. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.

R. A. McWilliam © 2009
Protocol for the Routines-Based Interview • Siskin Children’s Institute • Chattanooga, TN, USA