In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic halted service delivery in many spheres, including CHRIB. The two lecturers proceeded to make significant adjustments to the module to ensure that the vital services provided to the community served by the module are adapted and sustained. A model for the provision of tele-intervention was developed. In this model, caregivers of high-risk infants and young children attend online tele-intervention sessions using a platform such as MS Teams. ECI through tele-intervention encouraged caregivers and students to adopt a caregiver-led approach. Through this framework, the CHRIB team reached their aim to equip students with the skills to provide continuous high-quality ECI services under challenging circumstances. The model is one of the first of its kind for South African early communication interventionists and the training in this model is setting apart the speech-language pathology and audiology graduates from the University of Pretoria.

Dr Krüger and Dr Eccles keep their clinical skills as qualified speech-language therapists and audiologists central to their teaching of undergraduate students. They believe that they can help many more vulnerable clients if they train their students to be the best clinicians. Both lecturers have a strong clinical focus in their teaching work with undergraduate students. They emphasise not only good knowledge and clinical skills but also excellent client service and ethical decision-making. Both lecturers have also received their undergraduate training in this programme at the University of Pretoria and are grateful to their teachers at CHRIB for setting the tone for their teaching at this clinic.