Transcript Early Intervention

Early Intervention
Updated 8/09
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Objectives
• Understand the role of Early Intervention
in the care of children
• Be familiar with the legal aspects of EI
• Know when referral to Early Intervention is
appropriate
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Background
• 12% to 16% of American children have developmental or behavioral
disorders
• Developmental surveillance
– eliciting and attending to parental concerns, obtaining a relevant
developmental history, making accurate and informative observations of
children, and sharing opinions and concerns with other relevant
professionals
– Checklists are often used in this manner
• Developmental screening
– brief assessment procedure designed to identify children who should
receive more intensive diagnosis or assessment
• Developmental evaluation
– leads to a definitive diagnosis, development of an interdisciplinary
comprehensive plan of remediation, realization that there is no
significant problem, or a decision that additional observation is
warranted  Role of Early Intervention
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Purpose of Early Intervention
• Enhance the development of infants
• Reduce educational costs to society
• Minimize likelihood of institutionalization
• Enhance capacity of families
• Meet the needs of historically underrepresented
populations
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Role of Early Intervention
• EI developed under Part C of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
– Established federal funds to assist states in preparing
and implementing a system of services for children
from birth to age three
• Primary role of Part C:
– facilitate the coordination of federal, state, local, and
private services including physical and occupational
therapy, speech therapy, social work services,
assistive technology devices, audiology, nursing care,
psychological treatment, nutrition, vision services, and
transportation
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Eligibility for Services
• Criteria vary from state to state
• Eligibility in Virginia:
– Infants and toddlers with > 25% delay in 1 or more area(s): cognitive,
adaptive, receptive or expressive language, social/emotional, fine
motor, gross motor, vision, hearing development
– Infants and toddlers with atypical development – as demonstrated by
atypical/ questionable sensory-motor responses, social-emotional
development, or behaviors, or an impairment in social interaction and
communication skills along with restricted and repetitive behaviors
– Infants and toddlers with a diagnosed physical or mental condition that
has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay
• e.g., cerebral palsy, hearing or vision impairment, Down syndrome or other
chromosomal abnormalities, central nervous system disorders, effects of
toxic exposure, failure to thrive, etc.
• Who Refers? ---- You or the concerned parent can self refer
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What Families Should Know
• A developmental screening and/or a more detailed
evaluation and assessment of the child’s development
will be conducted at no cost to the family
• The family is not obligated to accept services
• If the child is found eligible for participation in the
system, the family will guide the development of an
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) that identifies
the services and supports needed to promote the child’s
development and support the family in their daily
activities and routines with their child
• No child or family is denied services and supports
identified on the IFSP because of their inability to pay
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Contacts
• Alexandria (703) 838-5067
• Arlington (703) 228-1640
• Fairfax-Falls Church (703) 246-7121
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The Evaluation
• Initial assessment is performed which includes
the child and family
• The evaluation determines eligibility of the child
based on the percentage of delay (>25%
delayed)
• Once children are deemed eligible, a
comprehensive evaluation is completed and an
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is
created with the help of a multidisciplinary team
– must be reevaluated at least once per year with family
updates given every six months
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Does it Work?
• The National Early Intervention Longitudinal
Study
– followed 2,195 children participating in EI from 19971998
– parents report a high degree of satisfaction with the
services
• 3/4 felt that early intervention had “a lot” of influence on their
child’s development
• Cost:
– monthly spending per child was $916
– average child stayed in early intervention for 17.2
months
– total average cost of $15,740 per child
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“Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our
children.” -Walt Disney
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