What is Early Intervention?

Early Intervention provides support and services to families who have a young child with developmental challenges. If you have a young child (birth to school entry) with developmental delays, Early Intervention will strive to enable and empower your family to help your child become the best he/she can be - what every parent wants for each of their children! Our vision is that all children will reach their full potential without barriers.

We provide information - in answer to your questions about diagnoses, child development, local programs and resources. We provide ideas and plans - ideas for how your family can help your child at home and in the community, and plans designed to help you enhance your child's growing and learning. We provide assistance - as you contact other professionals and as your child moves on to new programs or school. We provide support - because you are the expert about your child. The dreams, hopes and suggestions that you have for your child and family are uniquely yours. No one can guarantee that they will come true, but sharing them with your early interventionist allows her to know what is important to your family. This information will help your early interventionist to create meaningful individualized services and supports.

What does "Family Centred" mean?

With your input, early intervention services will be provided in a family centred way. Family centred means that your child's services and supports are based upon the strengths and needs, concerns, priorities and resources as identified by you, the child's family. Services and supports are designed to respect your family's concerns, interests, values and priorities.

What is developmental delay?

If your child has a developmental delay that means that some of her skills are similar to the skills of a much younger child. For example, you may be wondering why your child is still speaking using only single words when most of the other children her age are speaking in sentences. Maybe your child is more than 20 months old and you are worrying about why she is not yet walking. Or maybe your child is 12 months old and you are wondering when she will learn to roll from her tummy to her back. Perhaps your child is four years old and you are asking if it is okay for her to still have trouble remembering the names of colours.

If you have been asking these kinds of questions about your child, and she is an infant, a toddler or a preschooler, then Early Intervention may be able to help you find some answers.

To understand your child's development, you should consider these five main areas:

1. His ability to move, see, and hear - physical development
2. Her ability to talk and express her needs - language and speech development
3. His ability to relate to others - social and emotional development
4. Her ability to eat, dress, and take care of herself - self help (or adaptive development)
5. His ability to think and learn - cognitive development

If you would like more detailed information about your child's developmental milestones, please visit the National Network for Child Care.

What does "Home Based" mean?

There are other services or agencies that provide interventions for young children with special needs such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy services. The early interventionist helps link your family with other services and resources that can help your child.

However, most services available to families are provided in a clinic or in an agency. What's unique about Early Intervention services is that the interventionist meets with your child and family within a child's natural learning environment: your own home.