What Services are Available Through Early Intervention?

Early Intervention (EI) services (available to children under 3) are designed to build upon the natural learning that occurs in a child's early years. Depending on a child's needs, they can include (but are not limited to) speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychological services, nutritional services, social work services, assistive technology, and family training. Families are also provided a Service Coordinator who is responsible for organizing the services and communicating with the parents and individual service providers. The services provided must be based on scientifically based research to the extent possible.

In most states, services for children under the age of 3 are provided year-round. (This is not the case for children over the age of 3.) There are no pre-determined numbers of hours or days of services a child can receive. A team, which includes the parents, must decide on an individual basis how many hours and how many days of programming are needed to give the child an opportunity to make real progress on desired outcomes set by the team. The team's decisions will be written down in a legally enforceable document, called an Individualized Family Service Plan ("IFSP").

Receiving EI services does not preclude a family from accessing services and supports privately, from sources outside of the EI system. If you choose to supplement EI services with private ones, it is a good idea to make sure everyone working to help your child knows what other providers are doing so that the services complement each other. Remember also that your child is not yet 3 years old; he or she may not have the attention span or tolerance for as many service hours as an older child might have.