Early childhood intervention

"Developmental therapy" redirects here. For other developmental therapies, see Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities.

Early childhood intervention is a support and educational system for very young children (aged birth to six years) who have been victims of, or who are at high risk for child abuse and/or neglect. Some states and regions have chosen to focus these services on children with developmental disabilities or delays, but Early Childhood Intervention is not limited to children with these disabilities.

The mission of Early Childhood Intervention is to assure that families who have at-risk children in this age range receive resources and supports that assist them in maximizing their child's physical, cognitive, and social/emotional development while respecting the diversity of families and communities.[1]

Definition

Early intervention is a system of coordinated services that promotes the child's age-appropriate growth and development and supports families during the critical early years. In the United States, some early intervention services to eligible children and families are federally mandated through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Other early intervention services are available through various national, regional, and state programs such as Crisis Nurseries and Healthy Start/Healthy Families America. Starting with a partnership between parents and professionals at this early stage helps the child, family and community as a whole.

Early intervention services delivered within the context of the family can:

The earlier children at high risk for abuse or neglect, of children with or at risk of disabilities receive assistance and the sooner their families receive support towards their child's development, the farther they will go in life. [2]

History

Early childhood intervention came about as a natural progression from special education for children with disabilities (Guralnick, 1997). Many early childhood intervention support services began as research units in universities (for example, Syracuse University in the United States and Macquarie University in Australia) while others were developed out of organizations helping older children.

In the 1990s, the many States in the US put into place a program where the child's pediatrician can recommend a child for early childhood intervention screening. These services are usually provided free of charge through the local school district or county, depending on the state.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) Part C

The Part C (originally Part H) program mandates a statewide, comprehensive, multidisciplinary service system to address the needs of infants and toddlers who are experiencing developmental delays or a diagnosed physical or mental condition with a high probability of an associated developmental disability in one or more of the following areas: cognitive development, physical development, language and speech development, psychosocial development, and self-help skills. In addition, states may opt to define and serve at-risk children. Commonly cited factors that may put an infant or toddler at risk of developmental delay include low birth weight, respiratory distress as a newborn, lack of oxygen, brain hemorrhage, infection, and prenatal exposure to toxins through maternal substance abuse.

Every state now implements Part C fully. The original legislation provided a five-year phase-in period for states to develop their comprehensive system of service for the affected population. Although IDEA does not mandate states' participation in Part H/C, powerful financial incentives from the federal government have led every state to participate. States were provided extensions of the 5-year period as they struggled with the logistic, interagency, and financial demands of developing a statewide system. To ensure a coordinated approach to service delivery and financing of services, federal regulations of Part C require that states develop interagency agreements that define the financial responsibility of each agency and impanel a state interagency coordinating council to assist the lead agency in implementing the statewide system. Regulations also prohibit the substitution of funds and reduction of benefits once the plan is implemented in each state (U.S. Department of Education, 1993). As states and federal territories (for example, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands) began to plan for implementation of P.L. 99-457 and later IDEA, their first obligation was to designate an agency that would provide leadership in the planning and administration of the state's comprehensive system. In 1989, 22 states or territories had the department of education as lead agency, 11 others had the department of health, another 9 had the department of human services, and the remaining states had combined departments or departments of mental health or developmental disabilities (Trohanis, 1989). [3]

Meeting Developmental Milestones

Every child is unique- growing and developing at his or her own rate. Most of the time differences between children of the same age are nothing to worry about. But for one child in 10, the differences can be related to a developmental delay. The sooner these delays are identified, the quicker children may be able to catch up to their peers.

Milestones Birth to Three

At age one month most children can:

At age three months most children can:

At age six months most children can:

At age 12 months most children can:

At age 18 months most children can:

At age 24 months most children can:

At age 32 months most children can:

Early Intervention Services

The following is a list of what early intervention can provide:

Providing Early Childhood Intervention

Robin McWilliam (2003, 2010[5]) developed a model that emphasizes five components: Understanding the family ecology through eco-maps; functional needs assessment through a routines-based interview; transdisciplinary service delivery through the use of a primary service provider; support-based home visits through the parent consultation; and collaborative consultation to child care through individualized intervention within routines.[6] "These services are to be provided in the child's natural setting, preferably at a local level, with a family-oriented and multi-dimensional team approach".

Early childhood intervention may be provided within a centre-based program (such as Early Head Start in the United States), a home-based program (such as Portage in Britain), or a mixed program (such as Lifestart in Australia). Some programs are funded entirely by the government, while others are charitable or fee-paying, or a combination of these.

An early childhood intervention team generally consists of teachers with early childhood education training, special education specialists, speech and language pathologists, Physical therapists (physiotherapists), occupational therapists, and other support staff, such as music therapists, teacher aides/assistants, and counselors. A key feature of early childhood intervention is the transdisciplinary model, in which staff members discuss and work on goals even when they are outside their discipline: "In a transdisciplinary team the roles are not fixed. Decisions are made by professionals collaborating at a primary level. The boundaries between disciplines are deliberately blurred to employ a 'targeted eclectic flexibility'" (Pagliano, 1999).

Goals are chosen by the families through the annual or biannual Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP), which evolves from a meeting where families and staff members talk together about current concerns, as well as celebrating achievements.

Criticism

Criticism of Early Childhood Intervention asserts growing up is different in detail for each individual, depending on genetic endowments and environmental circumstances. But one thing is common to everyone: the process, in order to take full advantage of the species' potential, must be natural ripening, uninterfered with by clumsy intruders. Thence, criticism of Early Childhood Intervention adduces no one shall push healthy children to learn any skill or academic discipline before they choose to do so of their own accord.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=32009
  2. 1 2 http://www.brighttots.com/early_intervention.html
  3. ↑ Saunders, Edward J.; Health and Social Work, Vol. 20, 1995 http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5000265362
  4. ↑ Bright Beginnings Developmental Therapy
  5. ↑ McWilliam, R. A. (2010). Routines-based early intervention. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing Co.
  6. ↑ McWilliam, R. A. (2003). "The primary-service-provider model for home- and community-based services". Psicologia 17: 115–135.
  7. ↑ Greenberg, D. A. (1992). Stop Pushing Children, Education in America: A View from Sudbury Valley. 11-13. Sudbury Valley School Press.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.