EARLY INTERVENTION THERAPY

EARLY INTERVENTION

Early Intervention is a structured support system for children, parents, and families during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood, aiming to shape and adapt developmental trajectories in alignment with age and functioning levels. It offers a broad spectrum of services, spanning healthcare, therapy, social, and cultural support, with a primary focus on addressing developmental delays in physical, cognitive, communication, self-help, and social/emotional skills. Goal-oriented planning and eligibility screening are key components, enabling timely intervention for children at risk of developmental delays. The overarching objectives of Early Intervention are to enhance typical development, provide family support, and maximize societal contributions.

  • Early Intervention: Involves a range of support and experiences for children and families during pregnancy, infancy, and early childhood to modify developmental trajectories.
  • Structured Approach: Deliberately timed and tailored to the child’s age and level of functioning, aligning with typical development patterns.
  • Comprehensive Services: Encompass healthcare, therapy, social, and cultural support, aiding infants and toddlers with developmental delays.
  • Developmental Focus: Addresses physical, cognitive, communication, self-help, and social/emotional skills.
  • Goal-Oriented Planning: Establishes goals and service types to assist children and families.
  • Eligibility Screening: Utilizes screening and diagnostic measures to identify children in need of early intervention.
  • Timely Action: Critical to prevent developmental delays or risks.
  • Primary Objectives: Enhance normal development, offer family support, and maximize societal contributions of children and families.

IMPORTANCE OF EARLY INTERVENTION:

Early intervention programs have the potential to prevent, mitigate, and address developmental risks, disabilities, and handicapping conditions in children. These programs challenge the idea of predetermined, externally uninfluenced development, emphasizing their critical role in shaping child outcomes.

AIMS OF EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAMS:

  • Early identification of infants at risk

  • Early identification of developmental delays

  • Enhancement of normal development

  • Acceleration of rate of development

  • Acquisition of new behaviour/skills

  • Increase in independent functioning

  • Early detection and prevention of secondary handicaps

  • Minimizing the effects of the handicapping condition

Impact of Early Intervention: The effectiveness of early intervention programs depends on several factors, including the program’s underlying concept, objectives, and individualization. Programs can be a means to stimulate intellectual growth, skill acquisition, and the realization of potential or a preventive measure against intellectual decline. Goals vary based on the target group, ranging from support for at-risk children to maximizing residual functions for those with irreversible damage. Early detection and intervention are more successful in mild to moderate cases and depend on factors like parent involvement, motivation, education, and service availability.

Children at Risk for Developmental Delays: Children at risk of substantial developmental delays may not currently exhibit abnormalities but have biological or environmental factors in their medical history associated with a higher likelihood of delays. This group includes children with personal or family medical histories featuring conditions implying an increased risk of developmental delay.

RISK FACTORS FOR DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY

Biological factors include:

  • Genetic factors: Children are placed at genetic risk by being born with a genetic or chromosomal abnormality. A good example of a genetic risk is Down syndrome, a disorder that causes developmental delay because of an abnormal chromosome.
  • Prenatal Factors: Poor maternal nutrition or exposure to toxins (e.g. lead or drugs) or infections that are passed from mother to her baby during pregnancy (e.g., measles or HIV).
  • Perinatal Factors: Premature delivery, Low birth weight, Respiratory distress, Lack of oxygen, Brain haemorrhage and Infections

Environmental risk includes:

  • Environmental Factor: Exposure to harmful agents either before or after birth, trauma to the child.
  • Psychosocial Factors: Poverty, mother’s depression, poor nutrition, lack of care, child abuse, impaired attachment, disturbed families etc.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

  • Assessment: Assessment includes a variety of standardized criterion-reference instruments which provide information across the traditional areas of development including cognition, fine and gross motor, receptive and expressive communication, social-emotional development and self-help.

  • Evaluation: Procedures used by qualified professionals to determine a child’s initial and continuing eligibility which focus on determining the status of the infant or toddler in all of the developmental areas: cognitive, social/emotional, physical (including vision and hearing), communication, and adaptive behaviour.

REGISTERED & RECOGNISED BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR WELFARE OF THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED BY THE GOVT. OF TAMIL NADU REGISTRATION NO. 685 / 2024

NIOS ACCREDITED CENTRE NO. M19103

DACAL is a school which caters to children with developmental delays, learning difficulties and special needs.

CONTACT US

DACAL - Darul Ansar Centre for Applied Learning

Anjuman-e-Himayath-e-Islam

#16, B.N. Reddy Road, Chennai 600 017.

callPhone: 044 4901 4553, 98842 70480

img[email protected]

imgMon-Fri: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm