Volume 5 Issue 11 November 2015
“If you are slow, you simply have to start earlier”- Robert Lafon
Going with this statement, the right development of the child must be ensured during the early years (0-6) of their lives. It could be because the early years are a unique window of opportunity to alter child’s developmental trajectories, prevent secondary complications from occurrence and maintain the long-lasting changes. Thus, preventing children with mental retardation from becoming permanently disabled and reducing or minimizing the degree of their permanent disability are important public health issues. The associated disability can be reduced or modified by Early Intervention (EI). EI is based on the cerebral plasticity concept to develop and promote child’s developmental and cognitive skills in early years. It may be provided within a center based program (such as Early Head Start in the United States), a home-based program (such as Portage in Britain) and a mixed program (such as Life start in Australia). In addition, some programs are funded entirely by the government, while others are charitable or fee paying or a combination of these.
In context to child’s developmental skills, EI designs to meet the developmental needs of children with mental retardation. The main focus is to enhance the child’s development in one or more areas i.e. physical development (including vision and hearing), cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, and adaptive development. Child’s skills build upon the natural learning opportunities that occur within the daily routines of children and their families.
In the context to family support, EI provides families’ independence, competencies and supports such as access to emotional supports (including counselling and parent groups), information about their child’s disability, the available services and support to access and help them to make informed and logical decisions, support with home care, travel and community access and weighing up funding options.
When we focus the effectiveness of EI, researches has proven the effects of early intervention program that successfully minimize and also prevent much of the declines in intellectual development during the intervention period itself or immediately thereafter. Moreover, it promotes longer-term effects.
In brief, early intervention is a system of services which play an increasingly prominent role in the field of intellectual disabilities in context to enhance the developmental and cognitive skills of child, provide daily opportunities for learning to reduce the future risks as well as promote the independence and competencies of the family.
