What is Early Intervention in Speech Therapy?
Both a concept, and a government funded program in the United States. Let’s get into it.
The Concept: Why does everyone say Early Intervention is so important?
Early Intervention (EI) is best described by the phrase “the earlier the better”. It refers to the idea that if challenges are recognized early in a child’s life, and intervention is provided accordingly, long-term developmental outcomes are optimized. The concept of EI applies to all areas of development, not just communication. Some other examples are: feeding & swallowing, sensory regulation, fine and gross motor skills, and cognitive abilities. For communication and feeding, speech-language therapists provide diagnosis and treatment. Otherwise, Occupational Therapists (OTs), Physical Therapists (PTs), and special educators are working with children. We often work as part of a team.
When exactly, is “early”?
This is relative to the type of challenge that is being treated. Here are some examples in the realm of communication:
For a child with a lisp, 3-4 years of age is considered early
For a baby with difficulty coordinating sucking with swallowing and breathing, the first weeks of life are considered early
For a child with a language or speech delay, 9-12 months is early
The natural next feeling after reading this is anxiety: Are we too late? How do I identify a need for help early enough?
It’s okay. Recognizing the signs of a delay at the exact time they pop up is only possible if you’re specially trained to spot them, and even then: sometimes difficult! Generally speaking, if you are seeking support for your child in infancy for feeding or swallowing issues, toddlerhood/early preschool for language, or under the age of six for speech sound errors you are good 🙂
An important concept to keep in mind: Children’s brains are incredibly malleable. They are fast learners, and as parents of teenagers can attest, they are still working on that brain development until they’re 20. God bless.
At Brooklyn Speech Therapy, we aim to provide all of our intervention as early as possible. A large part of our work is connecting with family facing community programs like pediatrician’s offices, preschools and daycare centers to advocate for the importance of delay identification and therapy referrals.
The government program and its acronyms: EI, IFSP, CPSE.
Who doesn’t love a government program??
Jokes aside, as someone who has provided speech therapy in a developing nation (India, a beautiful one!) I can say that we are incredibly lucky in the U.S. to have access to free developmental support.
Are the standards of who qualifies reflective of actual needs? No!
Is the quality of service provision, consistency of delivery, and timeliness of onset adequate? Also, no!
Are we lucky like people in Sweden or Switzerland? Ugh.
However, it exists, and it helps a lot of families of children with significant developmental challenges.
That being said, the bar for a child to qualify for this free therapy is high. Children need to score at least three standard deviations below average in many cases to receive services, or have delays in more than one area of development (e.g., speech and gross motor; or speech and cognitive development). This qualification structure means that a child’s speech and/or language delay might not register on testing to be significant when they are 18 months, but will when they are 2.5 years. If relying solely on government funded therapy, that results in a period of a year without important support. A year that could have potentially helped that child close their developmental gap.
It’s imperfect, but it is still worth exploring for the chance of free services.
Still curious about those acronyms?
EI- Early Intervention, as in the program that provides services for children ages birth-three years. It is federally mandated, but operated at the state and city level.
IFSP- Individualized Family Service Plan. This is a document developed after an evaluation that lays out your child’s needs and goals. It is a legally binding document, recording that your child needs x,y,z and therefore the government is obligated to provide support for x,y,z. You are technically able to sue if the mandates are not fulfilled, and you better believe that many resourceful New Yorkers do just that.
CPSE- Committee on Preschool Special Education. This is the entity that provides therapy services once children turn four, but before they enter Kindergarten. Then it becomes CSE, a new world of acronyms.
How do I get my child evaluated by the EI program?
You can start by talking to your pediatrician, but there are resources available online. Here is a link to the NYC Early Intervention info page, with instructions for setting up an evaluation.
What is Early Intervention like at Brooklyn Speech Therapy?
In our practice there are no barriers to entry into therapy. If you are concerned about your child’s developmental level at any age, or your ability to support them then you “qualify” for early intervention support with us. That support may look like weekly therapy sessions for a period of time until your child has achieved their goals, or it could look like a few sessions of parent coaching to make sure your child stays on track to meet their communication milestones.
You can read more here, about how speech therapy programs at BKST work.
Because our intervention model does not adhere to the structure of state EI programs, we do not provide state funded services. Our services are private pay and we provide documentation for out-of-network insurance reimbursement.
Supplementing the EI system and collaborating with their therapists
Many of the families we support have children under the age of five. The majority of whom have either not qualified for the government program, or are having trouble accessing a therapist via that route. However, we always encourage our families to seek out government services even after we get started together. It is often more sustainable if there are long-term needs, and we love collaborating with other therapists. An extra dose of EI speech therapy can never hurt!
If you are interested in talking more about early intervention speech therapy for your child, click here to book a complimentary 30 minute consultation call.