Early intervention for children with many different types of disabilities can have positive benefits,  the environment is very important.

There have been many studies showing that early education and intervention can contribute to positive development,  stimulation can enhance development and the absence of it has negative effects.

It has been a long journey for the involvement of government in education and support for special needs  children. At first individual states were most involved in the state education for children with disabilities,  but in 1935 the Maternal and  Child Health program was established and the Federal Government provided funds that each state had to match. The goal of programs was to have a positive impact on families and the communities. The biggest change happened when congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,  one which provided money directly to schools to help disadvantaged children,  and funds were provided to do important research.  Public Law 92-142 was the most effective law because it had great focus on the individual needs and assessments of disabled children and money incentive was provided for helping each child. Congress ever since has been improving their special education programs and increasing funding.

The majority of early intervention programs have a focus on creating natural environments,  natural environment provide normal settings, everyday activities,  and positive beneficial peer interaction.
Intervention was possible to do in a normal school setting, at a special school, or at home. Early Intervention programs have been changing and improving for years,  and the Handicapped Children's Early Education Program has been a key participant for these improvements. This program did important conclusive research on methods that could be used to have positive improvements in the lives of children with disabilities. This program was so successful because it shared important information and methods with state agencies,  and the agencies, and agencies replicated the information locally and to families. Some other key programs going back from 1990 are EEPCD (Early Education Program for Children with Disabilities),  CSPD (System of Personnel Development) ,  and IDEA.

Studies have been an important part of improving early intervention programs,  the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study which focused on aspects such as school performance,  transition,  and effectiveness of programs on a child's skills. Schools wanted more control over their programs, the No Child Left Behind Act gave them that option,  but it also created standards that schools has to meet. During this time period improvements were made in the organization and coordination of programs and their federal funding.



Impairment to a child can happen during pregnancy due to environmental conditions,  but in some cases it happens on the gene level. Research has been done on children with environmental risk who participate in early intervention programs and it has been shown to have benefits. Research has also been done on children with biological impairments,  but the research has been less conclusive.  We learned that for these children a positive home life,  and good parent-infant relationship have shown to improve work ethic. Studies have also shown starting intervention programs early is important and individual  attention for children with environmental risks can improve intelligence. One of the most important studies came from The Consortium for Longitudinal Studies,  and they were able to show that early intervention resulted in higher educational achievement and less negative behavior.


Early Interventionist have some of the most broad and diverse working conditions, such as a school setting,  or at a home. The Early Interventionist has an important duty to choose the best program and approach for each child he works with. His work days are filled with a sophisticated schedule and he tracks and reflects on the progress of the children he helps. The Early Interventionist often has colleagues such as a psychologist,  and doctor that they work with, and they always have a close connection and frequent communication with each child's parents. Having  love and appreciation for the children you work with and help will give you the best experience with them,  and supporting their parent's is important.  The skills parents learn from an Early Interventionist gives the confidence to take good care of their child.



Who are children
 The definition of Children with Special Needs was updated in 1991 by IDEA,  states were given the permission to serve children with "developmental delay".  This change was beneficial because it added a bigger category of developmental features to look at and consider. Some of the children with development issues only had minor issues,  and since these children fell under the developmental delays category,  the states were able to provide support and prevent future developmental issues from happening.

Language is a very important part of human life,  and infants and young children who display speech defects or defecits have a bigger probability to have other disabilities. There are other categories of disabilities such as visual impairments and hearing Impairment, each has different level in severity. Intellectual disabilities have a wide range of characteristics and levels,  and has been split into two major categories by the American Association on Intellectual and Development Disabilities,  one category is educational performance and the other is the social skills category.  For children with these impairments finding the right approach and method in their education is important for their success. Many tests have been made to test the levels of each disability categories and they are used to find the best course of action in helping the child.


I think  a great idea would be to have the federal government invest funding in creating new and improved technology for children with disabilities.  Technology is moving so fast, and so much of it is amazing and useful.  I think that if we can fuel some of that technology to benefit people with disabilities,  it would help a lot of families. For children with learning disabilities they can create specialized classrooms with interactive touchscreens that could guide children through their learning process.