A: I thought there would be an easy definition of Early Intervention describing services and programmes where skilled individuals come to a child's home and work with them and their family to help with activities and exercise which improve the child's abilities in areas of fine and gross motor skills, language and speech, occupational therapy etc. But it seems that it's more complicated than this so I have taken some excerpts from the DSSA website. I for one would like to see more early intervention programmes to help parents of new Down syndrome babies and in an ideal world this would be a freely offered government service!
http://www.downsyndrome.org.za/main.aspx?artid=66
"In the field of child development intervention means ‘coming between’ any negative, disabling effects that a developmental delay or disability might have on the developmental process in general. This is in an attempt at least to minimise, if not to prevent the impact of the disability/delay on the child’s development. For example, when a child is born with cerebral palsy, the use of simple, physical exercises as early as possible can help to prevent the muscles from contracting permanently and consequently limiting the full use of the limbs. Most people who are involved in the field agree that children with Down syndrome who receive help from early in life are more advanced than those without such help. Up to the middle years of childhood at least, they are more likely to fall into the mild to moderate categories of intellectual disability than the severe or profound. Generally speaking, children with Down syndrome are responsive to environmental influences and do best in homes that provide love, care and plenty of stimulation and a variety of experiences. Planning and carrying out special activities can be beneficial to both parents and the young children. It helps them to get to know each other, makes the days more satisfying and enjoyable and prevents any possibility of the child developing more slowly because of the lack of the necessary encouragement and stimulation. However, there does not appear to be any particular benefit to carrying out intensive training regimes which may be unpleasant to the child and the parent, and in some cases can interfere with a balanced family life. (Cunningham C. 1992.)“Long term positive human relationships and the provision of stable, healthy environments for children are the most important determinants that we know of for normal human development” (Richter and Griesel, 1994: 85). So it would seem that a general definition of early intervention should read as follows: “Early childhood intervention consists of multidisciplinary services provided for developmentally vulnerable or disabled children from birth to age three years and their families. These programmes are designed to help child development, lessen possible delays, work with existing problems, prevent further worsening of the condition, limit the possibility of getting additional disabling conditions, and/or help the family to adapt the way they function. The goals of early intervention are achieved by giving developmental and therapeutic services for children, and support and instruction for their families.” (Meisels and Shonkoff, p xvi, 1994.) This definition implies that services will be provided that are sensitive to the worries of the family, that build on family strengths and that help families become able to support and help the development of young children, thus preventing developmental problems from worsening. But early intervention is more complex than this. It requires real commitment, responsibility and long term effort. We now know that it is usually not enough to intervene just for a short period in the child’s life. Research has shown that we need to find the right intervention for each age of the developing human being."
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