Early Intervention Speech Therapy

What is early intervention?

Early intervention, sometimes referred to as EI, is an umbrella term that refers to all the services and support provided to infants and children under the age of 3 years old who have developmental delays or disabilities, or who are at risk of developmental delays.

Early intervention is designed to identify and address developmental challenges early on, before they become more significant or harder to treat.

Early intervention services are tailored to a child’s individual needs, and may include early intervention speech therapy services. The goal of early intervention is to provide timely and appropriate services to young children to help them reach their full potential. 

In this article, I’ll discuss the different types of early intervention services available,

• the benefits of early intervention

• how to get started in early intervention

• what to do if your child doesn’t qualify for early intervention

• & tons of speech therapy activities you can practice at home!

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What are the different types of early intervention services that are provided?

1. Developmental Screenings & Assessments - to identify any developmental delays or disabilities (*In the US, these screenings and assessments are free to everyone*)

2. Speech Therapy - to help children develop their communication skills, such as using gestures, talking, and understanding. 

3. Occupational Therapy - to help children develop fine motor skills for daily living, such as feeding, dressing, and playing

4. Physical Therapy - to help children develop gross motor skills, such as sitting, walking, and climbing

5. Behavioral Therapy - to help children with emotional regulation and behavior management

6. Family Support Services - to provide counseling, education, and support groups for parents and families who are supporting toddlers

7. Assistive Technology - to provide children with hearing aids or communication devices when appropriate

8. Health Services - such as medical, dental, and vision care to ensure children are able to access their early intervention services fully

What are the benefits of early intervention speech therapy? 

Research shows that there are many benefits to early intervention. Put simply, interventions that are provided early on (as soon as a delay is identified) often have faster progress and the most dramatic results. 

Here are a few of the research articles that show the benefit of early intervention speech therapy: 

• Early intervention (services that are provided before the age of 3) often result in faster or greater progress than services provided later on (Peacock et al., 2017).

• Early intervention speech therapy programs have been shown to have a significant and positive impact on toddler’s receptive and expressive language development (Roberts & Kaiser, 2011)

• Early intervention is effective for supporting toddlers with speech and language disorders and helping them reach their next milestones (Kay-Raining Bird, et al., 2012). 

How can I get early intervention services for my child?

Whether you’re looking for early intervention speech therapy or another early intervention service type, the process for getting started is the same. To begin early intervention, you’ll need an assessment to determine the type of services that would benefit your child and what goals the services or support will focus on. There are two ways to access an early intervention assessment. 

1. To access a free developmental screening or assessment, which is the first step in early intervention, contact your state’s early intervention program. You can find a complete list of contact information for each state’s early intervention program on the CDC’s website here. 

Early Intervention Services in California 

Since I live in California, I have included a few extra resources for getting started in early intervention in CA here:

•  Visit this website to learn about California Early Start, the California early intervention program.

• To get started with early intervention in California, find your county’s contact information from this list of California Early Intervention (aka Regional Center) Programs  

2. Alternatively, you can talk to your child’s pediatrician about scheduling a speech and language evaluation with a provider covered by your insurance company. To learn more about getting started in early intervention speech therapy, we wrote an entire blog post about finding a speech therapist near you. 

What if my child doesn’t qualify for early intervention services?

Sometimes a child may not “qualify” for early intervention services because their delay or disability isn’t “severe enough.” There are a few things you can do if you happen to find yourself in this situation. 

• You can ask for a re-evaluation. This means a second assessment will be performed at a later time to form a second opinion. You may request a different provider administer your assessment if you wish. However, you may be required to wait a certain amount of time between assessments, insurance may not pay for a re-evaluation, or this may not be an option for your provider. 

• Access an evaluation through insurance and your state’s early intervention program. If you were evaluated by a speech therapist covered by your insurance, you may request an evaluation through your state’s early intervention program, or vice versa. 

• If your child is about to turn 3, you can request a speech and language evaluation through the local school district. Learn more about school based speech therapy here, I explain how it works and that your child doesn’t have to be enrolled in preschool full time to participate. 

There’s nothing worse than worrying about your child and feeling like you can’t find the support you need. So if you find yourself in the situation where you don’t qualify for early intervention speech therapy or you aren’t able to access it for one reason or another, I’ve included a long list of early intervention speech therapy activities you can do at home! One of the biggest goals is to support parents in practicing at home, so you can get a head start with these strategies and activities! 

Early Intervention Speech Therapy Activities:

Start with these speech therapy strategies first: 

• My favorite strategy for teaching toddlers new words

• The perfect speech therapy strategy for any activity with your toddler 

Help your child grow their understanding skills:

• Teaching your child the meaning of “No!” 

• Teaching your child to follow directions

• Helping your child answer simple questions

Teach your child to express themselves and say new words

• Teaching your child to say their first word

• Helping your child grow their vocabulary

• Teaching your child to put 2 words together 

• Teaching your child to tell you a story about what happened

At home speech therapy activities with the most popular toys:

• See the Toddler Talk activities list here

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A few more questions parent’s often ask about EI:

• Is early intervention the same as speech therapy?

  Speech therapy is one of many different early intervention services that toddlers may receive. Speech therapy falls under the umbrella of early intervention.

• What is considered early intervention for speech therapy?

  Early intervention speech therapy is speech therapy provided to children under the age of 3.

• What is the best age for early intervention?

  The best age for early intervention speech therapy is whatever age you first notice your child may have a delay.

• Why speech therapy is important for early intervention?

  Speech therapy is an important component of early intervention for children who have difficulties with communication because it helps them learn to express their wants, needs, and ideas. Supporting children’s ability to communicate can help reduce frustration that occurs if they can’t express themselves.

Written By: Stephanie Keffer Hatleli, MS, CCC-SLP

More on the blog:

References List:

Kay-Raining Bird, E., Cleave, P., Trudeau, N., Thordardottir, E., Sutton, A., & Thorpe, A. (2012). The effectiveness of early intervention for children with speech and language disorders: A systematic review. The Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, 36(4), 265-282.

Peacock-Chambers, E., Ivy, K., & Bair-Merritt, M. (2017). Primary Care Interventions for Early Childhood Development: A Systematic Review. Pediatrics, 140(6), e20171661. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-1661

Roberts, M. Y., & Kaiser, A. P. (2011). The effectiveness of parent-implemented language interventions: A meta-analysis.

© 2020-2023. Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP. All Rights Reserved.

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