Early Childhood Intervention: A Promise to Children and Families for Their Future (Exceptional Children) (Report‪)‬

Infancy and early childhood are important times in any child's life. For children with disabilities, the early years are critical for a number of reasons. First, the earlier a child is identified as having a developmental delay or disability, the greater the likelihood the child will benefit from intervention strategies designed to compensate for the child's needs (e.g., Guralnick, 2005a). Second, families benefit from the support given to them through the intervention process (Dunst, 2007). Third, schools and communities benefit from a decrease in costs because more children arrive at school ready to learn (Carta & Kong, 2007). As a field, early childhood intervention has been defined as the provision of educational or therapeutic services to children under the age of 8 (Sigel, 1972). Legislatively, early intervention is used to describe the years from birth to age 3, although the term early childhood special education or preschool special education has been used to describe the period of preschool years (ages 3-5). This article provides an overview of early childhood intervention as described by the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), Part C, which addresses services for children from birth to age 3 and their families, and section 619 of Part B, which covers services for children ages 3 through 5. The term early childhood intervention will be used to describe the population of children, from birth through age 5 eligible for services under IDEA.