Early Intervention Programs

The effectiveness of early intervention services for children with special needs has been remarkable. People with disabilities and the members of their families report that early intervention services increased their quality of life. In addition, the results of research have demonstrated that when children with special needs receive early intervention services, they tend to live more productive lives, score higher on standardized assessments, and contribute more to society. Often, the effectstheir disability are lessened while new skills are learned. Children with disabilities who receive early intervention are less likely to develop a secondary disability as a result of not attending to the primary disability. For example, a child with a visual impairment is often delayed in cognitive and motor skills because he does not use the environment as a learning tool. Early intervention services can minimize these secondary delays by teaching the child to explore the environment and learn.