early intervention

JamieJeanS

have any of you used this service? My pedi has referred us to this program, and our first appt is next week.  I am curious what to expect, and if you found it helpful.

FYI, my baby is 10 weeks old, born at 31 weeks.

CeeCeeSugaPie

We do! I was skeptical at first but now I am so glad we took advantage of it. They come once a week and work with LO on meeting his milestones. They are basically just keeping an eye out for any developmental delays so that they can be treated promptly if found. It is a really nice service. LO was also born at 31 weeks and has no health issues other than being small. They will probably just do an assessment  and see where LO is at developmentally and create a care plan.

Rachie_B

This is a post I left for another mom asking about Early Intervention:I'm an Early Intervention Specialist.  In SC a referral is made to BabyNet.  Anyone can make the referral (doctor, parent, teacher, etc.).  Once a referral is made a BabyNet coordinator goes to the home to do an evaluation.  Once the evaluation is complete, if the child qualifies then an Early Intervention Specialist will contact the family to set up an initial intake.  During the initial intake the EI will work with the families to come up with several goals to work on based off the evaluation and the parent's concerns. The EI will set up weekly 1 hour Family Training sessions.  During these sessions the EI will help teach the parents/caregivers what kinds of activities to do with their child to help in their area of delay.  For the child it's an hour of play therapy.  The EI will also work on Service Coodination goals.  These goals include setting up Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, etc. (if needed).  It also includes helping families set up appointments, daycare help, etc.  The children are reevaluated every three months.  Children are eligible for services free of charge until their 3rd birthday (if a delay is present).  Before their 3rd birthday the EI will work with the family to set up appointments with their school district to get help with services if they qualify.  This is how it works in SC.  If you have any other specific questions I'd be happy to try to answer them!!  Good Luck and Best Wishes!! 

mommyof4boys

Christopher was in early intervention from 15 months until he aged out at 3.  He was re-evaluated every 6 months.  It is a bit different with him as his delays are not a result of him being a premiee.  He has a genetic syndrome, apraxia, is autistic-like, and a bunch of other things going on.  I don't know if it because of the case manager we had to start out with or if it would have been this way all along but he started with 1 hour a week of PT, Speech, and Developmental Therapies.  We upped after 6 months to 1 hour of PT, 2 of Developmental and 1 hour of Speech.  They tried to drop his speech and told us that at 2 he wasn't speaking so he wouldn't speak and they didn't want to waste the time of the therapist.  We argued and changed case managers.  He ended up upping to 2 hours of speech, 2 of DI, and 1 of PT.  Then he got his diagnosis and we added OT, and ABA (an autism therapy).

They came to our home until 2.5 and than we did some therapies in a park or at the ARC where it was based out of.  This was to help him transition to school. 

It was helpful.  Chris started out having the speech skills of a less than 6 month old baby.  His social/emotional levels were around 6 months.  His developmental levels were at a 9 month old level.  His motor skills were at a 10 month old level.  He was 15 months when we had him tested.  When he aged out he was at a speech level of a 13 month old, social/emotional was around a 2 year old, developmental was around 2, and motor skills were around 18 months.  Again though, he has a chromosomal disorder. 

CeeCeeSugaPie

Rachie_B:

This is a post I left for another mom asking about Early Intervention: I'm an Early Intervention Specialist.  In SC a referral is made to BabyNet.  Anyone can make the referral (doctor, parent, teacher, etc.).  Once a referral is made a BabyNet coordinator goes to the home to do an evaluation.  Once the evaluation is complete, if the child qualifies then an Early Intervention Specialist will contact the family to set up an initial intake.   During the initial intake the EI will work with the families to come up with several goals to work on based off the evaluation and the parent's concerns. The EI will set up weekly 1 hour Family Training sessions.  During these sessions the EI will help teach the parents/caregivers what kinds of activities to do with their child to help in their area of delay.  For the child it's an hour of play therapy.   The EI will also work on Service Coodination goals.  These goals include setting up Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, etc. (if needed).  It also includes helping families set up appointments, daycare help, etc.   The children are reevaluated every three months.  Children are eligible for services free of charge until their 3rd birthday (if a delay is present).  Before their 3rd birthday the EI will work with the family to set up appointments with their school district to get help with services if they qualify.   This is how it works in SC.  If you have any other specific questions I'd be happy to try to answer them!!  Good Luck and Best Wishes!! 

 We are in SC and use BabyNet! Small world.

schenkertobe

We had an EI specialist come to our house to evaluate LO. The whole evaluation took maybe 30 minutes or so. He did not show any delays to qualify for EI, but they did say that they can send an "ages and stages" evaluation every 3 months. Its y a packet of questions regarding milestones that they use to make sure he is still on track for his adjusted age. If he shows signs of delay based on the questionairre, then they will come back and reevaluate.

Wally3

DS was evaluated at 2 years.  We are in fl and went to IE center  to be evaluated. It was run by Easter Seals.  It took just over an hour. We had a coordiantor, a speech therapist, and behavioral therapist present.  One therapist "played" with ds and had him do different things.  In the same area the other asked me questions about what I have seen ds do.  The coordinator did all the paper work for me and took notes for me.  DS did qualify for speech.  We had a 6 month meeting with the coordinator and are now getting ready to have him re-evaluated as he will be 3 in nov and switching to the school program.

lemen99

It looks like you got a lot of good responses...I just wanted to say EI has been great for Andrew, too!  (he's in ST, OT, and PT!)

JamieJeanS

great, thanks everyone! I actually do hope she qualifies for some but more for my sake and reassurance regarding her development.  My pedi seems to think she needs to be right on track for 2 months old and doesn't seem to take into account her adjusted age, so it's making me a little neurotic.