Early Intervention

What is Early Intervention?

Early intervention for Speech and Language therapy is the term used to describe the services provided to babies and young children under 3 years of age.

Why Should My Child Receive Early Intervention Services?

Research has shown that when a child with developmental delays or disabilities is provided with therapy and techniques at a young age, it increases the child’s ability to learn new skills, meet milestones and overcome challenges. At Granite Bay Speech, we believe in helping the child by meeting them at their level. We also strongly encourage the families to be involved in therapy to help with the carryover of skills at home.

Does My Child Need Early Intervention? 

Granite Bay Speech has created free, no-cost developmental milestone checklists to help you identify potential concerns early. Nancy Barcal, M.A. CCC-SLP developed the age milestone checklists at the request of a group of pediatricians in the bay area. The pediatricians noticed that they were not identifying developmental concerns early. Parents brought their child in to see the pediatrician when their child was not talkative and these parents were unsure what was typical development. They didn’t know what questions to ask their child’s pediatrician and when they did as, the answers typically sounded like “he’ll grow out of it” or “it’s because he/she is a boy/girl” or “it’s your firstborn/middle child/ youngest child”. These answers were not helpful and children missed their prime opportunities for learning. Additionally, when parents later discovered their child had learning disabilities, this resulted in increased guilt. The solution to all this has been the use of age developmental milestone checklists.

Listed below is a quick, confidential, and convenient test you may administer to your child at home. If, after completing the checklists you feel your child might not be on track to meet the milestones, please give us a call! Sometimes, all you need is guidance through a free phone call and other times you may need an office appointment so we can assess your child’s skills. After an assessment with Granite Bay Speech, you will know whether your child is meeting developmental milestones or can benefit from Speech-Language services we provide.

Resources

Download A Developmental Milestone Checklist

Related Blog Posts

• Comments from Nancy Barcal: Testing your Child Using Objects Rather than Picture Cards
• Why is Pretend Play important?
• Promote language skills in toddlers using fun Bluebee Pals!

What is Neural Plasticity and How Does it Relate to Early Intervention?

The development of the brain is a fascinating and essential aspect of child development. The science behind the brain provides parents and speech pathologists with valuable insight into why early intervention is so important for individuals with language and learning developmental delays. 

When a child is born, their brain isn’t fully developed. Neural plasticity is the process of developing and pruning connections, allowing the brain to adapt itself to its’ environment as it learns new things through a multitude of experiences.

As infants experience the world through seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling their environment, their brains are also being developed. During infancy and the first years of childhood, a child’s neural pathways begin to mature and advance as they learn. The earlier in a child’s development that we create that first correct learning experience, the stronger those behaviors and skills are secured in the brain and unused pathways are pruned away.

Intervention is best during early childhood when there are 50 percent more connections between neurons than exist in the adult brain. For children with all types of speech, language, and learning difficulties, this understanding of the brain’s plasticity is particularly relevant because it emphasizes why the correct type and intensity of early intervention is so critical. When we understand a child’s skill deficits and design a program that appropriately stimulates the neurons in the targeted weakened areas of the brain, we can exercise and strengthen those areas of the brain to develop speech, language, social skills etc.

It is essential not to wait if you think your child may have developmental delays. There are optimal times the brain is primed to learn a skill. These windows of time open and close during a child’s development and when windows close, this increases intensity needed to achieve results due to decreased brain plasticity.