The Importance of Early Intervention for Infants

Early intervention denotes providing services and support for infants and pre-school-aged children experiencing delays or problems in development. It relates to addressing concerns with specialists, programs, and other useful tools that will help them get on track with their development. Get started with our developmental quizzes. 

Ways to identify if your child is at risk of developmental delay or future delays can be addressed with a developmental screen at your well-child check-up with the pediatrician. Early intervention can have a significant, positive impact on your child's development and might even decrease your child's likelihood of needing special education services during his or her life. Early intervention is important, as 90% of brain development happens BEFORE 5 years of age. 

Brain development is needed for all mind-body connection and understanding of ‘the why’ behind our actions. If you wait until school to start services for your child, the progress will likely be slower than if you start them earlier. Most gross motor milestones happen before a child turns 1, meaning infancy is a crucial time for motor development for children. Gross motor milestone examples include rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, and walking. Each of these milestones scaffolds towards the next and must be mastered in chronological order, except in special circumstances. Many people do not know that without a foundation of large muscle strength and motor mastery, it is extremely difficult to utilize smaller muscles. 

Large muscles play a role in gross motor milestones, which are those listed previously. Small muscles play a role in fine motor milestones, including speech, language, and manipulation with hands and fingers. Mastering these other skills can be challenging without a strong foundation in gross motor skills. 

Other foundational positions, sounds, and movements with fine motor skills are needed to make more compound or coordinated movements possible. If a child cannot receive early intervention to address these concerns or delays, intervention can take many more months to years. 

In addition, school-aged children start to have better expression of what is and isn’t ‘normal’ and have better access to an audience to express their feelings. In these scenarios, it becomes more challenging for children with delays that were not addressed with early intervention and can lead to feelings of isolation, depression, and even bullying from their peers. 

Tale any preventative care precautions. When in doubt about your child’s development, we encourage you to take a developmental screen or ask a professional for a free consultation so that your child can receive intervention.