Early Intervention is a program through the Illinois State Department of Human Services that provides supports and services for families to help their children ages 0-3 years old to meet their developmental milestones and participate within their family and community. This program serves children with developmental delays, and is helpful for children with Autism, Speech Delays, Torticollis, and other conditions. 

Our team of multi-disciplinary therapists can treat your child in our state-of-the-art clinic and in your child’s home or daycare to work more directly with caregivers. Caregivers may be parents, grandparents, babysitters, daycare staff, or whoever is taking care of the child at the time of the session.   

Caregivers, you may view this session time as a chance to do laundry or cook dinner, but please try to stay and play during the sessions. While treating your child, our therapist will be able to provide strategies that you can use in between sessions. You are the expert of your child, and will also be able to provide our therapists with insight into your child’s patterns and preferences. One hour of therapy a week will help, but incorporating therapy strategies into your daily routines will make a much more significant impact in your child’s development.  

So, what does a typical early intervention session look like? Some therapists may bring a toy bag to use during the session, but we try to use toys and objects that you already have around the house. This helps you practice the strategies between sessions. Therapists will use a coaching model to teach you new strategies and help you feel comfortable practicing them between sessions.   

Dr. Megan Roberts and colleagues at Northwestern University developed the Teach-Model-Coach-Review Technique. Using this technique, therapists will teach you a new strategy, model using that strategy with your child, coach you through using the strategy, then review how it went, and make a plan to keep using the strategy throughout the week.   

Teach – The therapist may bring in a handout, show you a video, or just verbally explain the strategy. 

Model – The therapist will model the strategy with your child. 

Coach – You have the opportunity to practice with your child and the therapist can offering pointers and answer questions. 

Review – You and the therapist discuss the session and work together to make plans for subsequent sessions. 

It may feel awkward at first to learn something new and practice it with your child’s therapist talking you through it, but research has shown that the coaching method is the most effective form of therapy. We hope you feel comfortable forming this relationship with your therapist, where you are receptive to feedback and feel open to asking questions if you do not understand a technique. We are here to empower you to feel better equipped to help your child learn and succeed!   

Treatment activities and skill targets are tailored to your child’s unique developmental needs, and our multi-disciplinary therapy team continually evaluates your child’s goals so we continue to strive for growth. Eyas Landing’s team of Occupational Therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Physical Therapists, Developmental Therapists, Social Workers, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers are Early Intervention Credentialed and able to provide treatment for Early Intervention clientele. 

Citation

Roberts, M., & Kaiser, A. (2015). Early intervention for toddlers with language delays: A randomized controlled trial. Pediatrics, 135, 1-8.