Early Childhood Intervention

"Sydney was an 18 month old baby. He was quite physically active and enjoyed spending time with his parents Rodney and Monica. However, like any average child of his age, Rodney had still not mastered talking. He used to respond to sounds that surrounded him and responded with non verbal tones. He could not use any words and did not have control over his pitch and tone. This is when Monica doubted her child's growth. After discussing this with their pediatrician and a psychologist, Sydney was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is a type of developmental disorder. The doctors suggested an early childhood Intervention to the parents, in order to lessen the impact of the disorder."

Early Childhood Intervention - The Concept
In case a child shows initial symptoms of any type of developmental disorder, it is best for the parents to contact a psychologist and start an early childhood intervention program. Not only to help the child, but the family, as well. Often, in spite of the best intentions, the family of the patient fails to create a conducive environment for the patient's growth. It is very important to have the most conducive environment for the child. As Sheila Wolfendale defined the goals for early childhood intervention, "to provide support to families to support their children's development; to promote children's development in key domains such as communication or mobility; to promote children's coping confidence, and to prevent the emergence of future problems.", it seems to be the best method of treatment and rehabilitation.

Early Childhood Intervention - The Program
As a program, an early childhood intervention program works on accomplishing the three goals by Sheila Wolfendale, namely: to support the family and the development of the child; to bring about development for the child in the fields of communication and mobility, both; to help create self-confidence in the child and prevent problems in the future.

Most of these programs have residential treatment for the patient and counseling for the families. However, the best programs prefer to keep the child in their regular environment and treat, both, the child and his family. This way, the child does not feel like there is something out of the ordinary going on, and the family will know how to deal with day to day issues, better. This is simply the best way to ensure long lasting effects of the child development and treatment.

Early Childhood Intervention - The Result
Early childhood intervention plays on the fact, that when the child is young, the child care and treatment will be easier. More so, early child intervention ensures a normal life for the child post the treatment. Hence, most of the child's social life can be as normal as possible. As such, the chances of complications in the future are brought down to a considerable extent. This is what makes this method one of the best methods to deal with developmental disorders.

It is true that one has to love his child for what the child truly is. Nonetheless, it is almost cruel to let the child live an incomplete life, caused by a developmental disorder, without really trying to do anything about it. So, keep a keen eye on the the early child development and care of your child and make sure that you contact your doctor in case of any discrepancies. This is where I sign off! Have a great day!