Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities

“Early Intervention” might be the provider’s way of describing services that they provide to babies or young children. However, it might also indicate that the provider is a vendor for your state’s publicly funded program. This means the services with this provider might be covered by your state! 

The first step in accessing these free services from your state is to get an evaluation. The evaluation will help the state determine what services your child qualifies for, if any. You can find your state’s local EI program by clicking here.

When you contact your local center, say “I have concerns about my child’s development and I would like to have my child evaluated to find out if they are eligible for early intervention services.” They will ask screening questions and arrange for an evaluation, which is provided for free.

Even if a provider offers parent training, it may look different from one provider to another. For example, an in-home provider might conduct a parent training session directly following a therapy session with your child to help explain what they’ve been working on with your child. At larger organizations, you might have a support group of families who are dealing with similar issues.

There isn’t one set way that an IEP meeting is run, but generally it involves everyone on the IEP team reviewing your child’s goals, progress, and sharing ideas and suggestions on what supports or accommodations may be helpful to accomplish those goals.

It’s required that the school staff go over every section of the IEP with you and explain every part. This is only a draft, because the IEP may change based on what’s discussed in the meeting. You do not have to sign or agree to the IEP at the IEP meeting. If you don’t like the IEP, you may not have to agree to it at all.