{"id":17,"date":"2024-09-05T14:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T14:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2026-05-02T02:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T02:36:45","slug":"early-intervention","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/early-intervention\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Early Intervention?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>The Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program (Part C) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was created in 1986 to&nbsp;<strong>enhance the development&nbsp;<\/strong>of infants and toddlers with disabilities,&nbsp;<strong>minimize potential developmental delay<\/strong>, and reduce educational costs to our society by minimizing the need for special education services as children with disabilities reach school age.&nbsp; Part C provides early intervention (EI) services to infants and toddlers aged birth to three with developmental delays or a medical condition likely to lead to a developmental delay.<\/em><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Intervene Early?<em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"is-style-compact-list wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Decades of rigorous research show that children\u2019s earliest experiences play a critical role in\u00a0<strong>brain development<\/strong>. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has summarized this research:<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Neural circuits, which create the foundation for learning, behavior and health, are most flexible or \u201cplastic\u201d during the\u00a0<strong>first three years\u00a0<\/strong>of life. Over time, they become increasingly difficult to change.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Persistent\u00a0<strong>\u201ctoxic\u201d stress<\/strong>, such as extreme poverty, abuse and neglect, or severe maternal depression can damage the developing brain, leading to lifelong problems in learning, behavior, and physical and mental health.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>The brain is strengthened by\u00a0<strong>positive early experiences<\/strong>, especially\u00a0<strong>stable relationships\u00a0<\/strong>with caring and responsive adults, safe and supportive environments, and appropriate nutrition.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Early social\/ emotional development and physical health provide the foundation upon which\u00a0<strong>cognitive and language skills<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>High quality early intervention services can\u00a0<strong>change a child\u2019s developmental trajectory<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/developingchild.harvard.edu\/guide\/what-is-early-childhood-development-a-guide-to-the-science\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">More from the Center of the Developing Child<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Program (Part C) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was created in 1986 to&nbsp;enhance the development&nbsp;of infants and toddlers with disabilities,&nbsp;minimize potential developmental delay, and reduce educational costs to our society by minimizing the need for special education services as children with disabilities reach school age.&nbsp; Part [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions\/122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/hcbei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}