The importance of Early Intervention from ages 0 to 6 is indescribable. A newborn's brain has 30 to 60 percent more neurons than an adult's. Furthermore, synapses (neural connections) are most abundant and reach their maximum density in the first 15 months of life, which is why it is essential to take advantage of this period to promote their stimulation.
Early Intervention (AT) It is the set of actions directed at children from 0 to 6 years old with developmental disorders. (motor, cognitive, sensory, communicative, emotional...) or risk of suffering from them, to their family and their environment. The goal is to respond as quickly as possible to the child's temporary or permanent needs to facilitate their development in all aspects, respecting their individual pace and basing the intervention on scientific principles as well as relational, recreational, and functional aspects.
Another fundamental objective of the intervention is to ensure that the family understands and understands their child's reality, abilities, and limitations. This is done by acting as a facilitator of the child's development, adapting their environment to their physical, mental, and social needs, ensuring their well-being, and facilitating their social integration.
GOALS
- Reduce the effects of a deficiency or deficit on the overall development of the child.
- Optimize, to the extent possible, the course of the child's development.
- Introduce the necessary mechanisms for compensation, elimination of barriers and adaptation to specific needs.
- Prevent or reduce the occurrence of secondary or associated effects or deficits caused by a high-risk disorder or situation.
- Attend to and meet the needs and demands of the family and the environment in which the child lives.
- Consider the child as an active subject of the intervention.
Intervention is aimed at children with developmental disorders and should begin as soon as a developmental deviation is detected. Intervention should be planned comprehensively and interdisciplinary, considering the child's abilities and difficulties in different areas of development, their history and developmental process, as well as the capabilities and needs of other family members, available resources, and knowledge and actions within the social environment.
(Early Care Group. (2000). White Paper on Early Care. Published by: Royal Board of Trustees for the Prevention and Care of People with Disabilities.)
Cristina Oroz Bajo