Abstract
Early intervention (EI) for families of infants and toddlers with or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities is federally guided to begin at birth or older. With technological advances in prenatal testing, pregnant families are increasingly learning of diagnoses that result in EI eligibility once the child is born. For these families, research is needed to determine the effects of beginning EI prenatally rather than waiting until birth. In this exploratory study, the perspectives of state EI administrators were uncovered to inform the development of a prenatal intervention to undertake such research. Participants reported strong support for prenatal EI, provided recommendations for prenatal intervention design, and offered potential systems change needs. These findings will contribute to the development and testing of a prenatal intervention that makes sense to and is compatible with one critical stakeholder group—those who administer EI programs.
Highlights
Federal policy and regulations guide service and support provision to families of children with or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities
In the original U.S special education law passed over 40 years ago, known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004), state provision of special education services for preschoolers aged three to five years was voluntary, while services for infants and toddlers, from birth to three years, was not included at all
Technological advances in prenatal testing have increasingly resulted in families receiving certain diagnoses, such as cleft palate, Down syndrome and other trisomies, and congenital heart disease during the prenatal period (McKechnie et al 2016)
Summary
Federal policy and regulations guide service and support provision to families of children with or at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. These guidelines evolved over time based on the best available research. One such advancement was services were provided at increasingly younger ages as research uncovered the importance of intervening earlier. Guided by evidence-based interventions, the 1986 amendments mandated that states provide special education services to preschoolers, and included an incentive for states to create an early intervention (EI) system for families with infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities. Technological advances in prenatal testing have increasingly resulted in families receiving certain diagnoses, such as cleft palate, Down syndrome and other trisomies, and congenital heart disease during the prenatal period (McKechnie et al 2016)
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