THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY INTERVENTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY INTERVENTION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Child development is a series of physical, intellectual, and emotional changes and
behaviors that occur in children as they thrive. During development, a child goes through a
series of developmental steps that make him/her ready for independent adult life. The skills
that children acquire in each domain of development are also known as developmental
milestones. More simply, these milestones include skills that a child needs to develop in
order to properly function in each domain (e.g. crawling, walking, talking, smiling, reading,
etc).
The domains of development are: motor skills, social functioning,
emotional/psychological domain, language and communication, self-help skills, etc.
One of the main tasks of every caregiver is to follow their child’s development from birth to
their independence. When doing so, the caregivers should keep in mind that every child is
different and every child has their own developmental pace. That said, each caregiver also
has their own unique experience with their child. For this reason, experts have comprised
lists of milestones organized by periods of development. These lists can be very useful for
parents but should always be followed with caution. For example, a slight delay in one area
doesn’t mean that the child is never going to develop that skill, and parents should not
always be alarmed if their children don’t acquire a certain skill in a proposed timeline.
The first five years of life are crucial in a person’s lifelong learning and development. It is
important to mention that milestones follow a predictable course in children and the later
skills always build on previous ones achieved. It’s important to mention that a child can not
“skip” a certain milestone and proceed with a more complex skill, without fully developing a
more simple one. Early recognition of delays in development is of key importance since it
allows for referral to therapeutic services, and children referred for early intervention are
more likely to make gains in developmental milestones.