Early Intervention Truly Invaluable

What I know for sure is that Early Intervention can truly be an invaluable tool regardless of what kind of developmental delay a child may be experiencing. Research has proven that time is of the essence when trying to reach children who have begun to slip into the "Blackhole" of Autism. The earlier a child can receive services the greater the gains that can be attained. Parents must advocate early not just to attain services but to ensure the services are appropriately addressing the developmental delays. My sons had initially been identified as being speech delayed and began receiving services from they were 18 months old. Based on their initial diagnosis the speech provider utilized standard techniques that were not appropriate for children that were actually exhibiting key signs of Autism. As a result their first 18 months of speech services were totally ineffective. Once they were properly diagnosed they went from totally non-verbal to talking in complete sentences within a few months.
Early Intervention services are offered free by the federal government for children ages 0 - 3 years. Although, this information should be offered to parents through health care providers it too is not readily available.

These links are some resources for where to begin and knowing what the federal regulation guidelines are:

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/early.intervention.html

http://idea.ed.gov/

Share Red Flags

One of the greatest gifts someone could have given me when my sons were infants were some of the key signs to look for that might have indicated that my boys were not typically developing. Rather than holding this as a resentment against the health community; I now use every opportunity to share this key information with young parents, grandparents, or anyone who may inquire "How did you know?"
Five years ago this information was not readily available or easy to locate even when doing any kind of advanced search. Fortunately or Unfortunately based on increased need it can be located fairly easily.
These are two key sites I regularily refer people to visit:

http://www.autismspeaks.org/whatisit/learnsigns.php#redflags

http://firstsigns.org/products_svcs/index.htm