For young children with developmental delays or disabilities, Early Childhood Intervention greatly improves success rates in school and later in life.
Children born with a disability or a delay in their development can start out at a disadvantage that lasts into their school years and beyond. However, numerous studies have shown that these children can catch up with their peers and even erase early setbacks with targeted help early in life. In Texas, some children under age three with disabilities and developmental delays receive services that improve their health and their physical, social, emotional, language, and cognitive development through a family-centered system called Early Childhood Intervention (ECI). Unfortunately, due to state budget cuts in 2011, thousands of young children in Texas are missing out on receiving these services, crucial to their development and growth.