At Yeled v’Yalda we know that healthy growth and development begins at birth, as infants start discovering and interacting with the world around them. Reaching crucial milestones, in areas such as feeding, movement, and communication, allows children to progress smoothly from one stage to the next along their developmental path. When a child does not achieve certain milestones on time, quick intervention is key to helping get them back on track and avoid falling behind in their skills and abilities. At Yeled v’Yalda, we believe that Early Intervention is one of the most powerful and effective tools in our repertoire. Our Early Intervention (0-3) program addresses the needs of our youngest clients, with the steadfast goal of providing the skills they need to set their development on course as promptly and smoothly as possible. When a parent has concerns about their child’s development, the earlier they seek help, the greater the chance their child is given to overcome the developmental challenges they are facing.

About Early Intervention

Yeled v’Yalda’s Early Intervention program offers evaluation, service coordination, and therapeutic intervention for infants and toddlers ages 0-3, providing a full range of services in the child’s natural home or daycare environment, which are geared toward fostering optimal development in the critical years before preschool.

Our Early Intervention process begins with a comprehensive series of thorough evaluations performed by our highly-skilled monolingual and bilingual evaluators.  The evaluation process is multifaceted, based upon informal observation, formal clinical assessment, specialized and standardized testing, and parent interview and input.  Evaluations assess all facets of a child’s development, and provide clinical recommendations and detailed goals regarding how to best address any identified developmental concerns. 

All developmental findings and subsequent recommendations are incorporated into an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), which is created together with parents and families and reflects the child’s full developmental profile.  It describes all evaluation findings, lists individualized goals to be addressed, and details the specifics regarding the services which will be provided.

Yeled v’Yalda provides service coordinators who guide and support children and families throughout all stages in the Early Intervention process.  Yeled v’Yalda’s service coordinators are well-versed in the wide range of resources available to children and families, and work in collaboration with parents and children to accommodate individual and cultural needs in a sensitive and confidential manner. 

Yeled v’Yalda’s Early Intervention services cover the entire range of developmental domains, including special instruction, speech and hearing therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, health and nutrition, social work, vision, assistive technology, and family training.  Our experienced and dedicated Early Intervention therapy providers are trained in a range of specialty areas such as sensory integration, cognitive therapy, social skills development, feeding and oral motor skills, and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).

Services

ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) is an intensive, evidence-based therapy built upon the study of learning and its impact on behavior, that has been shown to provide positive and lasting effects upon child development. It is designed to address the unique needs of children with a diagnosis of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) by fostering crucial skills in areas such as language and communication, social-emotional growth, behavioral and academic learning, and overall independence.

Yeled v’Yalda’s assistive technology services help guide parents and children in selecting, acquiring, and learning to use an assistive technology communication device. Assistive technology services include the evaluation and selection; fitting, customization and adaptation; purchase or leasing; and maintenance, repair, or replacement of assistive technology devices. In addition, our assistive technology services help coordinate the use of the device in a range of natural daily settings, and with other therapies, interventions, and services. This includes training or technical assistance for the child and family in using the device, as well as for the professionals working with the child, such as Early Intervention providers, teachers, healthcare providers, or other individuals involved in the child’s daily life and education.

Yeled v’Yalda offers family training services, which provide the opportunity for parents and families to meet and confer with their child’s team of professionals. Family training allows parents and providers to share information and collaborate together on the child’s progress and development, and to learn methods and techniques to best address the child’s needs and goals.

Nutrition services help address the nutritional needs of the children enrolled in Yeled v’Yalda’s Early Intervention program. Licensed and certified nutritionists assess feeding skills and nutritional concerns, develop and monitor appropriate plans to address nutritional requirements, carry out nutritional goals, and make referrals for appropriate community resources.

Occupational therapy services help children gain independence by building and strengthening skills in areas such as fine motor, sensory motor, and visual motor, as well as by learning to coordinate these skills to allow children to perform a healthy range of daily tasks and activities. Occupational therapy is designed to help children build independence by increasing their ability to adapt and function within a variety of natural environments such as home, daycare, and community settings.

Yeled v’Yalda’s Early Intervention physical therapy services benefit children with physical, developmental, or neurological delays and disabilities. Physical therapy services focus upon remediating impairments of movement that may lead to functional limitations within a child’s daily life. Physical therapy services target gross motor and balance skills, and help children achieve goals such as sitting, crawling, walking, and running. Yeled v’Yalda’s Early Intervention physical therapy services are designed to help children achieve functional independence in order to be able to successfully play, interact, explore, and discover the world around them.

Yeled v’Yalda provides skilled and experienced service coordinators who are responsible for supporting and assisting children and families through all aspects of the Early Intervention program. This includes coordinating multidisciplinary evaluations, developing the IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan), arranging for and monitoring therapy services, connecting the family with appropriate community resources, and facilitating transition, if necessary, from Early Intervention to programming for children ages 3-5.

Yeled v’Yalda’s social work services provide guidance and support designed to assist parents and families in best managing and coping with their child’s individualized needs. Services include a range of emotional supports such as counseling, parent training and education, and referrals to additional community resources.

Yeled v’Yalda offers Early Intervention special instruction services which provide goal-oriented learning activities designed to enhance a child’s cognitive and social-emotional development. Special instructors provide a range of fun, engaging, and age-appropriate learning opportunities to stimulate the intellectual and emotional development of young children.

Yeled v’Yalda’s Early Intervention program provides speech- and language-based therapy services to address the development of receptive and expressive language, feeding and swallowing, and oral-motor skills. Speech pathologists interact with young children by playing, speaking, and interacting, and use a plethora of toys, books, pictures, and objects to help stimulate a child’s ability to use language to engage with others, and with the world around them.

Yeled v’Yalda’s Early Intervention program offers comprehensive vision services to help quickly identify children with visual impairments, and provide services and training to remediate vision difficulties.

How to Qualify

Early Intervention is intended for infants and toddlers ages 0-3, who have an established developmental delay in a specific area of development, or a diagnosed physical or mental disability which is associated with a high probability of developmental delay.  These conditions include, but are not limited to, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down’s syndrome, motor disorders, and vision and hearing problems. 

Eligibility for Early Intervention services is determined through evaluation to assess whether the child is performing below age-expectancy in at least one area of development, as measured by formal, standardized testing.  To receive services, the delay must be at least 33% and 2 standard deviations below the mean in one area of development; or 25% and 1.5 standard deviations below the mean in 2 or more areas of development.

FAQ

What happens once my child is referred?

An initial service coordinator will be assigned and explain how the EIP works. The service coordinator will guide and support the family throughout their stay in the EIP. The service coordinator will help the family choose an evaluation agency. If the evaluation indicates that a child is eligible for the EIP, an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) meeting will be scheduled. At the IFSP meeting, a team will work with the family to develop a plan and goals to meet the child’s individual developmental needs. Following the meeting, early interventionists will work with the family to meet the child’s developmental goals.

If your child has been evaluated and found not eligible or is at risk of developing a delay, the family may enroll in the Early Intervention Developmental Monitoring Program at no cost.

EIP services must be provided at no cost to families. Health Insurance may be used to pay for Early Intervention services but will not affect the family’s insurance coverage.

In New York State, early intervention services must be provided at no cost to families regardless of the family’s health insurance coverage. However, New York State’s system of payments for the EIP includes the use of public insurance (such as Medicaid and Child Health Plus) and private insurance for reimbursement of early intervention services. These important sources of funding help to secure the availability of early intervention services for future generations. The family will not be asked to pay any out-of-pocket costs, such as deductibles or co-payments, for any services your child and family receive in the EIP. If your family’s health insurance plan is not regulated by New York State Insurance Law, the plan will not be billed unless the family gives informed written consent.

EI services must be provided in natural environments as much as possible. Natural environments are settings where infants and toddlers, with and without special needs, and their families participate in everyday routines and activities that are important to them and serve as important learning opportunities. Natural environments can include your home, places where child care is provided, playgrounds, libraries, and other community settings. Natural environments are not just about places or locations, they are also about family routines and activities including family meals, bathing, bed time, family celebrations, household chores, and visiting family and friends. There may be some services that are provided at an agency or a school that specializes in EI services if this is the setting that is best for your child. Since natural environments are where children with or without special needs live, learn, play, and participate in community/neighborhood activities and events, this gives all children the chance to learn from one another.