Early Intervention

The Early Intervention Program (or EI as we refer to it at the Society) offers the opportunity for parents and caregivers to expand their knowledge of children’s growth and development, and to compliment their natural parenting skill with specialised techniques and strategies to ensure their children learn successfully.

 

There are 4 stages within the EI program:

The Baby, Infant and Toddler programs are centre-based and are conducted onsite at the Society (note, want this to be linked to the Contact Us page) by an Early Intervention consultant and an Assistant. The Inclusive Preschool program is run in a mainstream Kindergarten; please refer to Pre Kindy & Kindy page (note, want this to Pre Kind & Kindy page) for more information.

Participation in the EI program is open to all children with Down syndrome or similar chromosomal disorders and there is a fee charged for each session. Financial members of the Society receive a discount.

Please note that the ages indicated within each program are meant as an approximate guide only.

Baby Program

Following the birth of a child, families are welcome to begin their journey through the EI program as soon as they feel ready. For some families this will be almost immediately whilst for others there will, for a variety of reasons, be some delay.

During the first twelve months, parents and children are invited to attend a 2 hour session each fortnight. Siblings and other family members are also encouraged to attend.

The size and age composition of each group is entirely dependent upon the number of births that have occurred however, generally speaking, most of the children will have been born within 4-6 months of each other.

The emphasis during this stage is very much on family support, dissemination of information and early development. Whilst the children are very young it is common for many of them to sleep through part (and in some instances all) of the session and this enables parents to discuss issues and generally get to know each other.

Families will also be introduced to the Society’s Resource centre (note, want this to link to the Library page) with the EI consultant recommending toys/equipment etc a child’s relevant stage of development.

See our ‘General’ photo gallery for photos of children participating in the EI program.

Infant Program

The Infant program continues straight on from the Baby program in a seamless transition with parents and children continuing to attend sessions on a fortnightly basis.

As the children within each group move into their second year the emphasis of the program centres on developing cognitive, communication, social and self help skills through structured play.

The use of ‘key word’ signing becomes more prominent and if they haven’t attended already, parents and extended families are encouraged to attend one of the Society’s Signing training courses.

See our ‘General’ photo gallery for photos of children participating in the EI program.

Toddler Program

At approximately two and a half years of age, children enter the Toddler program and begin to attend weekly sessions.

The program provides an early introduction to a Preschool (or Kindy) structure in a small group setting and introduces pre-reading and pre-writing skill development.

In the latter half of their year in this program, children and parents ‘separate’ in preparation for moving on to the Pre Kindy program. (note, link to Pre Kindy & Kindy page)

During this separation phase, parents have the opportunity to attend a number of information sessions conducted by the Society’s Education consultants.

See our ‘General’ photo gallery for photos of children participating in the EI program.

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