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Which Early Intervention Services Help Young Kids with Disabilities the Most?
Study of early interventions for children with disabilities
During 1998 and 1999, researchers at Rutgers, the State University (New Jersey) completed and partially disseminated the results of the Early Intervention Systems Study (EISS), a longitudinal study of early intervention for young children with developmental disabilities and chronic medical conditions.
Key Findings
The researchers reported the following findings to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF):
- The majority of children (62 percent) had at least one medical condition at the time of entry into early intervention, and of those, 40 percent had multiple diagnoses.
- Children without a medical condition who received early intervention services were most likely to have been referred because of developmental delay in communication skills.
- Families of children with medical conditions tended to have lower incomes and education levels than families of children without a medical condition.
- A medical condition significantly increased the cost of caring for a child.
- Slightly more than half (51 percent) of mothers in the study sample were full-time homemakers.
Funding
RWJF supported this project through a grant of $39,859.