Jefferson County Early Intervention program helps children reach key milestones

STEUBENVILLE -- When it comes to helping children and their families, the Early Intervention (EI) program at the Jefferson County Board of Developmental Disabilities takes a proactive approach to ensure kids reach their milestones.

EI coordinates services for parents of children from newborns to 3 years old with disabilities, and the program employs developmental specialists (DS) who work directly with the children to help them achieve positive outcomes. Supervisor Neysa Rogers indicated that her team includes two full-time and one part-time DS, in addition to four service coordinators, two part-time speech therapists and a part-time physical therapist. The program currently serves 69 children, while another 19 are being assessed for possible eligibility. Notably, a physician’s referral is not required; families can reach out to the program directly or refer online at ohioearlyintervention.org.

“We have developmental specialists in addition to therapists, and we assist the majority of the children,” Rogers said. “Anyone can make a referral, and you do not need a doctor’s referral for an evaluation to receive services.”

Developmental Specialist Erin Loy has been serving for 25 years but noted that despite outreach efforts, many people remain unaware of the EI program.

“A referral can come from anywhere, and we’re really trying to get the word out to parents that they can call us and make a referral on their own,” she said. “A lot of people don’t even know about us, so if pediatricians don’t bring it up they have no idea.”

EI incorporates the Primary Service Provider (PSP) initiative, a widely accepted practice that brings together a core team of a service coordinator, development specialist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech-language pathologist, audiologists and other related specialists. The PSP method supports families of infants in achieving the outcomes outlined in their Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), and the team of professionals works together to provide assessment, intervention, consultation and education to support children, families and caregivers. Once a referral is made, the service coordinator contacts the family and schedules a meeting to evaluate the child. The assessment evaluates if the child has a delay and, if so, qualifies them for the program. Subsequently, an IFSP is developed to establish goals and strategies for treatment.

“It would be based on what the concern is. Developmental specialists cover a little bit of everything and do research-based interventions. We are supposed to know a lot more about social-emotional functioning because everyone else is more specialized. Speech takes care of communication and physical therapy is gross motor skills,” Loy added.

A DS will visit the home once consent is given for an IFSP, and if a case is more severe, a therapist becomes involved and helps provide equipment and other services for further support. Therapists and support staff are also consulted to obtain ideas to help a child progress, and the EI program continues working with the child until they turn 3 years of age. The time spent with children and families is very special and creates a bond that lasts for years, resulting in an abundance of success stories.

“I love being hands-on and teaching babies how to crawl, walk and talk. It brings me joy to receive videos from families whose children have exited EI and are still making progress. Some of our children experience speech delays and leave our program for preschool while still needing some speech services,” Rogers explained. “Then, two or three years later, you might run into them or receive a call from their parents and find out that their child is speaking in full sentences. We also receive videos and pictures of these children taking their first steps. Even the smallest milestones are significant successes in early intervention, especially for our medically disabled kids. We’ve seen many rare genetic diagnoses and diseases, and we’ve taken care of children on ventilators or tube feeds and colostomies. Every day is a learning experience for us, and that experience becomes a resource for the next family.”

“My favorite thing is seeing them later,” added Loy. “You will run into them a couple of years later and see what they are doing and what they become. We do become one of the family.”

She mentioned one child with suspected autism who did not interact at first but is now talking and actively engaged.

Jenn Orlando, who has served as a DS for nearly three decades, said the first three years were vital.

“I feel like any help we can give the family is going to be lifelong, whether it’s advocating for themselves or developmental suggestions,” Orlando continued. “My biggest thing is to read to your baby every day, even if it’s two minutes. I feel like a lot of my families do that and I think it’s really huge.”

She said the most important point of the job was giving the parents confidence to be parents.

“I love seeing when the light bulb goes off in the child or the parent and the excitement,” Orlando added. “It’s little steps with this age group, but every visit you can see progress for the most part.”

“Being able to remind the parents how far their kid has come is important,” Loy interjected. “Sometimes you forget, especially when a lot is going on, and it’s hard to see when the small things have added up.”

For more information or to make a referral, contact the EI program at (740) 264-7176, Ext. 2508, or visit the website at ohioearlyintervention.org.