ITC supports each child’s holistic development by increasing the child’s participation in family and community activities that are important to the family.

Developmental Milestones

Making a Referral

Anyone can refer a child to early intervention simply by calling 441-1186 and asking for our Intake staff.

The Intake staff will take basic information including the child’s name, address, telephone number, date of birth, parent’s name, and reason for the referral. The Intake staff will then contact the parent/guardian to set up an intake at a convenient time and place for the family.

What happens at Intake?

Service Coordination

The Evaluation to Determine Eligibility

The day of the evaluation, a team of people will come to your home or another convenient location for the family. The team will include you, your child, your Service Coordinator, a therapist (an Occupational, Physical or Speech Therapist depending upon your child’s needs), and an Educator. Your input is invaluable throughout the assessment.

The team will complete a comprehensive evaluation to assess your child’s skills and abilities. A vision and hearing screening will also be completed. The team will report back the findings from the assessment using the Child Indicators as their guide. The report will be broken into the following areas:

1. your child's social-emotional skills and relationships;
2. your child’s ability to acquire and use new knowledge and skills, including language and early literacy; and
3. your child’s ability to take appropriate actions to meet her/his needs.

Your child will be found eligible for services if one of the following is true:

1. Your child has a 25% delay in any of the developmental domains (gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, communication, social-emotional or adaptive);
2. Your child exhibits development that is considered atypical, as determined by the assessment team. This may include high or low muscle tone, difficulty articulating age appropriate speech sounds, or behaviors that may interfere with your child’s ability to acquire upcoming developmental milestones; or
3. Your child has a diagnosed condition that has a high probability of leading to a developmental delay. Such conditions may include: seizure disorders; chromosomal abnormalities i.e. Down’s Syndrome; visual disabilities; congenital or acquired hearing loss; failure to thrive; cerebral palsy; spina bifida; etc.

Developing Your Child's Individualized Family Service Plan

Once your child is determined eligible, then the family and professionals work together to develop an Individualized Family Service Plan (called an IFSP, for short). This plan will list the outcomes (changes) the family and the rest of the IFSP team would like to see for the child and the early intervention supports and services needed to meet those outcomes.

The IFSP team, which includes the family, will come up with outcomes that are just for this one child, that are important to this family, that focus on helping the child be a part of family and community activities, and that look at the whole child rather than specific developmental skills.

Early intervention supports and services are based on the outcomes the IFSP team lists. Supports and services fit into the family’s life and take place as part of the daily activities, routines, and environments of each child and family.

What Services Will My Child Receive?

Early intervention services will be provided in the family’s home, daycare setting or other community location where the child spends time. The service provider will be a “coach” for the family, teaching the family and caregivers intervention techniques to turn daily activities (such as diaper changing or snack time) into learning opportunities for the child. The frequency of the service provider’s visits will be determined by the IFSP team based on how frequently those interventions will need to be modified.

Parents teach their children every day – they are the ones who make the most difference in their child’s development. In order for early intervention supports and services to work best, there needs to be an active partnership between the parents and the service providers. This partnership includes the family and other caregivers being involved in each early intervention session.

What Will I Be Charged to Participate in the Infant & Toddler Connection?

Charges are assessed to families for the supports and services they receive through the Infant & Toddler Connection (with the exception of evaluation, assessment, service coordination, procedural safeguards, child find and IFSP development).

Many private insurance plans, as well as Medicaid, pay for some early intervention services for which fees are charged. A sliding fee scale is available if families feel that fees associated with early intervention supports and services may create a financial hardship. No child and family will be denied services due to an inability to pay.

Transition

By the time they leave early intervention, many children have gotten all the help they need and no longer need specialized services. Other children may still need some help to achieve their developmental milestones. A transition plan helps each child and family move smoothly from early intervention to whatever comes next. Transition plan activities will be included in every IFSP for each child and family.

Intellectual Disabilities (ID) support coordination services assist individuals and their family members to access needed services that are responsive to the individual's needs.

Supportive Living Services

Supportive Living Services (SLP) are supplemental to the primary care (such as room and board and general supervision) provided by a parent or similar caregiver. They may also provide support to a client whose level of independence does not require a primary care provider. Support Coordination Services occur in conjunction with Supportive Living Services.

Supportive Living Services are provided according to the individual’s plan of care and are usually delivered with a 1:1 ration of staff to client. They are typically provided by staff in the individual's private residence, home or apartment, although services can be provided in the community as well.

Family Support

Family Support offers assistance for families who choose to provide care at home for family members with intellectual disabilities. Family support is a combination of financial assistance, services, and technical supports. 

Individual Support

Respite Options

An individual is considered to have intellectual disabilities based on the following three criteria:

1. Intellectual functioning level (IQ) is bellow 70-75
2. Significant limitations exist in two or more adaptive skill areas
3. The condition is present from childhood (defined as age 18 or less)

What are the adaptive skills essential for daily functioning?

Adaptive skill areas are those daily living skills needed to live, work and play in the community. They include communication, self-care, home living, social skills, leisure, health and safety, self-direction, functional academics (reading, writing, basic math), community use and work.

How many people are affected by intellectual disabilities?

Nationally, between 600,000 and 1.6 million adults 60 and over have intellectual and other developmental disabilities. By 2030, we can expect this rapidly growing population to number several million. Intellectual disabilities can occur in any family and cut across the lines of racial, ethic, educational, social and economic backgrounds. A child with intellectual disabilities is born every 5 minutes in the United States. 

How do intellectual disabilities affect individuals?

The effects of intellectual disabilities vary considerably among people, just as the range of abilities varies considerably among people who do not have intellectual disabilities. About 87 percent will be mildly affected and will be only a little slower than average in learning new information and skills. The remaining 13 percent of people with intellectual disabilities, those with IQs under 50, will have serious limitations in functioning. However, with early intervention, a functional education and appropriate supports as an adult, all can lead satisfying lives in the community.

Aren't intellectual disabilities a type of mental illness?