Early Intervention Programs for Developmental Delays in Children

Childrens' early experiences shape the architecture of their brains.Research shows that there are critical periods of brain development and children who face adversity too early might permanently disrupt the developing neuronal pathways of their brain.Children with developmental delays have to face additional adversity because of their disability.Early intervention strategies are a successful way to reverse or mitigate the effects of toxic stress.The earlier they are implemented, the more successful they are.Early intervention programmes have positive short term impacts for the cognitive, behavioural and performance scores, but also have a tendency to fade out later in childhood.More importantly, they have long term impacts to society by preventing mental, emotional and behavioural disorders, decreasing criminality and increasing lifelong earnings for the individual.Early intervention programmes are cost effective with returns from $1.26 to $17.91 per dollar spent.