Published online September 1, 2004
PEDIATRICS Vol. 114 No. 3 September 2004, pp. 896 (doi:10.1542/peds.2004-0941)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cunningham, R. D.
Right arrow Articles by Mallik, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cunningham, R. D., Jr
Right arrow Articles by Mallik, S.
Related Collections
Right arrow Office Practice

Delay in Referral to Early-Intervention Services

Robert D. Cunningham, Jr, MD
Dover, DE 19904

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

To the Editor.—

In their article regarding early-intervention services provided through Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Bailey et al1 express concern that the length of time is excessive between the identification of a child with a possible disability and referral for intervention services. However, whether this delay in referral for intervention is harmful totally depends on whether the interventions available are effective.

The Part C program serves a large number of children with a variety of disabilities or risk factors, and the effectiveness of the interventions differs with the disability involved. For example, for children diagnosed early with hearing loss, the effectiveness of early intervention is well-supported by existing data, and a delay in referral for intervention may have a substantial negative impact on the future development of the child with hearing loss.

Depending on how risk is defined, varying numbers of children, perhaps a majority, who might be referred for early-intervention services because they have been deemed at risk, will develop normally even if early-intervention services are not provided. For such children, it can be argued that immediate referral for intervention . . . [Full Text of this Article]