The goal of Early Childhood Development Intervention Services is to promote improved developmental outcomes for children through consultation, coaching, information sharing, support and services designed to meet the individual needs of the child and family.
Early Intervention professionals help families build on the things they do every day to support their child’s learning and development in order to reach their goals for their child.
At NSECDIS we use a Routine-Based Early Intervention Model. This is a unique team approach to early intervention that supports the whole family, and not only the child, throughout their daily routines. Routines are natural activities that happen regularly (such as getting dressed and mealtimes) and provide the best learning opportunities for young children to gain and improve skills. This is because routines are repetitive, predictable, functional, and meaningful. Children with additional developmental needs learn best in their natural environments such as at home or in the community.
Early intervention professionals, known as Developmental Interventionists, use coaching techniques to develop the skills, knowledge, competencies and confidence of parents and caregivers so that they are able to provide learning opportunities that will improve their child’s development. The real magic of intervention comes from the repeated learning opportunities embedded into a child’s daily activities and the interactions they have with those around them each day.
Your Developmental Interventionist (DI) is professionally trained in working with families of young children with developmental delays. Developmental Interventionists are also a knowledgeable resource regarding what is available in your community and will help you navigate through local service systems.
Your DI will visit you in your home or at another convenient location in your community. The visits will be to provide support and information to promote your child’s growth and development. Together you and your DI will develop a plan to support your child and family called a Family Service Plan (FSP).
Your Developmental Interventionist can provide many types of support:
We support screening, monitoring, information gathering and the development of individualized programming & strategies to meet children’s developmental needs. Programming takes place in families’ homes as well as, early learning & child care settings.
We support family capacity by providing participatory experiences and opportunities that strengthen parenting knowledge & skills and promote a positive sense of parenting competence and confidence.
In partnership with families, we support service coordination and system navigation, ensuring families are connected to the supports and services they need and facilitating communication and teamwork across service providers.
Many transitions may take place during the early years such as the transition from hospital to home, a transition into child care, or perhaps the transition into Pre-primary and Primary. We assist in the transition process through systematic planning and the preparation of the child, the family and the receiving setting (e.g., child care, Pre-primary & Primary).
These additional services help families access toys, books and resource materials and opportunities to connect and socialize with others in your community.
Toy Libraries
Family Resource Libraries
Family Events (& Playgroups where space is available)
Our work is with you, the parents/caregivers, as you build the foundational skills and knowledge you need to support your child’s development, now and in the future.
Your Developmental Interventionist will partner with you to:
Children and families are encouraged to:
The Baby Steps program is designed to help parents whose baby has had a complicated start in the NICU or Family Newborn Care Unit transition from hospital to home and lay the building blocks of healthy development.
Positive Solutions for Families provides families with tools to strengthen parenting practices and promotes positive approaches to learning appropriate behaviour.
Interested in a rewarding career that focuses on improving child, family and educator outcomes? With over 30 locations across Nova Scotia, we offer opportunities for engaging experiences supporting children, families and early learning and child care professionals.
At NSECDIS we have a comprehensive package of benefits that include competitive salaries, flexible work arrangements, RRSP contributions and more.
Eligibility for services is determined through an initial screening process and home visit. The eligibility criteria for services, includes a developmental delay in two or more areas of development or a risk for developmental delay based on documented biological risk factors. Please fill out the form to the right or download the form below.
info@nsecdis.ca or call (toll-free) 1-844-292-6730.
