6 Ways Early Intervention (EI) Can Support Your Baby or Toddler

July 20, 2025

Curious about your child’s development? Learn how Early Intervention services can help your baby or toddler grow, thrive, and meet milestones with support that fits into everyday life.

If you’re concerned about your baby or toddler’s development, Early Intervention (EI) might be exactly what your family needs. EI encompasses a variety of services and supports, including speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, access to Early Childhood Special Educators, connections to great community resources, and more.

This free and voluntary program can support your child’s ability to learn new skills, overcome challenges, and increase future success across areas of development. It also helps families support their child’s development during the most important developmental period: the first three years. Many children who receive EI services eventually catch up with their peers, which demonstrates the power of connecting families with services and support in the early years.

In Colorado, EI services are available at no cost to families with children from birth to age three who have a developmental delay or disability. If your child doesn’t have a formal diagnosis yet, you can still begin the process of seeking support and information on EI based on a question or concern. If you are seeing signs of an early developmental delay, seeking an evaluation is simple and free, and a great step to ensure your child’s healthy development.

Here are six ways Early Intervention can support your child and family.

1. EI Builds a Plan Around Your Child’s Unique Needs

No two children are exactly alike, and children reach developmental milestones at different rates. EI professionals recognize that and tailor services accordingly once an EI evaluation finds evidence of a developmental delay. Each child’s services are personalized through an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), which is built around your family’s priorities and daily routines. Your EI team will work alongside you to create the IFSP to ensure it reflects your areas of concern and offers strategies that best suit your family and child.

Whether your goal is to help your child communicate more smoothly, build motor skills, or play with other children, your IFSP will target what matters most to you. EI is a parent-led program, so if you’re concerned about an area other than what is identified during the evaluation, your IFSP can reflect that. In EI, your goals drive the plan.

Additionally, EI services can take place in settings beyond the home, such as daycare or other familiar environments. IFSPs are tailored to fit each family’s unique needs, whether time is limited or caregiving responsibilities are shared with relatives beyond the parents. Providers can deliver therapy during daycare hours and actively involve other family members, helping them build the skills needed to better support your child.

2. EI Empowers Parents Through Coaching, Not Just Services

Research demonstrates that children learn best through their caregivers. One of the most important aspects of EI is that it empowers you—the parent or caregiver—to become your child’s most important teacher and advocate through coaching.

Instead of only working with your child during scheduled sessions, EI providers coach you on how to integrate skill-building into natural moments like mealtime, play, and bath time. For example, if mealtimes feel stressful, your EI provider might join a mealtime at home or over a video call to offer strategies and encouragement.

Through this approach, you don’t just get a therapy plan, you gain real skills, confidence, and the tools to support your child long after formal services end.

3. EI Fits into Your Life, Not the Other Way Around

EI services can and should happen in places where your child feels safe and comfortable such as home, daycare, and the park. Working in a child’s natural environment makes skills more likely to stick because they are practiced during real life, not just isolated therapy sessions.

To offer even more flexibility, EI can also be delivered virtually. With a phone, tablet, or laptop, families can access services from anywhere, receive real-time coaching and feedback, and reduce exposure risks for medically fragile children.

Many families find that a hybrid approach, which combines in-person and telehealth sessions, gives them the most flexibility. EI is designed to fit into your family’s real life, not disrupt it.

4. EI Builds Skills That Support a Lifetime of Learning

Early experiences are instrumental to brain development, and EI helps to build a strong foundation for the future. Learning to point, babble, play, or self-soothe might seem like small steps but these skills are building blocks for future success in school, relationships, and independence.

EI gives families the tools and confidence to support their child’s development long after services end. Parents often say it helped them see themselves as their child’s expert and advocate through preschool, elementary school, and beyond.

For children with disabilities who need ongoing support, EI also serves as a bridge to the broader systems families will navigate, like school districts and healthcare providers. EI providers partner with parents and caregivers to build the confidence and skills needed to continue advocating for their child long after services end.

“We want parents to recognize and embrace the fact that they are the experts on their child and therefore their child’s best advocate,” RMHS EI Program Manager, Lindsay Kuznicki shared.

EI strengthens not just your child’s skills, but your family’s ability to support their growth for years to come.

5. EI Supports a Wide Range of Needs—Not Just Walking and Talking

EI addresses the whole child, ensuring that all areas of development, from communication, movement, connection, learning, and more, work together. While many people associate EI services with speech or motor delays, the services cover much more, including:

Social-emotional skills like regulating big feelings
Feeding challenges and nutrition / dietary support
Hearing and vision supports and services such as working with ASL teachers, Deaf and Hard of Hearing teachers, and teachers of students with visual impairments
Sensory needs which can include overwhelm in stimulating environments or seeking out sensory input to feel regulated and calm
Assistive technology trials for mobility, sensory support, and communication
Play-based learning opportunities
Culturally responsive services that support families across all backgrounds and citizenship statuses

Specialists like Early Childhood Special Educators (ECSEs), occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and service coordinators collaborate to address your child’s full range of developmental needs.

6. Colorado Families Don’t Need a Diagnosis to Get Started with EI

A diagnosis or referral from your doctor is not required to access an initial EI evaluation. If you have a concern about your child’s development, you can request a free evaluation directly.

The evaluation process is family-friendly, and even if your child doesn’t qualify for EI, you’ll come away with valuable information, resources, and ideas for supporting your child’s growth.

As Kuznicki shared, “Given that kids don’t come with an instructional manual and the fact that no kid is the same, it’s impossible for a parent to feel 100% confident in their child’s development without some level of feedback and input. So why not meet with specialists who work with babies and toddlers every day?”

Are you in Denver? Get Started with EI at Rocky Mountain Human Services

If you live in the Denver metro area, we’re here to support you. Learn more about RMHS Early Intervention Services or make a referral for your child directly by visiting Early Intervention Colorado.

EI is about much more than therapy sessions. It’s about helping your child discover new skills, strengthening your family’s confidence, and setting the stage for future success.

If you have any concerns about your child’s development, don’t wait. Taking the first step can make a lifelong difference.

Learn more about EI services through RMHS. To make a referral choose one of the following options: