Early Intervention as a Career
Illinois has a statewide, family-centered service system to find and help children who have developmental delays, specific diagnosed conditions, or circumstances which put them at risk of substantial delays. Families and early intervention professionals work together to create an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). Early intervention professionals provide parent education, intervention, and environmental support to families to assist them in maximizing their child’s development, while respecting the diversity and culture of families and communities.
Guided by the Principles of Early Intervention, services are designed to meet and infant or toddler’s developmental needs in any one of more of the following areas:
- physical development
- cognitive development
- communication development
- social and emotional development
- adaptive development
Considering a Career in Early Intervention?
The Personnel Improvement Center has a video that gives an overview of some aspects of Early Intervention.
Chris Guillen Photography has a video entitled, “What We Love about EI.”
Provider Connections has a brochure entitled, “Consider a Career in Early Intervention.”
Career Opportunities in Early Intervention
Provider Connections credentials and enrolls professionals in a variety of disciplines.
- Audiology
- Developmental Therapy
- Family Training and Support
- Nursing
- Occupational Therapy
- Optometry
- Orientation and Mobility
- Pediatrics/Medicine
- Physical Therapy
- Psychology
- Service Coordination/Case Management
- Social Work
- Speech/Language Pathology
Resources for Students
The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.’s Education and Careers section contains information about schools, job outlooks and resources.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Information for Students provides many resources for people considering pursuing a career in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology.
The American Physical Therapy Association has a section, Information for Prospective Students, which provides information about careers, programs, and admission.
The Illinois Developmental Therapy Association has a section about becoming a developmental therapist at https://illinoisdta.org/Become-a-DT