If you’re denied Early Intervention in New York City, it does not necessarily mean your child does not need therapy. It means your child did not qualify for Early Intervention services.
Early intervention “EI” in New York City is given, if your child is qualified based on the current (and ever changing) EI standards. In speech therapy, Early Intervention assess six areas of development including; speech production, comprehension, play, pragmatic skills, gestures, interaction/attachment. We often read reports of a child having delays or disorders in one of those areas, but the child did not qualify for services, because the criteria wasn’t severe enough to meet EI standards. This is common and frequent. It does not mean the child does not need therapy.
If your child does not qualify for EI, you have options:
- You can disagree with the results
- You can get them evaluated again
- You can schedule a session through your insurance
- You can speak with a speech pathologist to understand the severity of the needs