RESOURCES FOR EARLY INTERVENTION
Below is a 60-resource guide for early intervention, designed for families, caregivers, early childhood educators, and professionals supporting infants and toddlers with developmental concerns. It includes developmental monitoring, IDEA Part C services, therapy supports, family coaching, early-learning programs, advocacy, and Texas/North Texas referrals.
Early intervention serves infants and toddlers from birth through age 2 who have developmental delays, disabilities, or certain medical conditions. Under IDEA Part C, services are designed around the child’s and family’s priorities. They may include evaluation, service coordination, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, assistive technology, and transition planning.headstart+1
Developmental Monitoring
CDC Learn the Signs. Act Early. — Free milestone information, developmental-monitoring tools, videos, and next-step guidance for families, healthcare providers, and early educators.cdc
CDC Milestone Tracker app — Free app for tracking developmental milestones from 2 months through 5 years and sharing a summary with a healthcare provider.cdc
CDC developmental milestone checklists — Printable and digital checklists for monitoring communication, movement, social-emotional, cognitive, and adaptive development.cdc
CDC Milestones in Action — Photo and video library showing developmental milestones in everyday activities.cdc
CDC “Concerned About Development?” family tip sheet — Guidance on discussing developmental concerns and obtaining follow-up support.earlychildhoodimpact
CDC early-educator resources — Developmental-monitoring tools created for childcare providers, Head Start staff, home visitors, and other early-care professionals.cdc
CDC Watch Me! Training — Free online professional-development course for early childhood professionals on monitoring development and sharing concerns with families.earlychildhoodimpact
CDC milestone children’s books — Free books and family tools that explain developmental milestones in accessible language.earlychildhoodimpact
NIDCD speech and language developmental milestones — Communication-development information and warning signs that may warrant further evaluation. nidcd.nih
ASHA Identify the Signs — Public resources about speech, language, hearing, feeding, and communication development, including when to seek professional help.identifythesigns
AAP Bright Futures — Preventive health and developmental screening guidance used by pediatric providers.
HealthyChildren.org — American Academy of Pediatrics family resource site with child-development, behavior, health, sleep, and early-learning guidance.
IDEA Part C and Early Intervention
IDEA Part C — Federal program that supports state early-intervention systems for infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays and their families.congress
Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) — National resource center with IDEA Part C information, state coordinator contacts, family resources, and early-intervention guidance.parentcenterhub+1
ECTA: State Part C Coordinator Directory — Find the state agency and local referral pathway for early-intervention services.parentcenterhub
Part C Child Find — State responsibility to identify, locate, and evaluate eligible infants and toddlers who may need early-intervention services.ectacenter
No-cost evaluation and assessment — States must make evaluation and assessment available at public expense when an infant or toddler is referred for Part C eligibility consideration.ectacenter
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) — Family-centered plan that identifies child and family outcomes, services, service coordination, natural-environment supports, and transition steps.headstart
Service coordination — A designated provider helps families understand services, coordinate appointments, access community resources, and prepare for transition.ectacenter
Natural-environment services — Early-intervention services are commonly delivered within home, childcare, playground, and other typical daily settings, because skills are most useful when practiced in real routines.
Family-directed outcomes — Families help choose goals that matter in daily life, such as mealtimes, play, sleep, communication, mobility, childcare participation, or community outings.headstart
Transition planning at age 3 — Part C includes transition planning so families can explore preschool special education, Head Start, community programs, and other supports before the child turns 3.ectacenter
Head Start: Working With Part C Providers — Family and program guidance on IFSP outcomes, Part C coordination, and inclusive early-learning support.headstart
Parent Center Hub: Part C Referral System — Explanation of how to locate a state early-intervention system through a pediatrician, hospital, ECTA, or state referral network.parentcenterhub
Therapy and Developmental Supports
Speech-language pathology — Early support for communication, gestures, play, feeding, speech-sound development, language understanding, expressive language, and AAC.
Occupational therapy — Support for fine motor, sensory regulation, play, daily routines, feeding, self-care, and participation in childcare/community settings.
Physical therapy — Support for mobility, posture, motor development, balance, strength, coordination, and safe movement.
Developmental specialist services — Coaching for play, learning, problem-solving, attention, routines, early cognition, and participation.
Feeding and swallowing evaluation — Appropriate when children have persistent difficulty chewing, coughing/choking, limited intake, poor growth, extreme food refusal, or stressful meals. Audiological evaluation — Hearing should be assessed when there is a speech-language delay, inconsistent responses to sound, frequent ear infections, or listening concerns.
Vision evaluation — Seek assessment when there are concerns about eye contact with objects, visual tracking, eye alignment, navigating space, or visual attention.
Assistive technology evaluation — Consider low- and high-tech supports such as adapted toys, seating, switches, visual supports, communication systems, or mobility equipment.
AAC supports—gestures, signs, picture choices, communication boards, and speech-generating devices—can give children a way to communicate now; AAC can complement, rather than prevent, speech development.
Play-based intervention — Uses motivating, developmentally appropriate play to build communication, motor, cognitive, and social-emotional skills.
Parent coaching — Providers model strategies, observe parent-child routines, and help caregivers practice responsive communication and developmental supports during ordinary activities.
Routines-based intervention — Embeds practice into bathing, dressing, eating, errands, book sharing, outdoor play, cleanup, and bedtime rather than adding lengthy “therapy homework.”
Early childhood mental-health consultation — Support for attachment, co-regulation, behavior, sleep routines, caregiver stress, and social-emotional development.
Autism-specific early supports — When a young child is autistic or shows social-communication differences, intervention should emphasize access to communication, play, regulation, safety, autonomy, and family priorities.
Family Education and Community Programs
Zero to Three — National resources on early brain development, play, attachment, behavior, routines, family well-being, and responsive caregiving.
Parent to Parent USA — Family-to-family programs that connect caregivers with trained parent mentors who have relevant lived experience.
Family Voices — Family-led network supporting caregivers of children and youth with disabilities or special health-care needs.
Family-to-Family Health Information Centers — Family-led centers in every state that help caregivers navigate health coverage, medical systems, benefits, and community resources.
Parent Training and Information Centers — Free state-based family support on disability rights, special education, transitions, evaluations, and advocacy.
Center for Parent Information and Resources — National directory for locating Parent Centers, family resources, and IDEA guidance.parentcenterhub
Early Head Start — Free or low-cost, federally funded early-childhood program serving eligible pregnant people, infants, toddlers, and families; programs may offer developmental screenings, home visiting, and coordinated support.
Head Start — Preschool and family-support program serving eligible children ages 3–5; useful during the transition from ECI/Part C to preschool.
Help Me Grow — Local/regional developmental-resource and referral network available in many communities; availability differs by state and county.
United Way 211 — Call 211 or search the local database for early childhood, childcare, food, housing, healthcare, parenting, disability, and family-support services.
Easterseals — National network whose local affiliates may provide early childhood, therapy, disability, and family-support services.
The Arc — National network that can help families navigate disability services, benefits, advocacy, and community participation.
Autism Navigator — Research-informed courses and tools for caregivers and providers supporting early social communication, play, language, and developmental learning.parentcenterhub
Autism Navigator “About Autism in Toddlers” — Free online course with video examples of early developmental differences and family-centered supports.autismnavigator
Texas Early Intervention
Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) — Statewide Texas Health and Human Services program for eligible children from birth through 36 months with developmental delays, disabilities, qualifying medical diagnoses, or atypical development.hhs.texas+1
Texas ECI referral line — Anyone may make a referral; contact the local ECI program or call the HHS Office of the Ombudsman at 1-877-787-8999 for referral help.hhs.texas+1
Texas ECI evaluation and IFSP process — After referral, the local program contacts the caregiver to arrange developmental evaluation and, when eligible, family-centered planning.eastersealshouston
Texas ECI services — May include developmental assessment, service coordination, specialized skills training, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, nutrition, auditory/vision services, and transition planning.esc19
SPEDTex: Learn the Signs. Act Early. — Texas-focused family page linking developmental milestones to local special-education and family-support pathways.spedtex
Partners Resource Network (PRN) — Texas’s federally funded Parent Training and Information Center network, providing family education and advocacy resources.
Texas Parent to Parent (TxP2P) — Parent-to-parent emotional support, education, resource navigation, and connection for families of children and adults with disabilities or health conditions.
Texas Project FIRST — Family resource site explaining early childhood special education, ARD/IEP processes, disability supports, and parent participation.
North Texas Options
Metrocare Early Childhood Intervention — Dallas County ECI provider serving children from birth through 36 months with developmental delays, disabilities, or certain medical conditions; anyone may refer a child.metrocareservices
Metrocare ECI referral information — Parents, physicians, childcare providers, neighbors, and community agencies may make referrals; the local program gathers basic family, child, language, and concern information to begin the process.metrocareservices
Dallas ISD Child Find / Preschool Program for Children With Disabilities — School-district evaluation and early-childhood special-education pathway for children approaching or over age 3.
Region 10 Education Service Center — North Texas training and family resources related to early childhood special education, inclusion, autism, communication, behavior, and transition.
The Warren Center — North Texas nonprofit providing early childhood services, developmental support, therapy, and family resources; verify eligibility and current service area directly.
Transcend Children’s Therapy — Dallas–Fort Worth-area provider of pediatric developmental therapy services; verify age, referral, insurance, and availability directly.
Children’s Health Dallas developmental services — Pediatric developmental assessment and therapy options; speak with the child’s pediatrician or the hospital directly for appropriate referral pathways.
When To Refer
Refer for developmental screening or early intervention when a child loses skills, has no words or limited gestures, does not respond consistently to sound, has feeding or swallowing concerns, misses multiple milestones, shows major movement differences, has difficulty engaging in play or daily routines, or when a caregiver simply remains concerned. Developmental monitoring should prompt a conversation and appropriate follow-up—it is not a diagnosis by itself.cdc+1
Families do not need to wait for a formal diagnosis to make an early-intervention referral. In Texas, a referral may be made by a parent, caregiver, physician, childcare provider, neighbor, or community agency, and the state system determines eligibility through its evaluation process.
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