Joanne Palermo, Executive Director and owner of Early Childhood Assessment Services, joined us, on this episode, to talk with us about the importance of Early Intervention, for NICU babies. During a NICU stay and even with a full-term baby, families will hear about Early Intervention, but what does that mean?

You may have many questions for example:

How important is it for families to set up an Early Intervention evaluation?

Does early intervention cost money?

What services will Early Intervention provide?

We will get the answers to all of these questions and more from Joanne. Throughout her career, she has worked with different age groups in the field of special education. For the last 25 years, her focus has been on helping children and their families in early intervention and more specifically early intervention evaluations. She has three grown children and two grandchildren.

This topic is near and dear to the Today is a Good Day Founder, Martha's, heart. To this day, she credits her daughter, Claire’s, ability to walk to their dedicated and wonderful Early Intervention therapist.

On this episode you will hear:

• 
  
• How Joanne got into this field
  
• What has been rewarding about the focus on Early Intervention
  
• The term “Early Intervention” can be overwhelming to hear. We will discuss what that term really means
  
• Why it is important for families with babies in the NICU to speak with their social workers or medical teams about an Early Intervention evaluation
  
• The qualification factors for Early Intervention
  
• What is required from the family of the child for these services
  
• We will demystify the frequently asked questions about costs
  
• COVID has certainly impacted therapy for kids - we will discuss teletherapy and what that can look like for families
  
• We will also discuss the differences between Early Intervention and traditional outpatient therapy
  
• Martha remembers when Claire came home from the NICU (and shares that story) and shares why it was so hard to answer the question “How old is she?”
  
• We discuss the impact of adjusted age on developmental milestones
  
• If a child graduates from Early Intervention before they are 3 years old, we discuss whether they can have another evaluation and get services again
  
• We discuss next steps after Early Intervention
  
• We discuss what to do if a child doesn’t qualify for services through their county, and discuss private therapy being covered by secondary insurance
  
• Joanne shares her advice for families currently navigating the NICU
  

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