Impact of Early intervention on Cognitive Development of Children at Risk of Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Early intervention services are designed to meet the developmental needs of children from birth to 3 years of age who have developmental delay in physical, cognitive, communication, social, emotional or adaptive development or have a diagnosed condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay and disabilities. The aim of present study is to find out the effect of early intervention on cognitive development of children at risk of developmental disabilities. Samples of 40 children were selected from institutes of Sweekaar-Upkaar and Daffodils play school for children. Bayley scale of infant development (BSID) is used for the present study. The data was analyzed and interpreted by calculating mean, SDs, paired ‘t' test and ‘F' test were used. The  study revealed  that there is positive impact of the intervention programme on the cognitive development of children at risk of developmental disabilities. There is significant improvement in performance on mental developmental index (MDI) of Bayley scale of infant development in experimental groups when compared to control groups.