THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICE DOSAGE AND CHILD OUTCOME GROWTH PATTERNS

Abstract

The current study examines the relationships between early intervention service dosage, as measured by actual hours of developmental therapy received, and child outcome ratings on (a) positive social-emotional skills, (b) acquisition of knowledge and skills, and (c) the use of appropriate actions to meet his/her needs. States are required to report data on these three child outcomes to the Office of Special Education Programs with the United States Department of Education (U.S. Office of Special Education Programs, 2016). Spearman’s rho correlations were used to explore these relationships to gather some preliminary findings. Results indicated that service dosage has positive and nonsignificant relationships with positive social-emotional skills and acquisition of knowledge and skills and a positive and significant relationships with the use of appropriate actions to meet his/her needs. A secondary analysis explored the relationships between age at entry and each child outcome rating and found positive and nonsignificant relationships. Findings from this study support previous research in that dosage should take into account the informal interventions that are happening between early intervention service visits. Additionally, eligibility category should be investigated when considering the impact of the age at entry into early intervention services and its relationship with child outcomes.