Why is Early Identification So Important
Brain Research. Recent advances in brain research show how the environment sculpts the young child's brain, as neurons form connections and mature in response to stimulation. The environment has the greatest potential to influence the child's developing brain during a child's first few years of life. Early experiences affect brain structure because the brain operates on a "use it or lose it" principle (Carnegie Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children, 1994; Ounce of Prevention Fund, 1996). If a child does not have adequate emotional, physical, cognitive, and language stimulation, neurons can be lost permanently.
School Readiness. Language development is one of the most critical school readiness skills. A child's capacity to talk and the size of their vocabulary when they enter kindergarten is predictive of success in school. Children with language problems in preschool are likely to face poor educational achievement at school age and are at increased risk to develop emotional and behavioral disorders (Baker & Cantwell, 1987; Prizant, Audet., Burke, et al., 1990). Follow-up studies of preschoolers with speech and language problems consistently demonstrate persisting communication impairments in a substantial proportion of children, and a high incidence of learning disabilities (Howlin & Rutter, 1987). Early intervention may prevent or decrease the severity of language delays in preschoolers, enhance school readiness, and increase later academic success in school.
Cumulative Effects of Poverty and Environmental Risk. Research on young children raised in poverty demonstrates the dramatic detrimental impact that impoverished environments can have on a child's capacity to learn to talk. Strong correlations exist among the amount that parents talk to their children, socioeconomic status, children's vocabulary, and children's IQ (Hart & Risley, 1992; Walker, Greenwood, Hart, & Carta, 1994). As documented by Hart and Risley (1992), children's capacity for learning language is solidified by age 3, and the cumulative effects of the environment are evident. By school age, children in poverty are more likely to have developmental disabilities and behavior problems, and to require special education services than other children (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan, 1997; US DOE, 2000). Educational programs beginning at 3 or 4 years of age could not hope to overcome such vast differences in cumulative experience. The challenge that we face is how to intervene very early in children's lives to effectively enhance child development and impact on school readiness.