Overview

early intervention

Early intervention gives your child the chance to achieve their best.  If you have any concerns about your child's development, do not wait. 

What does Early Intervention mean?  Early Intervention is providing help to a child at the first signs of a developmental delay. Early Intervention includes: speech therapy, parent coaching, behaviour consultation, occupational therapy, developmental and behaviour therapies and more.

Where to Start 

Contact us by clicking here or call us at 613.791.3757.  There's lots of great information on our website too.

Parents can follow their child's development beginning at two months of age through Baby Navigator. This is an excellent resource from Florida State University that is open to parents in Canada. The site includes videos, developmental milestones and a free screening for communication disorders and autism. There is a also a free screening tool for children 9 to 18 months.

Autism Navigator offers free webinars for families:

  • About Autism in Toddlers
  • What Does it Take to Talk

If you have private insurance through your workplace, check to see if it covers a psychologist. Make sure the psychologist you choose has experience in assessing children your child's age who are showing signs of autism. Girls present differently with autism signs. 

Look at our Resources page for the names of some private psychologists who are experienced in doing diagnostic assessments for young children.

Your private insurance may also cover speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, behaviour consultants, etc.  There is a fee for private services.

Having your child assessed, helps you know what to do to help your child (autism or not). 

If your child is diagnosed with Autism, register your child with the Ontario Autism Program (through MCCSS ministry) as soon as possible by clicking on this link. You will need: your child's birth certificate, proof of Ontario residence, and proof of diagnosis. You will receive an email once you have Registered your child with a reference number. Make sure to keep that number as you will need it when following up on your registration, if needed.  Once your registration is processed, you will receive an Ontario Autism Program (OAP) number. This number will allow you to access the Early Years programs and, funding when you come to the top of the OAP wait-list. In or around June or July 2021, children under 4 years of age will be offered a Caregiver-mediated Early Years program funded directly through the OAP.
 
MCCSS phone number  1.888.444.4530, email oap@ontario.ca  Click here to link to the Ministry website for more information.  

If your child isn't meeting the developmental milestones you can also contact the CHEO Access Team. Let them know if you suspect autism. Make sure to ask how long it will be before your child will get an Intake appointment and ask how long the wait-time is for a diagnostic assessment. (Note: OCTC and CHEO amalgamated as of October 2016.)   

Private ABA service providers are listed under Therapies/Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA).

Speak with an Infant Development Worker at one of the Early Year's Centres drop in play groups.  You can also contact First Words and ask for an appointment.  Click here for more information.

Our Next Steps videos are available on our YouTube Channel.  These videos are from a workshop that we filmed and are broken down into short viewing segments.  QuickStart Autism.

Staying Organized:

We recommend you get a binder with tabs to help keep all the information straight.  Always ask for the person's name and phone number, which organization they are with and what you can expect to happen at the appointment.  When being offered services, ask how long the wait-time is, what the service will look like (for example with speech therapy, how many sessions will your child receive and how long will each session be). Have your questions ready when you do connect with people.