Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has proclaimed May 2023 as Early Intervention Month in Virginia. Fairfax County NCS is proud to be the home for the Infant & Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church. Across Virginia, 40 local systems provide early intervention, regardless of a family’s ability to pay, to more than 21,000 eligible infants and toddlers (up to age 3) with developmental delays and disabilities.  

Adriana Gallego, Director of ITC of Fairfax-Falls Church, encourages parents to contact ITC as soon as they (or a health or child care provider) suspect a delay. View this Developmental Checklist to see if your child is on track. Children are eligible if they meet at least one of these criteria: 

• Have a 25% or greater delay in at least one developmental area (cognitive, adaptive, receptive, or expressive language, social/emotional, fine motor, gross motor) 

• Have a diagnosed condition that has a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay (examples include but are not limited to Down syndrome, hearing or visual impairment, failure to thrive, etc.) 

• Have demonstrated atypical development (examples include but are not limited to: unintelligible speech, feeding concerns, etc.)

Identifying developmental differences early in a child’s life can help a family obtain the services and supports needed to promote their child’s development. The first few years of a child’s life are critical, laying a foundation in childhood and beyond for cognitive functioning; social and emotional skills; behavior and self-regulatory capacities; and physical health. 

In addition to screening, ITC provides a wide range of services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and family counseling. See a list of services on the ITC website.  

"Infant and Toddler Connection of Fairfax-Falls Church serves more than 3,000 local children per year and their families, Gellego said. "Our fantastic team of Early Interventionists strive every day to provide the best supports and services in the family’s and child’s natural environments such as, their home, childcare centers or other community setting. Early intervention focuses on increasing the child's participation in activities that are important to the family and on helping parents and other caregivers know how to find ways to help the child learn during everyday activities."

She recently heard from the parent of a child who aged out of the program last July. The parent said her daughter was currently thriving in her neighborhood preschool.

"Our [ITC] service coordinator was helpful and informative," the child's mother said. "We will always be grateful for her work and for providing us with the most amazing service provider. Our daughter no longer requires any additional services. She is thriving in preschool."

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