Tennessee's Early Intervention System is a voluntary educational program for families with children ages birth through two years of age with disabilities or developmental delays. 

 

The principles of Early Intervention (EI) are:

• The primary goal of EI is to support families in promoting their child's optimal development and to facilitate the child's participation in family and community activities.

• The focus of EI is to encourage the active participation of families in the intervention by embedding strategies into family routines.  It is the parents who provide the real intervention by relatively adapting their child care methods to facilitate the development of their child, where balancing the needs of the rest of the family.