ABSTRACT
All families have experience interacting with groups outside the family unit, from doctors’ offi ces and schools to music ensembles and team sports. In fact, as many parents envision having their fi rst child, part of their ongoing fantasies involve how they and their child will interact with these outside groups and agencies: the child’s fi rst playgroup, the fi rst day of kindergarten, soccer teams, baseball games, and dance lessons. Part of forecasting life with a child is contemplating how the parent and child become part of the larger world we know as “parenthood” and “family.” One group or system that parents rarely, if ever, imagine themselves participating in is known as Early Intervention (EI). In fact, for “outsiders” EI is almost invisible, but for participants, it can have a profound impact on their lives, both short-and long-term.
