ABSTRACT
Early intervention comes in-between the lives of children, families and teachers. This article
uses part of a report written by an educational psychologist about a little girl to question the
nature of intervention through Rancie`re’s writings. As children and parents are seen as put
into the position of inadequacy, they require such intervention, which in turn makes them
more inadequate. The article goes on to highlight the numerous ‘givings’ involved in early
intervention, through Derrida’s writing. However, such giving is questioned as creating
expectations that receivers of the gift must fulfil, thus nullifying the gift. The conclusion
suggests that starting from a perspective of equality and acknowledging the aporia involved
could help the people in this scenario to take a different approach.
