Who does the Early Intervention Program serve?
Children who…
- Are between birth to kindergarten-entry age
- Have their home address in Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, or Richmond
- Have a confirmed or suspected developmental delay or disability
- Require Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy* and/or support from our community feeding team
Services available through the Early Intervention Program
Occupational Therapy
Our Occupational Therapists can help with:
- Developing fine motor skills
- Developing play skills to support participation
- Developing self-care skills including eating, dressing, toileting, bathing, grooming, and sleep
- Accessing positioning equipment such as bath chairs, feeding seats, car seats, and wheelchairs
Physiotherapy
Our Physiotherapists can help with:
- Supporting the development of gross motor milestones
- Developing physical skills to participate at home and in the community
- Adapting the environment (home, daycare, or preschool) for function and safety
- Accessing equipment such as standing frames, walkers, orthotics, wheelchairs, and seats
Speech Therapy
*Clients are only eligible for EIP speech therapy services if they are also in need of occupational therapy and/or physiotherapy services. If your child only needs speech therapy, please contact your local public health unit.
Our Speech Therapists can help with:
- Building back-and-forth interactions with your child before they’re even using words (e.g. sharing attention, and using gestures like showing, reaching and pointing)
- Learning what words mean and how to put them together into sentences
- Making clear speech sounds
- Playing and making friends
- Setting up other communication systems – augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) – when speaking may be challenging
- Developing safer eating skills
Rapid Response Feeding Team
Our feeding team consists of an occupational therapist and a speech-language pathologist. This is a prioritized, temporary service in order to provide urgent feeding support to children and their families. When the feeding urgency is resolved, clients are either discharged or put on an appropriate Early Intervention Program waitlist for follow up services.
Our feeding team can help with:
- Assessing oral motor skills and making suggestions to reduce aspiration risks when eating and drinking
- Supporting infants and caregivers if bottle aversion has been identified as a concern by the family or pediatrician
- Supporting children discharged from a hospital with a feeding plan
Social Work
Families/caregivers of children who are eligible for Occupational Therapy and/or Physiotherapy services in EIP may also request Social Work consultation and support in the following areas:
- Counselling regarding the impact of the child’s disability
- Managing the emotional demands and stresses of family life
- Transitioning to/from daycare, preschool, and kindergarten
- Identifying available resources and funding sources
- Planning, coordinating, and navigating services
Frequently Asked Questions
View the FAQs below or download the PDF.
- Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, New Westminster, Anmore, and Belcarra:
SHARE Family & Community Services Society www.sharesociety.ca - Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley:
The Centre for Child Development www.the-centre.org - Fraser Valley Area:
Fraser Valley Child Development Centre www.fvcdc.org
We do not provide regular intensive therapies. Services are delivered using a coaching method. The coaching method recognizes that the family is the child’s best teacher. Together the staff member and parent/caregiver will develop goals, try out strategies and create a plan. These strategies will be practiced throughout the day by the parent/caregiver and child within their daily routine. In subsequent appointments, the parent and staff member will discuss progress, what worked and what did not, and decide next steps.
The EIP does not conduct Autism assessments. Please see the Autism page of the BC Government website for information on how to access an Autism assessment for your child
EIP services do not include mental health treatment services for children but if your child requires this kind of support please see the Ministry of Child and Family Child and Youth Mental Health website.
If your child has a therapist that is funded through the Autism funding Unit, we do not provide concurrent therapy services from a therapist of the same discipline. For example, if you are accessing an Occupational Therapist with funding from the Autism Funding Unit, we do not provide Occupational Therapy services at the same time. You may access other therapy services from other disciplines that you are not already accessing with funding from the Autism Funding Unit.
Our program provides Speech Therapy services for children who require either an Occupational Therapist or a Physiotherapist or both, if your child does not require these services please refer your child to Fraser Health or Vancouver Coastal Health speech therapy services.
EIP services do not include behavioral intervention, please see the BC Government website for information on where to find these services.
The Early Intervention program does not provide services for children that are school aged. If you feel your child would benefit from Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy or Speech Therapy speak with your child’s teacher and their school-based team.
Frequently Asked Questions 
Parent Handbook 
Emergency Preparedness Booklet