Are Early Intervention Services Placing Home Languages and Cultures “At Risk”?

This position statement considers family languages, family cultures, and partnerships between family members and early intervention (EI) professionals as intimately interconnected and resources to be accessed when serving young children with special needs and their families. It presents theory and an overview of works that examine the impact of early exposure to a second language, issues of home language maintenance, disability within a cultural context, and cultural models for serving young children and their families. It explores the ways that EI programs intended to nurture the optimal development of infants and toddlers and their families may be placing home languages and cultures “at risk.”