Early Intervention in Children at Risk of Developmental Delay

Based on the principles of the Goal, Activity and Motor Enrichment (GAME) approach, which is an evidence-based early intervention approach for children at risk of developmental delay between 24-36 months, activity-based training is aimed at the development of sensory and cognitive skills in addition to the training of motor skills, which are intensively discussed in the content of the approach. Individualized early occupational therapy intervention including strategies was implemented.

For the control group, evaluation tests were first applied to the babies selected by simple random sampling method. An individualized home program was given according to the evaluation results. Home programs include activities for every skill area and were prepared together with the parents, taking into account the criteria suggested for the success of the home program. Based on these criteria, it was checked whether the family had received another home program, and while preparing the program, care was taken not to overload the parents, importance was given to the family's willingness to receive the home program, activities and goals were decided in cooperation with the parent, thus facilitating the applicability of the activities in daily life, ensuring that the number of activities was 6. Care was taken to ensure that the activity was not too much, the parent was given the necessary time to implement the program, and a phone call was made to the parent every 3 weeks.