We recently celebrated my youngest child’s 9th birthday. Due to it being during spring break, my 20 year old daughter was home from ETBU.  As we were sitting at the kitchen table, she was viewing some videos she had saved on her laptop.  One video we watched was of her little brother talking into the video camera.  The video had been made five years earlier.  I was reminded of how far he had come in those four years.  My son was born to me when I was 42 years of age.  There were complications during my pregnancy which required a three week stay at LSU Hospital and three weeks of bedrest at home, and then he came five weeks early. There were continued problems after his birth.  At the age of two,  he was referred by the pediatrition to ECI-Early Childhood Intervention.  He was nonverbal at three years of age and showed significant signs of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developemental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified).  ECI (which is a free service) sent therapists out to assess my son and offer the services he needed.  He began with speech therapy, which had to be put on hold until the occupational therapist could get him to the point he could pay attention to instruction.  At the age of three, he was referred to the local school district where his speech therapy continued.  He is in the third grade now and now longer needs any kind of outside help.  I know first hand how important early intervention is when it comes to developemental delays.  I would encourage anyone who has any concerns about the development of their child to contact ECI.