Turning Three: What Happens After Early Intervention
Leaving the county's Infant and Toddler Program (ITP) can feel like the ground shifting a little. Your child has made real progress. And now you're suddenly hearing terms you never had to think about before: Child Find, IEP, school-based services, outpatient therapy.
You're probably asking some version of these questions:
Does my child still need therapy?
Will school cover everything my child needs?
What's the difference between school therapy and outpatient therapy?
Where do we even start?
You don't have to sort this out alone. MOCO has walked families through this exact transition for years. Our occupational, physical, and speech therapists understand both sides of this handoff: the Early Intervention system your child is leaving, and the school-based system waiting on the other side. We can help you figure out what's actually right for your child, not just what's next on a checklist.
Why the First Three Years Matter
There's a reason so much attention goes into a child's earliest years, and it comes down to how the brain actually grows.
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A young child's brain forms new connections faster than at any other point in life. Physical therapists sometimes call this neuroplasticity: the brain's ability to build and strengthen pathways through repeated experience. In plain terms, it means the first three years are an especially efficient window for a child to build new skills, which is exactly why Early Intervention leans so heavily on this stage.
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But an efficient window isn't the same as the only window. The brain keeps forming new connections well past age three, through childhood and into the teenage years. A child who needs more support after turning three hasn't missed their chance. They've just moved into a different stage of the same ongoing process, and that's exactly why MOCO continues working with children well beyond the Early Intervention years, all the way through age eighteen.
Outpatient Evaluation
At MOCO
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2
3
4
Child Find / Preschool
If eligible
Outpatient Therapy
If recommended
MCITP
Birth to age 3
The Path After MCITP
Outpatient therapy isn't a fork in the road away from school services. It's part of the same path.
What Happens When a Child Ages Out of Infant and Toddler Services
ITP provides services through your child's third birthday. As that date approaches, your ITP team will talk with you about what comes next. Depending on your child, that might mean:
Moving into preschool special education through Child Find
Qualifying for an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
Receiving school-based therapy
Adding outpatient therapy alongside school services
Not needing therapy at all anymore
Every child's path looks different here. Some children have met every goal they were working toward. Others still have real work ahead of them: strength, coordination, communication, feeding, independence, confidence. Both outcomes are completely normal, and neither one means anything went wrong along the way.
Does My Child Need Outpatient Therapy?
Honestly, maybe. That's the truest answer we can give before we've met your child. School-based therapy and outpatient therapy exist for different reasons, and a lot of children benefit from both at once. An outpatient evaluation can help answer the questions that are probably sitting with you right now:
Has my child caught up developmentally?
Are there skills that still need work?
Is my child ready for preschool?
Could this affect how they learn or take part at school?
Would more therapy help them keep progressing?
We look at your child's development as a whole, not one skill in isolation. We're not trying to talk you into therapy your child doesn't need. We're trying to give you a clear, honest picture of where things stand, and what would actually help, if anything would.
How Outpatient Therapy Is Different From Early Intervention
Early Intervention is built around coaching families inside everyday routines: home, childcare, the moments that already make up your day. Outpatient therapy works differently. Children are a little older now, so therapy can get more specific and more targeted to what a child needs next. Depending on your child, that might touch on:
Occupational Therapy
Fine motor skills, handwriting readiness, self-care skills, sensory processing, emotional regulation, feeding, visual motor skills.
Physical Therapy
Balance, coordination, strength, walking and running, jumping, stairs, playground confidence, gross motor skills.
Speech Therapy
Language development, speech sound production, social communication, feeding, oral motor skills, executive functioning.
Many MOCO families also take advantage of our movement classes, Bike Intensive, and other programs that let children practice these skills somewhere fun, not just at the treatment table.
What to Expect at the Evaluation
We built our evaluations to give you answers, not more questions.
Your therapist will listen to what's actually on your mind, review your child's developmental history, and spend real time watching your child through play and structured activities. When it's useful, we add standardized testing. Through all of it, we're paying attention to how your child functions in everyday life, not just how they perform on a test.
After the evaluation, you'll walk away with a written report, our professional recommendations, a plan of care if therapy makes sense, and documentation you can hand to your pediatrician, other providers, or your child's school team.
Even in the cases where we don't recommend therapy, families tell us they leave with something valuable: a clearer picture of their child, and one less thing to carry around.
What If My Child Is Already Getting School-Based Services?
Plenty of children receive both school-based and outpatient therapy at the same time, and that's not overlap. It's two different jobs.
School-based therapy
Helps a child access and take part in their school day: sitting through circle time, handwriting for class, moving through the building, joining classroom activities.
Outpatient Therapy
Looks past the classroom, toward everything else: dressing independently, playing confidently on the playground, riding a bike, building strength and coordination, eating well, managing big feelings, and taking part in family routines, sports, and community life.
When it's useful, we coordinate directly with your child's school team and other providers, so nobody is working in a silo.
Why Families Choose MOCO
Therapy here doesn't stop at the treatment table. Every activity is built around something a child actually needs to do in real life: at home, at school, on the playground, in sports, out in the community. That's the idea behind Applied Functional Therapy (AFT), MOCO's approach to therapy that shows up in real life, not just in a clinic room.
Families come to MOCO for experienced pediatric occupational, physical, and speech therapists, evaluations that look at the whole child, plans built around your child specifically, and open communication with your pediatrician and other providers. Beyond one-on-one therapy, we also offer small-group skill-building classes, Bike Intensive, Summer Adventure, and movement classes, all of which give children more chances to practice what they're working on somewhere that feels more like play than practice.
Insurance and Billing
Coverage and network status can vary by plan, so we'd rather point you to the most current, accurate information than guess here. Visit our Insurance and Billing page for details on how MOCO works with insurance, including out-of-network benefits, and reach out if you have questions specific to your plan.
Ready for the Next Step?
Whether your MCITP therapist suggested an evaluation, or you just want a clearer picture of where your child stands, we're glad to help. A comprehensive evaluation is where that starts: understanding your child's strengths, naming any real challenges, and building a plan for what comes next.