Through the merging of neuroscience and education, neuroimaging will impact the field of early intervention as awareness grows concerning the developing brain. The reauthorization of the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments and the subsequent formation of the field of early childhood special education has advanced best practices of school psychology and early intervention. Functional neuroimaging has led to advances in our understanding of brain functions enabling neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators to challenge prevailing theories and intervention approaches employed in schools today. Concerns abound when research introduces untested or unsupported instructional strategies into classroom settings based upon misinterpretation or misunderstanding of resulting data. Best practices within the fields of neuropsychology and early intervention special education does provide information regarding how children learn and provides guidance that should lead to best educational practices, but they must be based upon neuroscientific evidence which either supports traditional practices or challenges the prevailing theories.

Early intervention, brain development, IDEA Part C, educational neuroscience.