A recent FPG study looked at families' initial experiences in determining their child's eligibility for early intervention (EI) services as mandated by Part C (IDEA), interactions with medical professionals, effort required to get services, participation in planning for services, satisfaction with services, and interactions with professionals. A national representative sample of 3,338 parents of young children with or at risk of disability was used. All the children had recently entered an EI program operated under Part C. Because the data are based on a nationally representative sample, this is the first such study that can be said to reflect the state of the nation on these variables. [This "Snapshot" is based on the article "First Experiences with Early Intervention: A National Perspective" by Don Bailey & Anita Scarborough of the FPG Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Kathleen Hebbeler, Donna Spiker & Sangeeta Mallik, all of SRI International. It was published in the April, 2004 Pediatrics, Vol.113, pp. 887-896. "Snapshots" are summaries of research articles, books and other publications by researchers at the FPG Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill.]