​WREIC History

The Western Regional Early Intervention Conference brings together professionals who support infants and young children, birth to age five, with blindness or low vision, deafness or hard of hearing, and deafblindness across the western United States.

Founded more than 35 years ago, the conference was created to address a clear gap. Early intervention providers needed a regional space to learn from one another, share effective practices, and build cross-state relationships grounded in real-world service delivery.

From its earliest years, the conference was shaped by collaboration among state early intervention programs, regional sensory services, and university-based training and technical assistance centers serving the western United States. Organizations such as state deafblind projects, vision and hearing programs, and early intervention leadership teams played a central role in establishing the conference’s purpose and sustaining it over time.

Held every two years and hosted by rotating western states, the conference combines continuity with local leadership. Each host state works in partnership with a regional planning group made up of experienced practitioners and program leaders. This shared leadership model has been essential to the conference’s longevity, consistency, and relevance.

Over the decades, the conference has benefited from the sustained involvement of professionals affiliated with organizations such as the SKI-HI Institute at Utah State University, state departments of education and human services, regional early intervention networks, and national technical assistance initiatives focused on sensory disabilities. Countless practitioners, administrators, faculty members, and family leaders have contributed as planners, presenters, and mentors.

As the field of early intervention has evolved, so has the conference. Session topics reflect advances in research, family-centered practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, assistive technology, and systems-level change. What has remained constant is a strong emphasis on practical application and supporting the professionals doing this work every day.

Today, the Western Regional Early Intervention Conference is recognized as one of the longest-running and most respected regional early intervention conferences in the country. It continues to serve as a trusted gathering place for learning, connection, and collaboration, built on decades of shared leadership and commitment to young children and their families.