Early intervention for children with autism is currently a politically and scientifically complex topic. Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated positive effects in both short-term and longer term studies. The evidence suggests that early intervention programs are indeed beneficial for children with autism, often improving developmental…

Recent research on the development of children's abilities to comprehend and produce metaphorical language is reviewed. It is argued that the ability to produce and comprehend metaphorical language emerges out of children's undifferentiated similarity notions and gradually develops into a capacity to encompass an increased variety of conceptual…

Discusses teenage pregnancy, parenthood, and intervention programs in Canada. Focuses on the issues facing young women from severely disorganized backgrounds whose children are at-risk for developmental delay, emotional disturbance, maltreatment, and neglect. (RJC)

The article reviews studies on the assessment of rapid auditory processing abilities. Issues in auditory processing research are identified including a link between otitis media with effusion and language learning problems. A theory that linguistically impaired children experience difficulty in perceiving and processing low phonetic substance…

Deconstructs the prevailing paradigm of childhood development. Argues that childhood is a social construction and traces changing images of childhood throughout history. Criticizes well-intentioned but devitalizing day care and kindergarten practices. Argues for a child-centered perception of childhood. (FMW)

Discusses the relevance of the study of the neurobiology of cognitive development, for an understanding of both the neural bases and the nature of cognition. Also considered are the age at which hemisphere specialization first appears and whether hemisphere specialization changes over time. (PCB)

This review draws together research by developmentalists on parents' ideas about parenting and development, and research in social psychology on attitudes, schemas, and social categorization. (PCB)

This paper reviews research on symbolic play gaps between children with and without language impairment (LI), arguing that these gaps should not be interpreted as demonstrative of marked deficits in general representational or specific symbolic play competence of children with LI. Frequent encroachment of language into testing procedures is cited…

Discusses the usefulness of information from parents in the identification of young children with handicaps. Includes: (1) a rationale for the use of information from parents; (2) description of methods used to gather information; and (3) a review of research that has determined the accuracy of parental information. (RJC)

Examines and discusses origins of parents' beliefs concerning children's developmental processes and specific abilities, and the relations between these beliefs and parental behavior on the one hand and children's cognitive development on the other. (PCB)

Described are the history of the study of language disabilities, briefly outlining the work of Samuel Orton, Judson Herrick, Adolph Meyer, and Paul Schilder; Lauretta Bender's development of the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test; and the basic principles of language disorders, including familial patterns, maturation lag, plasticity, and nonfixated…

Reviews the literature concerning children's humor. Discusses major characteristics of early humor based on the child's level of developmental mastery, and proposes a conceptual model of humorous play. (RJC)

Research on children and media has generally focused on the negative impact of media on developing minds. However, a theoretical framework is proposed for thinking about the role of television for American children from a developmental perspective. Instead of focusing on television's effects, television viewing can be examined as is any other…

This paper reviews the literature on grammatical knowledge in language comprehension in the preschool years from the perspective of sensitivity to structural contrasts. Studies of both direct and indirect evidence of sensitivity to structural contrasts were evaluated and showed that there may be a developmental sequence of increasing sensitivity…

In a study by Toshiaki Hashimoto and colleagues (EC 611 142), 10 infants with developmental delay, poor eye contact, and poor facial expression underwent magnetic resonance brain imaging and were later diagnosed with autism. This offered direct evidence of abnormality of the cerebellar vermis and the brainstem at the beginning stages of behavioral…