The science and practice of early childhood development now stands ready to address the needs and ensure the rights of infants and young children with disabilities and their families, among the most underserved and marginalized in all regions of the world. Synergies in global policies such as the "United Nations Convention on the Rights of…

In the United States, there is a widespread concern with not referring more infants and toddlers with a risk of or identified autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to Early Intervention (EI) under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). Despite early signs and screening initiatives, most children with ASD are not referred…

The IFSP is both a document and process for developing, implementing, and evaluating the supports and services delivered to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families eligible under Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA; 2004). Recently, researchers have defined IFSP quality based on five…

Early intervention (EI) provides critical services to families with young children who have diagnosed disabilities, developmental delays, or who are at-risk for developmental delays. Very little is known about the experiences of adolescent mothers who have children who qualify for EI services. The authors investigated the perceptions of adolescent…

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Technical Assistance and Dissemination (TA&D) Program is the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) primary vehicle for providing technical assistance (TA) to individuals and organizations responsible for serving children with disabilities and their families. The evaluation is part…

Delaware was in the first group of states to receive a federal grant in 2012 to improve early care and education services and increase the number of infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children in high-quality programs. One component of the state's grant is a rigorous validation process for Delaware Stars for Early Success, a voluntary quality…

Nearly half a million children in the United States are currently being served by the foster care system. Infants and toddlers represent the largest single group entering foster care. While these very young children are at the greatest peril for physical, mental health, and developmental issues and tend to spend the longest time in the foster care…

The manual describes procedures involved in administering and scoring a neurodevelopmental examination of children from birth to 2 years of age. The test is designed to be easily incorporated into routine health programs. The instrument is easily learned, quickly administered, objectively based, and capable of producing early evidence of…

The final report documents the progress of Project SAFE (Special Assistance for Early Education of the Handicapped), designed to provide educational services to young children (0 to 5 years) with severe and profound, multiple, hearing, orthopedic, and health impairments. SAFE's activities in the following areas are documented: public…

The assessment of vision as it relates to and interacts with motor development is reviewed. The focus is on eye readiness skills normally occuring in infants' first few months of life and preceding eye-hand coordination. These visual skills fall into three categories: fixation, tracking, and scanning. Six standardized scales are reviewed and…

This article presents a series of decision trees to help in planning assessment and intervention with handicapped children between three months and five years of age. A series of assessment questions lead to suggestions for intervention. Steps in using the decision trees are given and a case example presented. (Author/DB)

Visits were made to selected respite care and crisis nursery programs in order to describe the programs and services they offered to families of young children with special needs and to learn more about the families who used the services and the staff who provided them. The visits to 10 crisis nurseries and 24 respite care programs resulted in…

The report presents results from a survey of four states (Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and Nebraska) regarding mandates for the provision of special education services for children below 3 years of age. An overview of each state's mandate contains a brief description of the law and how it came to be; an explanaton of the way responsibilities are…

This report documents the activities and outcomes of the 5-year model demonstration project AHEAD (At Home and At Day Care), a Utah program that is designed to deliver services to infants, toddlers, and young children (ages birth-3) with noncategorical disabilities. The program delivers services to the children and their caregivers in their…

In the fall of 1990, and again in the fall of 1991, George Washington University invited a parent of a special needs child to assist in the teaching of a course on the dynamics of family intervention. The rationale for this action was to: (1) give students a personal experience with a parent of a special needs child; and (2) provide a model of the…