Including parents of children with developmental delays in early intervention programs has been widely endorsed as best practice across the multiple disciplines that work in that context. Parents have echoed that sentiment, commenting on the benefits of being able to apply skills in broader family and community contexts. Despite a 20-plus year…

Family-Centred Early Intervention (FCEI), an international congress that meets biannually, concurred that programmes serving young deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) children and their families should include D/HH adults when offering family social and emotional support (Principle 4) and engaging in collaborative teamwork with D/HH adults (Principle…

Parental engagement is central to Head Start's two-generation mission. Drawing on research linking teacher-child racial/ethnic match to educational outcomes, the present study explores whether teacher-child match increases parental involvement in Head Start activities designed to support children and families. Using data from the 2006 and 2009…

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) services can improve the quality of life for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, not all children receive services based in ABA. The disconnect between available services and accessing services may be the result of families experiencing barriers. Online parent training addresses many of these…

This report describes the work done by the 48 State Deaf-Blind Projects awarded grants by the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in late 2013. The report documents the technical assistance and dissemination activities carried out by the Projects and their collaborative activities, describes the needs for…

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…

For more than a decade, Florida's Palm Beach County has been building an infrastructure of prevention and early intervention services to promote and support the healthy development and school readiness of children from birth to age 8. The county began this effort with a set of programs focused on serving families in four targeted geographic areas…

A study of nine families and three service coordinators examined whether a family's level of satisfaction improves when the service coordination they receive adheres to a family-centered model. Results indicate a high degree of family satisfaction and a low degree of dissatisfaction when the model was adequately implemented. (Author/CR)

The Comprehensive Services Program of Palm Beach County, Florida, was an ambitious and innovative effort to improve the school readiness of low-income children in Palm Beach County by identifying needs early and providing early intervention services to support physical, cognitive, and emotional health and development. Services were delivered to…

Early Head Start is a comprehensive, two-generation federal initiative begun in 1995 aimed at enhancing the development of infants and toddlers while strengthening low-income families. This report contains information from the Survey of Early Head Start Programs. Beyond the need for an updated picture of the Early Head Start program, the Survey of…

This practicum report describes development of a system of family support services for 56 parents of preschool handicapped children (ages birth to 3) in an early intervention setting. A preliminary survey was administered to determine family needs. A family support group was then developed which met monthly for fellowship, networking, work…

This volume presents a comprehensive plan for transition of children with special needs and their families between infant or early intervention services and preschool services, and between preschool services and kindergarten. It aims to help in bridging these services to minimize the stress and increase the promise of early childhood transitions.…

A series of self-study questions is presented to examine policy and practice issues important in developing culturally competent programs for children with special needs and their families. Cultural competence refers to a program's ability to honor and respect the beliefs, interpersonal styles, attitudes, and behaviors both of families who are…

This final report describes the activities and accomplishments of the Consultation and Administration Specialists in Early Intervention Project (CASEI). This federally funded project was developed to provide cross-disciplinary preservice training for early intervention (EI) specialists in Illinois. Students were recruited from a broad range of…

This study explored current University of Nebraska graduate course offerings which address content relative to infants, families, and/or the professional teamwork associated with services to handicapped or at-risk infants, toddlers, and their families. Faculty from 12 departments were surveyed as to their interest in interdisciplinary,…