A child's early literacy and language skills are the most reliable predictor of future academic achievement. Despite vast amounts of research supporting this link, many children start formal schooling with low early literacy skills. Without intervention or support, these children will likely continue to fall behind their peers. This exploratory…

Autistic advocates emphasise the need for neurodiversity-affirming and strengths-based approaches to support services; however, little is known about broader community perspectives regarding the appropriateness of offering early support services to autistic children. This co-designed mixed-methods study employed surveys to gather insights from 253…

This study reports data on early childhood teachers' perspectives of early childhood inclusive education in New Zealand. A qualitative method was employed for this research. The process included an internet survey questionnaire which was sent out to early childhood teachers across New Zealand. The results indicated that though early childhood…

Parents may be well placed to deliver therapeutic support to their own autistic preschool children. Parent-implemented Early Start Denver Model (P-ESDM) is one well-researched program for coaching parents to use strategies in daily routines to support child development. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of parents of autistic…

The Riroriro programme was a response to the needs of children with extremely dysregulated classroom behaviours, resulting from sustained exposure to traumatic high-stress and high-deprivation environments from pre-birth to school age. Evaluation of the accounts of key individuals involved in the pilot found that participants had improved…

This national implementation study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Tier 2 structured literacy teaching set within a multi-tiered system of support. Case-controlled matching was used to determine the impact of the implementation for 1,265 5-year-old children. One comparison group included 1,265 children who were matched to the experimental…

The ability to narrate past personal events is important for classroom participation and socio-emotional wellbeing. Although school-age children with Down syndrome show significant challenges producing personal event narratives, there is little research to guide personal narrative intervention. This study used a single subject experimental design…

Young people in physical isolation because of significant illness experience disconnection from social and educational contexts. A ground-breaking intervention in New Zealand aimed to foster social inclusion for young people who are hospital-or-home-bound due to cancer treatment. A formative assessment of five young people aged 13-18, their…

This paper reports on findings from a doctoral study that explored the efficacy of a home-based literacy intervention in advancing preschool children's foundational literacy skills. Two key cognitive skills critical for early literacy success were examined in particular, those being phonological awareness, and elements of oral language, including…

This research examined an evidence based dialogic shared reading strategy which incorporated aided language modelling and increased communication partner responsiveness with two children with complex physical, cognitive, and sensory needs (CPCSN) who use auditory plus visual partner assisted scanning (PAS) to access a Pragmatic Organised Dynamic…

Phonological awareness (PA) and alphabet knowledge (AK) are two of the strongest predictors of reading acquisition, and evidence shows that many New Zealand children are entering school with low levels of emergent literacy (EL) skills. The current research showed that four-year-old children identified as having low levels of EL, who participated…

Way to Play is an approach that supports adults to promote the engagement of young children with autism spectrum disorder through play. The Ministry of Education in New Zealand has collaborated with Autism New Zealand to ensure the sustainable delivery of Way to Play within Auckland's early learning services by training early intervention staff to…

Objectives: Data indicate that some developmentally and behaviorally based early intervention programs can lead to a range of improvements in children with autism spectrum disorder. However, many such programs call for a fairly intensive amount of intervention. The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a…

Executive functions (EFs) are foundational for the development of cognitive and social capacities critical for school readiness. The importance of promoting EF skills prior to school entry is increasing recognized but few preschool classroom-based interventions specifically target EF skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness…

Research suggests that access to early intervention can improve a range of outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the type and amount of intervention that is typically available to young children with ASD in the New Zealand community. There is also limited information about parent demand for types…