Approximately 10% to 15% of children have some chronic health condition; 2% of children in the United States have severe chronic illnesses. Certain problems are common to most families with a chronically ill child: high costs, heavy daily care burden, conflicting professional advice, and social isolation. Early intervention may diminsh handicaps…

The article provides an annotated list of organizations, computer information networks, local and regional networks, publications, and audiovisual resources for teachers working with chronically ill children and their families. (CL)

Interviews with 59 parents of school-age children with cancer indicated that despite missing much school their child was caught up with schoolwork, suggesting that academic difficulties are not paramount. Most parents also reported receiving substantial help from sympathetic and competent educators, although some teachers were insensitive and…

Problems in research on chronic illness in children include the use of appropriate control groups and matching on control variables. The generic or cross-categorical approach has led to the identification of factors affecting children regardless of the particular illness. Adjustment to school depends on coordination of the family and health…

Suggestions are made about the type of information that educators should obtain from and communicate to health care providers and issues that may enhance effective communication with those in the health system. (Author/CL)

Twenty-one parents who felt that their children fit the descriptors in a gifted checklist brought them in for testing. Sixty-six percent of the children were in the gifted range on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Ss fitting the characteristics but testing below the gifted range all had ear infections the first year of life. (Author/CL)

Care required by chronically ill children is often far more expensive and recurs over a far longer interval than for other children. Serious limitations exist in private insurance and serious inequities exist in eligibility criteria for Medicaid and other public programs. These and related issues must be addressed for more equal allocation of…

Only a small percentage of all chronically ill children under six are currently enrolled in early education programs. Care of chronically ill children in educational settings often entails the delivery of a variety of related services, including transportation; education-based health services; and speech, physical, and occupational therapies.…

The article examines the transition to parenthood that occurs for parents of full-term healthy infants and the similarities and differences in the experiences of parents of technology-assisted infants. Implications for early intervention practice for technology-assisted infants and their families are then discussed. (Author/JDD)

Analysis of a survey of 234 early childhood special education (ECSE) teachers in Virginia found that ECSE staff conducted gastrostomy feedings and/or catheterizations, that nurses provided care for tracheostomies and mechanical ventilation, and that 38% of school systems (mostly urban and suburban) had written policies concerning preschoolers with…