This case study explored the efficacy of a prelinguistic intervention focused on ongoing daily activities in a preschool classroom for a 3-year-old boy with severe communication and cognitive delays. Strategies used included environmental arrangement, following the child's lead, imitation, modeling, and prompting. Results indicated the child…

This article explores the status of implementation of the behavioral and discipline requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997. Data are presented from complaints, hearings, and court decisions that suggest that the overall discrepancy between competency expectation for Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams and…

This article reviews outcomes of inclusion at the preschool level, social integration patterns, placement, definition, quality, instruction, teacher and family attitudes, community participation, policy factors, and cultural influences. The concluding discussion addresses ongoing issues related to definition, quality, intensity and instruction,…

This article explores how providing early intervention in natural environments reinforces family-centered care, discusses benefits for all parties when therapy is provided within daily routines and settings, describes a decision-making process for embedding natural environments within intervention, and concludes by identifying challenges and…

This study evaluated the impact of intensive behavioral treatment by parents in the home setting on the development of 11 young autistic children. Compared to a control group, the children had significantly higher posttreatment IQ scores. Smaller, but statistically significant effects on symptom severity were also found, although experimental…

Analysis of questionnaires completed by 69 parents of children, birth to age 5, with disabilities or at risk for poor developmental outcomes found that parent and family characteristics showed no relationship to either help-giving practices or perceptions of personal control and self-efficacy. However, program characteristics were associated with…

Ounce of Prevention in Schools, an early intervention program in a Quebec elementary school, includes a family support component to increase parents' involvement and assistance with their children's school work. Interviews showed that, compared to control parents, parents in the program helped their children more with homework but had lower…

Claims that learning strategies and social skills training are likely to be important for most students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, both in regular and special education classrooms. Emphasizes the importance of combining treatment strategies. (MKA)

This article provides an overview of some of the recent developments in assessing social skills of children, as well as best practices in conducting assessment and linking assessment to effective intervention. Naturalistic behavioral observation and behavior rating scales are proposed as first-line choices for social skills assessment. (Contains…

The utility of cost-benefit analysis in program evaluation is illustrated using hypothetical examples of the consequences of natural environments service provision. Areas for further research related to cost and benefit implications are presented. Early intervention programs can use the cost-benefit framework to evaluate the social impact of…

A professor of special education specializing in students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) reviews her career from 1966 to the present noting the influence of the literature, authorities, and Public Law 94-142. Changes during this time identified include more effective interventions and increasing danger from student weapons. She urges…

Explores how two high-achieving adolescent girls reacted to a teaching intervention designed to foster collaborative group work focusing on aspects of their cultural practices in interpersonal relationships. They were primarily influenced by a competitive individualized ideology, not appropriate for the project, but not deviant from the school's…

Examined influence of teacher feedback on children's (n=91) evaluations of hypothetical videotaped peers, presented as being liked, disliked, or neutral by the teacher. Teacher feedback had a significant and discriminative effect on subjects' perceptions of the peers. Implications for classroom intervention are discussed. (SNR)

This article proposes that changes in pediatric therapy in the 1990s have made the dichotomy between educational and medical therapy moot. Contemporary models of motor development and motor learning, combined with an emphasis on functional outcomes and family-centered services, are seen to pertain equally to children receiving occupational and…

This study of an adolescent with multiple disabilities, including moderate mental retardation, who was reported to engage in validated facilitated communication (FC) found he did not engage in validated FC; performance was equivalent whether food or nonfood reinforcers were used; and the Picture Exchange Communication System was a valid and…