Chronic absenteeism has been a significant issue facing school districts since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when nearly 30% of students were chronically absent from school (Hays, 2024). A substantial challenge that teachers face is trying to deliver high-quality instruction to students when a significant portion of those students are…

Learning to set age-appropriate boundaries is an integral element of positive youth development. Both parents and youth need guidance in rule-rsetting and negotiating boundaries. North Dakota State University Extension created Boundaries, a program using parent-youth relationships to teach the importance of setting and following rules or…

There is little research regarding autistic adult, parent and professional perspectives on support goals for young autistic children. A total of 87 autistic adults, 159 parents of autistic children, and 80 clinical professionals living in New Zealand and Australia completed a survey about the appropriateness and importance of common support goals…

This study aims to explore the experiences of breastfeeding mothers during pregnancy in tandem breastfeeding. This research is a qualitative study conducted using the phenomenological research design. Data saturation was achieved after 11 participants were interviewed. The content analysis approach was used to analyze the data. Interview…

Co-regulation refers to warm, receptive, and supportive interactions between caregiver and child that provide guidance and modulation of the child's emotions, behaviours, and thoughts. This study identifies basic elements of co-regulation between parents and children in relatively well-functioning interactions. The data material consists of 24…

This brief report presents interrater reliability data for the Focus on the Outcomes of Communication Under Six (FOCUS-34) between parents, and between parents and speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Reliability for all three raters combined was good to excellent across three assessments. Reliability for pairs of raters was variable but generally…

Purpose: Talkers adapt their speech according to the demands of their listeners and the communicative context, enhancing the properties of the signal (pitch, intensity) and/or properties of the code (enhancement of phonemic contrasts). This study asked how mothers adapt their child-directed speech (CDS) in ways that might serve the immediate goals…

Purpose: Caregivers of deaf/hard of hearing infants are faced with challenging decisions regarding their child's communication method. The purpose of the current research note is to characterize the advice that caregivers receive and value as well as the factors that influence caregivers' decision making. Method: The current study enrolled 105…

The transition to kindergarten (TTK) occurs at a stage in a child's development when it can have a direct impact on later school success. For children with disabilities, TTK may be especially challenging, and U.S. federal policy provides limited guidance and mandates related to use of practices to support children with disabilities and their…

This research focuses on the social pressures experienced by parents at schools identified as middle class across southern California. The literature review of school finances, the LCFF, funding levels, and studies stretches all the way back to the Coleman report. Within this vast body of prior research remained a void in the data. This missing…

Families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face challenges engaging in services following diagnosis. This study: (1) developed and implemented a toolkit to tailor ASD evaluation feedback to families' needs, and (2) evaluated caregiver and provider perceptions of the toolkit. Focus groups with providers (N = 11) informed toolkit…

Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience difficulties related to aggression, disruptive behavior, and regulation of emotions that precipitate these behaviors (i.e., anger). The extent to which aggression, disruptive behaviors, and anger dysregulation are correlated with distinct or overlapping factors has not yet been explored.…

This study investigates infants' neural and behavioral responses to maternal ostensive signals during naturalistic mother-infant interactions and their effects on object encoding. Mothers familiarized their 9- to 10-month-olds (N = 35, 17 females, mainly White, data collection: 2018-2019) with objects with or without mutual gaze, infant-directed…

The first three years of a child's life are of critical importance to the development of the brain. Children identified as not developing at a pace that is age level appropriate may be referred to early intervention services. This study identifies the successes as well as the various challenges that Latinx families encounter as they navigate the…

Qualitative studies of autistic people's pregnancy experiences have indicated sensory and communication related barriers to accessing adequate prenatal healthcare. However, quantitative work on the topic is scarce. This online survey study explored pregnancy experiences among 417 autistic and 524 non-autistic people. Compared with non-autistic…