Project ESPIRIT (Educational System in Parenting for the Retarded with Infants and Toddlers) has provided home based services to 25 at risk children of mentaly retarded parents. Assessments performed at home are followed by development of individualized educational programs for both child and parent. Suggestions are given for establishing such a…

The paper, part of videotape presentation, highlights certain issues involved in a modeling approach to educational therapy for hearing impaired infants and their parents at the Lexington School for the Deaf (Jackson Heights, New York). Through the use of play and modeling techniques, the educational therapist encourages parents to interact and…

This article provides a comparative analysis of studies in which symbolic play in children ages 1 through 3 was the major focus of a formal research strategy. The review provides readers with (1) information allowing more effective evaluation of research involving symbolic play and (2) background for designing or adopting play measurement…

The paper describes Project RHISE (Rockford Handicapped Infant Services Expansion), a program to develop an effective early intervention program for infants residing in the lower socioeconomic areas and rural communities of Rockford, Illinois. Sections address a description of the model, rationale for the model, and theoretical aspects of the…

Changes in United States infant and perinatal mortality during the period 1965-1973 are examined by race, age at death or length of gestation, and degree of urbanization. Several improvements in mortality rates are identified and discussed in relation to changes in the United States which have occurred in economic conditions and standards of…

This brief, preliminary report sets forth in broad strokes a profile of children in the South. Demographic, educational, and program resources data are provided. The report is considered a beginning step in the process of developing baseline data about the unique characteristics of Southern children. Three themes are evident in the report: (1)…

Measures of physical, mental, and social components of health status and general health ratings were studied for children ages 0-4 (N=679) and 5-13 (N=1473). Questionnaires were completed by adult proxies (usually mothers) in three generally healthy populations. Hypothesized multi-item scales were tested; reliability was estimated and preliminary…

In order to study teenaged mothers' knowledge, expectations, and attitudes regarding parenthood, their support systems for coping with pregnancy and parenthood, and how these factors influence their actual parenting ability in interactions with their babies, ninety-eight female teenagers from diverse sociodemographic backgrounds were interviewed…

The final report describes the development of a program to train neighborhood mothers as home visitors to families with a handicapped child under age 3. The following program aspects are detailed (sample subtopics in parentheses): population (referral sources, family and child characteristics); staff (changes in staffing pattern, hiring core…

The use of gestures by four infants was recorded as they interacted with their mothers. Waving, extending objects, and headshaking generally achieved a threshold of at least 10 instances within one month of acquisition. Both waving and headshaking were often first used in imitative and game routines with the mother before they became…

The monograph explores development in the infant's first year of life, particularly as it influences later mental health or illness. An introductory section presents a schematic history of early clinical practice (including some earlier preventive trends, changes in the way we think about childhood, and changes in the role of government in…

This study examines the longitudinal relationships between mastery motivation and differentiated measures of intellectual development assessed at 1 and 3 1/2 years of age in a sample of 35 children (21 boys and 14 girls). At one year three types of mastery motivation were assessed using structured tasks: (1) producing effects (engaging in…

The rapidity with which mothers respond to their infants' vocalizations by either vocalizing or verbalizing was compared for five male and five female later-born, (i.e., not first-born) children and their mothers. Videotapes were made from behind a one-way mirror when infants were 2, 26, 52, and 78 weeks of age; each tape represented a five-minute…

This report provides expert opinion on the problems of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and ways to inform the public of teratogenic risk of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. In the absence of firm evidence that moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages leads to FAS and uncertainty concerning the effectiveness of labeling of alcoholic beverages, a…

This study was designed to examine complexity of maternal language to 4-, 6-, and 8-month-old male and female infants in a laboratory situation as measured by mean length of utternace (MLU), frequencies of certain sentence types, and other syntactic indices. Subjects were 36 mothers and their infants. There were six male and six female infants at…