The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a planned mastery motivational physical play session on physical activity (i.e., heart rate [HR] and physical play intensity [PAHR greater than 50]) in toddlers (N = 21), as compared to a nonplanned free play session. Participants wore a monitor to measure HR over two, 30 min play…

The present study examines the contribution of parental, contextual, and child characteristics to parenting behavior during toddlerhood in 111 two-parent families with a 17-month-old son (M = 16.9 months, SD = 0.57). Parenting was conceptualized in terms of five dimensions: support, structure, positive discipline, psychological control, and…

Infants and young children have the ability to regulate their food intake according to their energy needs, and parents play an important role in facilitating their children's self-regulation. When overweight children learn to eat in accordance with feelings of hunger and fullness and learn to soothe themselves without eating, they will reduce…

The concept of intersubjectivity may be used to illuminate the way in which we observe and describe many of the interpersonal processes that begin in infancy. The more traditional psychoanalytic ideas of holding and containment, as well as relatively recent concepts such as attunement and reflective function, can be seen as belonging within this…

Recent research on early word learning suggests that children's behavior when-generalizing novel nouns integrates their prior vocabulary knowledge with the specifics of the task. This study examines how these factors interact on the moment-to-moment time scale of the training children receive and the sequence of stimuli they are shown. In 1…

Research Findings: This study expands on previous research (Bus & van Ijzendoorn, 1988, 1992, 1997) establishing an association between the quality of mother-child interactions and reading behavior during a joint book-reading task. In a sample of 58 mother-child pairs, the quality of the relationship between mothers and their children at 36 months…

Background: Repetitive behaviours are an essential part of the diagnosis of autism but are also commonly seen in typically developing children. The current study investigated the frequency and factor structure of repetitive behaviours in a large community sample of 2-year-olds. Methods: A new measure, the Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire (RBQ-2)…

The individualized family service plan (IFSP) is the cornerstone document that guides supports for infants and toddlers receiving early intervention through Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The outcomes included on the IFSP reflect what everyone in the child's life values as important for the child right now. The…

This article presents an analysis of the functional roles of "baby signing" in three hearing families in the United States, as well as a discussion of the social and ideological implications of the practice. Baby signing fits neatly into the parenting ideologies prevalent in the professional class in the United States that value early…

In 2002, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched Children's Futures (CF), a 10-year community change initiative designed to improve the health and well-being of children from birth to age three throughout Trenton, New Jersey. CF's strategies included efforts to increase residents' access to prenatal and other health services, provide parenting…

State child care policies--including licensing, subsidy, and quality enhancement strategies--can promote the quality and continuity of early childhood experiences and foster the healthy growth and development of babies and toddlers in child care settings, especially if they are informed by research. One of the policy levers states may use to…

"Part C Updates" is a compilation of information on various aspects of the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities (Part C) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This is the eleventh volume in a series of compilations, which included two editions of Part H Updates, the former name of the…

Reported here are the results of analyses to describe the patterns of identification and academic and developmental outcomes for children with disabilities, conducted as part of the 2004 National Assessment of the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This report provides background context for National…

A collaborative team of faculty from The University of Akron (UA) in Akron, Ohio, and Kent State University (KSU) in Kent, Ohio, were awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a specialty area in the graduate speech-language pathology (SLP) programs of UA and KSU that would train a total of 32 SLP students (trainees)…

The study examined the properties of the Screening Tool for Autism in Two-Year-Olds (STAT) for children under 24 months. The STAT provides a standard context for observing social-communicative behavior in play, imitation, and communication. Seventy-one children received the STAT between 12 and 23 months of age and a follow-up diagnostic evaluation…