This article examines the issue of separation and its impact on military families, including on infants and toddlers. Deployments and unaccompanied tours of duty (temporary assignments and 12-24 month assignments, both without family members, respectively) take military personnel away from their loved ones for extended periods of time. …

It frequently is suggested that parents underutilize assistive technology (AT) for their young children with disabilities despite wide spread recommended practices for providing optimal AT interventions (i.e., devices and services). However, neither parent perspectives of AT underutilization or families' experiences with AT have been reported in…

Many recent generativist models attribute grammatical knowledge to young children on the basis that children's language patterns the same way as the target adult language. It has been proposed that the child acquires this knowledge early on in development by a process of parameter setting. Wexler (1996) presents the "Very Early Parameter Setting…

This article describes The Hilton/Early Head Start Training Program, a public-private partnership between the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Head Start Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. The purpose of the training program was to develop skills and strategies for including infants…

The effects of modifying the structural quality components of inclusive classrooms on material engagement among toddlers (18-36 months) with and without disabilities were evaluated. Initially, three classrooms were evaluated using items that addressed structural quality from the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, the National Association for…

This article focuses on the remarkable story of a deeply disorganized child, Rachel, and her experience in foster care with Janet and Paul Mann, founders of the Children's Ark. Rachel and her mother were referred to the Ark, an innovative intervention center for at-risk families, when Rachel was 10 months old. After 11 months at the Ark, Rachel…

The use of music in facilitating second language (as well as first language) learning is supported by evidence that points to the musical nature of even preverbal infants. Music and language have been found to develop similarly, and researchers have noted advantages to using song in learning. The author observed her Korean 21-month-old for …

Approximately one-third of the children in the child welfare system are under the age of 6. These children are almost invisible in our juvenile courts. Living in emotional and environmental impoverishment and deprivation provides a poor foundation for healthy development. These very young and vulnerable children are exhibiting disproportionate…

Background: Children who have reached the age of 2 years without having acquired a 50-word vocabulary and/or who use no word combinations are referred to in the literature as "Late Talkers". Research has not yet identified the factors that cause slow development of expressive language; in particular, relatively little research has been carried out…

Local Interagency Coordinating Councils (LICCs) have been established in most states to coordinate services to infants and toddlers with special needs and their families. This descriptive study examined the 40 Kansas LICCs, in order to understand the councils' developmental progress and current needs and to gain insight into broader issues of…

Over the past several years, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases have drawn greater attention to the problem of low immunization rates in the U.S. In response to this problem, the federal government created the Vaccines for Children program as a foundation for a new national immunization policy to ensure proper and timely immunizations for…

Despite U.S. world leadership in research in child healthcare and development, in all the statistical indicators of children's well-being the United States lags well behind most advanced industrialized societies. This book discusses U.S. public policy issues concerning the healthcare and development of children under age three. Studies are cited…

This paper examines mastery motivation in infants from birth to 3 years of age and outlines critical areas for parent and teacher involvement in the development of motivation, including recommended activities at each level. It asserts that from birth, children have an innate desire to learn about their world, quickly learning that they can control…

This final report describes the implementation and outcomes of a project designed to assist Wisconsin in meeting its need for qualified and appropriately trained personnel to carry out their new roles as service coordinators in the provision of early intervention services. The project's activities included: (1) development of a set of training…

A tool for early childhood professionals, this book describes developmentally appropriate practices for adults providing care and education services to young children. Part 1 of the guide presents the position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) on developmentally appropriate practice in early…