The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) clearly outlined recommended practices for the provision of Part C services. However, there may be challenges in rural areas associated with services aligning with these recommended practices. Therefore, this study focuses on how families experience Part C services and the extent to which services align with…

Using a qualitative approach including an online survey and a focus group, the study sought to examine the factors that prevented 'hard to engage' families from taking advantage of the two-year-old funding for free early education and care within one United Kingdom-based context. In particular, the study sought to identify any barriers that…

Theory of mind (ToM) is crucial for social interactions. Previous research has indicated that deaf and hard-of-hearing children born into hearing families (DoH) are at risk of delayed ToM development. However, it is unclear whether this is the case for DoH children who receive cochlear implants (CIs) before and around the second year of life. The…

We share moments from ongoing pedagogical inquiry work with toddler-aged children, where we explore together how we might tentatively create conditions for movement to happen outside of the familiar, dominant, status-quo referents of individualism and motor skill development that anchor much physical activity curricula. Sharing pedagogical…

A selective literature review by Hall and Dills ([2020]. The Limits of "Communication Mode" as a Construct. "Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education.") (EJ1273461) recently argued that limitations in communication mode as a construct prevent empirical research from discovering what type(s) of early language input optimise…

This 'teaching tip' shares the success of a service-learning opportunity created to work with university students in a meaningful way in the community. It describes a program called Fit 4 Tots that resulted in more toddlers, university students and community members benefiting from learning and movement experiences.

Research shows that educators' technology beliefs and experiences strongly shape their technology adoption and utilization in educational practices. This mixed-method study investigated very young children's educators' touchscreen use and their beliefs and experiences in China. Rich quantitative findings (N = 1276) revealed the availability of…

Adults' behaviour in interactions with children is assumed to influence children's playfulness. However, little is known about how the quality of teacher-child interaction in early childhood education and care affects the development of children's playfulness, although the interaction quality has been identified as a strong predictor of children's…

This study explored early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers' visual gaze and related reflections on pedagogical actions during pedagogical activities in groups of children under three years of age in Finland. The data were collected from play and teacher-guided activities using mobile eye-tracking glasses, the retrospective thinking…

Currently, no culturally and linguistically adapted autism screening tools are available in South Africa. The aim was to determine the reliability and concurrent validity of the adapted English and Northern Sotho-translated Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers--Revised with Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F). Reliability was confirmed with near-perfect…

This study examined the effectiveness of the "Thrive by Three" intervention for 1- to 3-year-old's language development. Data from 78 childcare centres, 187 toddler classrooms, and 1561 children (91.4% native Norwegian) were included. Results revealed that children in the intervention group had slightly steeper language development than…

In this study we investigated the impact of parental language input on language development and associated neuroscillatory patterns in toddlers at risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Forty-six mother-toddler dyads at either high (n = 22) or low (n = 24) familial risk of ASD completed a longitudinal, prospective study including free-play,…

Background: In recent reviews of autism spectrum disorder screening tools, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/FTM) has been recommended for use in lower middle-income countries to promote earlier identification. Aim: The study aim was to culturally adapt and translate the M-CHAT-R/FTM into Northern…

How parents support social learning at the preverbal level for toddlers with autism is rarely reported, limiting the field's understanding of factors that may influence early development of social competency. As a central challenge in autism that is resistant to intervention, preverbal social initiating is an important indicator of social…

This study tested the hypothesis that exposure of children prior to their third birthday to procedures requiring general anesthesia is associated with an increased incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in later life. This study employed a nested, 1:2 matched-case control study design using ASD cases identified in a population-based birth…