The term "multiple disabilities" is general and broad. From the term, you cannot tell how many disabilities a child has; which disabilities are involved; or how severe each disability is. Many combinations of disabilities are possible. The different disabilities will also have a combined impact. That is why it is also important to ask:…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has documented that 1 in every 88 children is identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD; CDC, 2012). Autism is now recognized in children at an earlier age because most researchers agree autism can be reliably identified by the time children reach 24 months (Cox et al., 1999; Stone et…

In this article, the author focuses on diversity and working with families in the early childhood field. She has chosen to look to the potential for improvements in the future. It is impossible to predict the future, but there are strategies that can help ensure that practices in early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE)…

First year students, like all students at a university, comprise a diverse mixture of personal traits, backgrounds, experiences, and assorted learning styles. Each of these unique student characteristics can either enhance or inhibit successful integration to the campus community. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of various…

A single case study examined the use of multimedia storybooks on the vocabulary acquisition of 7 preschool students who are deaf/hard of hearing in two classrooms at a school for the deaf in the U.S. Participants also included 3 speech-language pathologists. Students spent an average of 7.1 minutes daily working with the multimedia storybooks and…

As the field of early childhood mental health continues to expand and evolve, the evidence base is growing, and early childhood mental health consultation is viewed as a promising practice. However, there continues to be a need for further research, with particular attention given to the utility and effectiveness of this approach with infants and…

Houston Independent School District (HISD) has provided prekindergarten classes for Houston area four-year old students since the 1985-1986 academic year. The focus of the program is on lifelong learning to enhance the physical, emotional, and social well-being of the whole child and provide the foundational skills required for career and college…

In 2013, The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth administered a survey to school district liaisons, homeless housing providers, and early care/education providers (including Early Head Start/Head Start (EHS/HS), child care, preschool, Early Intervention (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C), and…

This study examines the relations among the classroom literacy environment, children's interest and engagement in literacy activities, and children's early reading skills in a sample of 167 children aged 4 and 5 years enrolled in 31 Head Start classrooms. Researchers rated the classroom literacy environment. Teachers reported on children's…

Despite the stated importance of a successful kindergarten transition (TTK) for future school success, no research has addressed this transition for culturally/ethnically diverse families having children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). To address this gap, six focus groups (three with ethnically diverse parents, one with kindergarten…

As policy-makers contemplate expanding preschool opportunities for low-income children, one possibility is to fund two, rather than one year of Head Start for children at ages 3 and 4. Another option is to offer one year of Head Start followed by one year of pre-k. We ask which of these options is more effective. We use data from the Oklahoma…

The purpose of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and Head Start Collaborative programs is to share the responsibility for closing the achievement gap between economically-disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers. Currently, HISD collaborates with the following four federally-funded Head Start agencies that serve regional…

Soon after the implementation of federal and state early education mandates that require the teaching and testing of more formal "academic" skills, many highly experienced early childhood teachers began voicing concerns about the negative impact the mandates were having on the young children in their classrooms. Many of these concerns…

Scientific advances in the knowledge of the brain and its functioning are considerable and undeniably useful in child mental health. At the same time, however, observational research on a longitudinal basis is demonstrating the importance of the family environment in a child's early years on adolescent and adult outcomes. Environmental influences…

Mom2Mom is an attachment-based home visiting project for distressed mothers of young infants, based in Israel. Home visitors, who are volunteer mothers from the community, are trained and supervised by professionals. Home visits occur weekly for 1-2 hours and continue until the infant is 1 year old. The project was founded in Jerusalem in year…