A preventive model is proposed to avoid special education through concentrated early intervention. Several operating programs are described as examples of the practicality of the approach. Issues including numbers of students who could be serviced by such a model and the ongoing role of special education alongside "neverstreaming" are…

Ways that preschool environments can be organized to avoid behavior problems are discussed, along with the implications of these arrangements for students with disabilities who are making the transition from preschool to elementary school settings. Also noted is the relationship between environmental arrangement and direct contingency management…

Draws on child-care-quality research to inform our understanding of quality in early-intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Presents conceptual issues in defining quality and methodological challenges for assessing quality of early-intervention services. Discusses efforts to design a measure of quality…

Discusses the "communication hypothesis" of problem behavior and describes methods for determining the communicative functions served by problem behavior. Reports on application of functional assessment and functional communication training with toddlers. (DB)

Attempts to better identify the at-risk children with reading disabilities to aid in early intervention before they encounter the years of reading failure usually associated with a formal diagnosis of reading disabilities. Tries to develop a small set of phonological, letter, and memory tasks that would reliably identify children likely to develop…

This study reports effects of a neurobehavioral intervention approach on motor skills of four children (ages 1 to 3) with cerebral palsy. Children demonstrated generalization of the movement component by using it to perform both a treated exemplar skill and an untreated exemplar skill, indicating that motor skills can be treated concurrently.…

A study of 28 hearing families and their children with hearing impairments (ages 42 to 87 months) found that average age of entry into early-intervention programs was 21 months. Mothers participated more than fathers, and the majority of graduates were enrolled in specific deaf-education programs emphasizing a total-communication approach. (CR)

A study examined effects of phonological awareness training on 191 German kindergartners. Comparisons of children at risk with average and advanced children revealed that training gains were similar for all of these groups. Furthermore, training had comparable long-term effects on reading and spelling in grades 1 and 2 for each group. (Author/CR)

Describes the Family-Centered Program Rating Scale (FamPRS), a 59-item instrument with parallel forms for family members and service providers to rate satisfaction with and importance of various early-intervention program characteristics. An example of using the instrument to improve family-centered practice is detailed. (DB)

Describes the Healthy Families America (HFA) initiative, a program that seeks to expand the availability of high-quality, intensive home-visitation services. Reports on evaluation of HFA programs, which have not shown significant improvements in children's development and maternal social support so far. (SLD)

Describes pervasive developmental disorders (PPDs), which are severe conditions that begin in early life and influence multiple areas of development. Conditions include autistic disorders, Asperger's disorder, Rett's disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and PPDs "not otherwise specified." Intensive behavioral intervention at an early age…

Obtains information about how teachers and reading specialist interns worked together to implement early intervention programs in three different school districts. Describes types of collaboration using observations in the classroom and interviews with interns and teachers. Suggests that the context in the school site, teacher preference, and…

This response to Mahoney et al. (EC 623 392) by a parent of a child with disabilities agrees with the need for parent education in early intervention and offers the author's personal experiences to underscore points such as the importance of collaboration with families and the need to consider parents' limited time and resources. (DB)

This rejoinder to comments on the authors' article (EC 623 392) on a renewed emphasis on parent education in early intervention discusses the nature of parent education, the intended outcomes of parent education, professional training needs, and a research agenda. (DB)

A study involving 21 toddlers who were late talkers investigated the effects of early language intervention on various linguistic and social skills. Results indicated those who received early intervention demonstrated increased complexity, increased verbal output, higher lexical diversity, and improved intelligibility of spontaneous speech and…