This article describes how the Fairbanks Native Association's (FNA) Early Head Start (EHS) program in Alaska participated in the EHS Pathways to Prevention initiative. At the FNA EHS program, staff members had watched their families struggle to receive appropriate and respectful mental health services. Developing more culturally relevant services…

This article argues that supportive teams--including professionals, paraprofessionals, and parents--can teach staff members how to identify and implement best practices in early intervention settings. The authors describe "the seven Rs of team building" distilled from their many years of team building and maintenance: 1) Reading cues; 2) Regular…

The aim of this study was to explore the reasons why vulnerable women refuse to take part in early interventions. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 women who refused to take part in an evaluation of an intensive home visiting programme. A number of themes were identified including perceptions about vulnerability, misperceptions about the…

Three subtypes of autism based on social style have been proposed by Wing: active-but-odd, passive, or aloof. Previous research has shown evidence of an association between IQ and Wing subtype in untreated children and adults. Because IQ changes can accompany behavioral treatment, but often only for a subset of children, social subtype may be…

The present study aims to assess the parental outcomes of an early intervention programme, designed to enhance the development of children zero to four years old with developmental disabilities through parental training. The parents of children with developmental disabilities who participated in the study (mothers, n = 29; fathers, n = 28)…

Levels of evidence differ according to the audience addressed. Implementation of universal newborn hearing screening requires responses to a complex myriad of diverse groups: the general public, families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing, the deaf and hard of hearing communities, hospital administrators, physicians (pediatricians,…

One strand of home visiting research investigates efficacy while another investigates under what conditions programs achieve outcomes. The current study follows the latter approach. Using a within-program design in a sample of 11 home-based sites in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation study, this study found that three components of home…

Once considered virtually nonexistent, bipolar disorder in children has recently received a great deal of attention from mental health professionals and the general public. This paper provides a current review of literature pertaining to the psychosocial treatment of children with early-onset bipolar spectrum disorder (EOBPSD). Commencing with…

Two studies were conducted to examine the effects of motivational climate on motor-skill development and perceived physical competence in kindergarten children with developmental delays. In Experiment 1, two intervention groups were exposed to environments with either high (mastery climate) or low autonomy for 12 weeks. Results showed that the…

Questions concerning the role of input in the growth of syntactic skills have generated substantial debate within psychology and linguistics. The authors address these questions by investigating the effects of experimentally manipulated input on children's skill with the passive voice. The study involved 72 four-year-olds who listened to stories…

In March 2005, Barry Carpenter, OBE, Chief Executive and Director of Research at Sunfield, an education and residential care centre for children with severe and complex learning needs, gave his inaugural professional lecture at University College Worcester. This article is based on that lecture. In it, Barry Carpenter reviews international trends…

This paper analyzes autism as a contingency-shaped disorder of verbal behavior. Contingencies of reinforcement in effect during the first to third year of a child's life may operate to establish and maintain those behaviors that later result in a diagnosis of autism. While neurobiological variables may, in some cases, predispose some children to…

In the United States today, there is a growing number of children exhibiting disruptive behavior. The rising rates of violence among youth in society parallel the increase in numbers of students who engage in severe problem behavior in schools. Schools are currently confronting a number of disturbing trends regarding school discipline, violence,…

The field of early intervention has long been involved in a heated debate between proponents of behavioral teaching strategies and professionals against it. This debate has become more focused and clearly more relevant to the quality of services afforded to young children with special needs because more of these youngsters are being served in…

Findings from two studies examining the parent and child outcomes associated with different ways of conceptualizing natural learning environment early intervention practices are presented. One sample in each study was asked to indicate the extent to which early intervention practitioners implemented their interventions in everyday family or…