The Pathways to Prevention (PTP) initiative was designed to help selected Early Head Start (EHS) programs enhance their mental health services for infants and toddlers by learning to work with infant mental health consultants. PTP engaged the author to provide support to the infant mental health consultants through regular group consultation via…

Background: Delays and deficits in joint attention and symbolic play constitute two important developmental problems in young children with autism. These areas of deficit have been well studied in autism but have rarely been the focus of treatment efforts (see Kasari, Freeman, & Paparella, 2001). In this study, we examine the efficacy of targeted…

This paper presents findings of an evaluation of a one-off, small scale, pilot project. Picking up where Sure Start, the government programme for families of newborns to threes, leaves off, "Families in Focus" works with children aged four to 16 on a disadvantaged council estate in London. Through this route, the programme also reaches…

This article overviews prevention and early intervention approaches focusing specifically on their relevance to the health of children and young people in Australia. Australian public health has a sound track record although concealed within the aggregate profile are a number of sub-populations with poorer health indicators. Recognition of this…

A pressing need exists within the field of early intervention and early childhood special education to identify and measure outcomes for young children and their families as a result of participating in publicly funded services. This article identifies critical issues for state administrators; providers, families, and researchers to consider when…

These are typical scenarios of children with hearing loss who are being included increasingly in early childhood settings. Recent federal legislation encourages states to develop programs to screen the hearing of all infants before they leave the hospital, and currently 39 states have adopted newborn infant hearing screening mandates (ASHA 2005).…

Successful school reentry following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is critical to recovery. Physical, cognitive, behavioral, academic, and social problems can affect a child's school performance after a TBI. However, early intervention has the potential to improve child academic outcomes and promote effective coping with any persistent changes in…

This paper presents a response to five commentaries on our article "An Analysis of Autism as a Contingency-Shaped Disorder of Verbal Behavior" (Drash & Tudor, 2004). One of the principal objectives of that article is to provide the behavior analysis community and the autism community with a conceptual basis for analyzing autism as a behavioral…

This paper briefly introduces Early Intervention (EI) issues in five countries including Zimbabwe, Poland, People's Republic of China (PRC), India, and the United States of America (USA). In the overview section the national background, including religious, socio-economic development, and political systems, its policies, laws and acts, are…

The spectrum of autistic disorders is now known to be far more prevalent than previously thought and diagnosis is being made at earlier ages. There is also a consensus that early intervention and support can have a significant impact on the quality of life for individuals and their families. This presents the problem of how to organise effective…

The author presents a number of factors that underscore the educational advantages of focusing on a Pre-K-3 school configuration, including the need for less remediation and more productive learning in the upper elementary and secondary grades. He describes a self-contained Pre-K-3 continuum, including universal pre-kindergarten and full-day…

Twelve children (CA, 12 to 32 months) with developmental delay were observed in their homes during monthly analogue functional analysis probes to document patterns of emerging self-injurious behavior. Two patterns of emerging self-injury were observed for 5 participants: (a) The topography and functional analysis pattern remained the same, but the…

The debates over the 2003 reauthorization of Head Start highlighted a controversy about the devolution of federal early education policy. At the center of the debate is the concern that state control of early education programs will reduce the quality and effectiveness of federal support for children living in poverty, and their families. The…

While research on emergent literacy development provides a comprehensive picture of the factors that are conducive to children's early literacy development, environments of young preschool children living in overnight and residential shelters have not been investigated from an emergent literacy perspective. Results of my comprehensive study on the…

This brief summarizes the working paper, "The Science of Early Childhood Development: Closing the Gap between What We Know and What We Do" (ED503049). In early childhood, research on the biology of stress shows how major adversity, such as extreme poverty, abuse, or neglect can weaken developing brain architecture and permanently set the…