The purpose of this research was to examine the spontaneous responsiveness and attention during picture-book reading in 18-month-old to 24-month-old children from at-risk backgrounds. Twenty-five, 18-month-old children in an early intervention program were randomly assigned to a read condition or play condition for six months. At each seventh…

This study investigated the contributions of 5 mechanisms to the effects of preschool participation in the Child-Parent Centers for 1,404 low-income children in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Based on a matched-group design, preschool participation was associated with significantly higher rates of educational attainment and lower rates of…

Because more children under the age of 3 years are being diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), early interventionists face the challenge of identifying appropriate programs to meet the unique needs of very young children with ASD and their families. Project DATA (Developmentally Appropriate Treatment for Autism) for Toddlers is an…

Rebecca New describes a history of selective enthusiasm for Western European ideas about children, the period of childhood, and the potentials of early care and educational services. She further acknowledges the European origins of many features of contemporary early childhood education, including the prevalence of educational toys, the principles…

Empirical research shows that poor emotional competence is an early risk factor for the development of psychopathology. Numerous school-based prevention programs have been developed with the goal of decreasing behavior problems. Several of these programs include a discrete emotions component, but none of them are solely or primarily guided by…

Positive touch is an application of the ancient practice of infant massage. Positive touch provides families and caregivers with simple and positive ways to touch their child that contribute to the overall goal of providing a nurturing environment that supports the child's growth and development. This article describes infant massage techniques in…

This study was conducted to examine the effects of functional communication training when used by mothers to address the serious challenging behaviors of toddlers. Multiple baseline (across home routines) designs were used with two mother-child dyads. The data showed mothers used the procedures correctly and interventions produced reductions in…

This article provides comments on an article by Dunst and Bruder. Families, practitioners, researchers, and policy makers have been involved with federal and state-funded early intervention programs for children with disabilities and special health care needs for a very long time. The authors have provided valuable information to lay a stronger…

Comments on an article by Dunst and Bruder. Twenty years ago, amendments to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 99-457, 1986) included language that required each state early intervention system to ensure that families had access to a case manager. The article by the authors and the study conducted as part of the Research and…

Reply by the current author to the comments made by R. A. McWilliam, R. N. Roberts and Andy Gomm on the original article. All three commentaries are addressing a common theme that service coordination is not receiving the attention it deserves by state and local early intervention systems and programs. The responses contain a number of key points…

Preparing foster children for school entry by focusing on the skills necessary to succeed in kindergarten calls for early intervention. However, existing programs to enhance school readiness have not been tailored to meet the educational, emotional, and psychological needs of foster children. This is the rationale behind development of the…

The period of early childhood sets the stage for how well children view themselves, each other, and their world. Shared positive emotional experiences between caregivers and children serve as building blocks for the development of social and emotional well-being in infants and toddlers. Incorporating the three principles of promotion, prevention,…

The present study investigated pathways that might explain the observed linkage between participation in early intervention programs and later educational attainment using a sample from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an on-going investigation of low-income minority children growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods in Chicago. A review of…

We examined parent and child moderators of outcome, program engagement effects, and predictors of engagement in the Incredible Years Parent Training Program. Head Start classrooms (N = 882 children) were randomly assigned to an intervention condition (that received the Incredible Years program) or to a control condition (that received usual Head…

Efforts to transfer research findings on autism into public schools would benefit from further evaluation of teacher preparation models. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a model program that was deigned to prepare current teachers in evidence-based practices for children with autism. Drawn from the extensive literature on caregiver…