Although several vision screening techniques are available for infants, none is routinely used. Visual deficits are often first detected through required preschool vision screenings, which vary in their comprehensiveness. No standardization for testing or administration exists. Some of the testing procedures used may have inappropriately high…

Fifty-six 12-month-old infants, (10 maltreated infants; 18 nonmaltreated, high-risk infants; and 28 matched low-income controls) were videotaped at home with their mothers for 40 minutes and were observed two weeks later in the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Maltreating mothers could be discriminated by uninformed coders from nonmaltreating mothers.…

Observes parents' socialization practices in 24 homes of families with first-born infants at 11, 14, and 17 months of age. Four kinds of socializing practices were observed and compared by parents' sex, infants' age, and infants' sex. (HOD)

Early intervention programs provide early stimulation and therapy for young children with disabilities. However, no specific age guidelines have been established for starting early intervention, and the pressure to make an immediate commitment to an early intervention program can overwhelm parents. Program options and decision-making strategies…

Black children as a whole had higher rates of homicide deaths than White children, but the difference fades when socioeconomic status is taken into consideration, especially for older children. For children under 5 the leading cause of death was battering; for those over 5 the leading cause was firearms. (Author/BJV)

Points out that infant day care research is still in its infancy, criticizes Jay Belsky's infant day care position conceptually and methodologically, and considers alternative models of influence that may account for the putative association of day care and maladjustment. (SKC)

Describes Title I of PL 99-457, federal legislation dealing with early intervention services for handicapped infants and their families which requires a state plan to include a definition of "developmental delay." Discusses the individual family service plan and strategy for rural educators. (SKW)

This study, which uses the organizational perspective, synthesizes major contributions to the examination of symbolic development in abused children. Focuses on the interrelationship between and the impact of maltreatment on children's cognitive, socioemotional, and linguistic development. (RWB)

Describes a pilot study, involving 48 institutionalized infants and toddlers, which aimed to treat iron deficiency anemia and to discover other factors contributing to the problem. Results indicate improvement in cognitive development after the administration of iron among three groups, while no significant differences were observed in psychomotor…

The socioeconomic factors leading to the high level of infant mortality in the South, among teenage mothers, and among women living in poverty are discussed. The federal 1987 Budget Reconciliation Bill will expand Medicaid to cover poor pregnant women and young children. Expansion of such programs more than pays for itself. (PS)

A four-session training component linking a pediatric residency program with a school- and home-based early handicap intervention program was found to be effective in introducing residents to issues concerning intervention with handicapped infants. (MSE)

Discusses the extent to which certain key aspects of functioning in two-year-old children in 46 families, followed from mid-pregnancy to two years, are anticipated by pre-birth parent personality and marital characteristics, and how these characteristics interact with postbirth development. (Author/DR)

Reviews approaches to the study of temperament and ways in which knowledge about temperament can be helpful in planning day care and counselling parents. Discusses the nine dimensions of temperament developed by Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1965) to describe infants and children and standardized instruments for measuring temperament developed by…

Describes the presence of a phonological selection strategy and consonant harmony rule in one child's developing phonological system. Evidence suggests that this constant harmony constraint operated across morpheme boundaries, causing a delay in the onset of two-word utterances and influencing the selection of words that could occur in word…

Tools for assessing the quality of parent-child interactions in programs for handicapped infants and toddlers include: (1) behavioral observation systems (molar rating, molecular coding); (2) interaction assessment systems (molar rating scales, molecular coding systems, checklists). Considerations in selection should include content validity,…