Examined how French mothers' gestures and prosody contributed to their infants' conversational competence, investigating how they used ostensive marking to point out common references at different developmental stages. Longitudinal observations of mother/infant dyads during free play at three developmental stages indicated that mothers adapted…

This study compared the development (at 40 months) of 40 deaf and hard-of-hearing infants whose hearing loss was identified either before 6 months or after 18 months. Infants whose hearing loss was identified earlier scored significantly on tests of expressive language and comprehension/concepts. Results support early hearing screening for…

Describes the Deaf Mentor Experimental Project, which provided deaf-mentor services to young deaf children, ages 0 to 5, and their families. Deaf adults (mentors) shared their language (American Sign Language), culture, and personal knowledge of deafness while serving as role models for the children. Program children made greater language gains…

Summarizes research findings that challenge long-standing theories of infant cognition and motor development and proposes alternative theoretical models to describe skill acquisition during the first several years of life. Findings are discussed with respect to research in the area of infant speech physiology and production. (Author/CR)

Discusses original recommendations on the preparation of early interventionists and reviews numerous societal, policy/legislative, and service delivery changes that have occurred over the past 10 years in early-childhood special education. Progress in the development of licensure/certification guidelines is highlighted, and the need for further…

Author of the landmark work "Baby and Child Care," Benjamin Spock changed how parents and indirectly professional caregivers raise children. Spock believed all infants are inherently good and discipline is mistakenly identified with punishment. He felt quality child care was essential to successful development and play for infants and…

Readiness to learn is a constant state. Two critical aspects of early childhood provide parents sufficient understanding of their child's development: attachment and brain development. Children develop attachments to caregivers but need consistent parental care and love. Human brains continue to quickly grow during the first two years of life.…

Nineteen infants with deafness and 19 infants who are hearing were observed during face-to-face interactions with their hearing mothers. Mother-identified "difficult" infants with deafness displayed significantly more repetitive activity during normal interaction and significantly more gaze aversion during a still-face episode, compared to "easy"…

Assesses the "value added" by schools to the academic progress of students aged four to seven years. Finds that gender, socioeconomic background, English-as-a-Second-Language, and school composition affect student achievement. Notes that raw, as opposed to value-added, results can give misleading impressions of a school's effectiveness.…

Identifies the diverse array of resources being used by states to finance early intervention services. Strategies for addressing issues that arise when combining resources are discussed, including identifying which funding source is first or last payer, the use of family resources, determination of medical necessity, and service coordination.…

Reviews the multiple needs of infants and young children affected by HIV/AIDS and the compromising psychosocial factors that frequently accompany HIV/AIDS. Implications of these psychosocial medical variables for programming is presented within a systems framework and illustrated in a description of a pediatric AIDS program in New Orleans.…

Argues that an evolutionary account provides insight into developmental function and individual differences. Outlines some assumptions of evolutionary psychology related to development. Introduces the developmental systems approach, differential influence of natural selection at different points in ontogeny, and development of evolved…

To examine the perceptions of families in the early childhood special education literature, four popular journals were reviewed, and 93 1996-1997 articles were identified for further study. Results found a lack of emphasis on the family and the family's role in the delivery of early intervention services. (Contains references.) (CR)

Recommends talking to children to help them develop language skills. Identifies daily routines (mealtime, bath time, dressing, play) as ideal opportunities to engage in parallel talk, describing out loud what the child is seeing, hearing, or thinking during the activity and suggests self-talk as parents perform routine actions around the home.…

Examined caregiving environments for 243 premature, low birthweight infants living in poverty to determine effects on health and development. Found that children's health and development benefited significantly from six protective caregiving factors: (1) increased parental responsiveness; (2) availability of toys and learning materials; (3)…