This paper presents a review of the literature on toy play in infancy and early childhood, with an emphasis on both normal development and special considerations for young children with disabilities. Specifically, it describes children's encounters with toys within a developmental framework, identifies characteristics of the child and aspects of…

This book is an attempt to situate Canadian child-rearing advice in its historical and social context in 21st century and the origins and changes in this advice. The volume addresses the untold story of the experience of mothering that largely has been omitted from traditional accounts of history. This account of education for motherhood begins in…

Evidence suggests that the neurological substrate of emotional behavior is lateralized by brain hemisphere early in life. A study examined the emotional expressions of preterm infants, some of whom had unilateral periventrical echodensities (PVE), as a model for addressing this issue. The study population of 25 preterm infants was videotaped at 3…

This report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year federally supported project to improve services to children (ages 0-21) with deaf-blindness in Alabama. The project utilized a service delivery model based on provision of state, regional, local, and individual technical assistance to service providers and families through three…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Wyoming Deaf-Blind Grant, a 3-year federally supported project to identify children who have deaf-blindness and to provide technical assistance in the development of educational services for these children. Major accomplishments of the project included: identification of more…

This final report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of the "Services for Children with Deaf-Blindness Program" at the University of Southern Mississippi, a 3-year program authorized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The project was established to provide direct services and technical…

Based on research in infant sign language, this book teaches parents methods of communicating with their infants through the use of simple bodily movements that signify objects, events, and needs. Noting that communication between parent and child can flourish between 9 months and 30 months, when a baby's desire to communicate outstrips the…

This study compares affiliative and attachment behaviors of nontraditional fathers who are their infant's primary caregivers, secondary caregiving fathers, and primary and secondary caregiving mothers. Subjects were 28 mobile infants and their middle-class American parents. In half of the families, the father was the primary caregiver; in the…

Experts now estimate that one half to three quarters of a million infants are born each year who have been exposed in utero to one or more illicit drugs. When legal drugs--alcohol and tobacco--are added, the figure rises to considerably more than one million substance-exposed infants. This monograph is one in a series created by the Educational…

This paper presents findings from a 5-year research project involving 50 primarily rural families with infants identified neonatally in birth crisis, or shortly thereafter, as having developmental disabilities. Parents were interviewed to gather information on their perceptions of and experiences with the early intervention (EI) process.…

Four years after passage of Public Law 99-457, a survey was conducted of 30 state Part H Coordinators regarding the financing of Part H services. Coordinators were asked to estimate the percentage of the state's total funding that came from each of 44 potential sources for financing the implementation of Part H. Every one of the 44 sources was…

Does early child care hinder or enhance infants' and toddlers' social and cognitive development? This longitudinal study investigated whether: (1) child care is related to qualities of mother-child interaction and the child's cognitive and language development in the first 3 years of life; (2) the child care environment interacts with the home…

DART is a New Jersey statewide center for Dissemination, Advocacy, Research, and Training related to infants and toddlers, their families, and caregivers. This article describes the Trainer of Trainers mentoring model adopted by DART to increase the competency of child care supervisors and therefore the quality of care for infants and toddlers. It…

Intended for use in Florida training programs for caregivers of infants and toddlers with disabilities, this guide presents an overview of the Model of Interdisciplinary Training for Children with Handicaps (MITCH); offers a user's guide to the series; and provides specific information for presenting Module 8, which focuses on health care…

This survey of 25 day care centers in 5 regions of Italy was designed to determine the characteristics of competent centers and the effects of differing local regulations on the quality of care provided. The Infant and Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) and a questionnaire were utilized to assess the quality of the day care centers in the…