Search

Identifying family strengths is central to early childhood practices. Moving beyond identification to exploring and explicitly applying those strengths can evolve strengths-based and family capacity-building practices. Assessment and planning processes that focus on the strategies families use to help their child learn can give agency to families in this parenting role. This exploratory study examined the perspectives of seven families who participated in an early intervention assessment-to-planning approach that sought to uncover, understand, and utilize the strategies families used to help their child learn and their appraisals of those strategies. Family responses during qualitative interviews were analyzed into three themes: (1) naturalistic observations yield naturalistic understandings, (2) practices that honor family strengths and family fit, and (3) self-discovery and self-affirmation. Implications for evolving family capacity-building approaches are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Part C early intervention (EI) starts no earlier than birth, even with a prenatal diagnosis resulting in automatic eligibility. Despite other early home visiting programs beginning prenatally and the increasing likelihood of uncovering certain diagnoses prenatally, pregnant families cannot access EI. This study sought to understand families’ perspectives on their desire for prenatal EI and how EI could support them. Seventeen primarily White non-Hispanic mothers with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome shared their prenatal experiences through retrospective, qualitative interviews. Three themes emerged: (1) prenatal period as a time to connect to EI, (2) different families, different prenatal desires, and (3) postnatal EI experiences, prenatal EI hopes. Families saw benefits to starting prenatally to enroll in and understand EI, and prepare for their baby’s arrival through individualized outcomes. Families appreciated their postnatal EI and envisioned similar supports prenatally. Participants’ shared experiences are discussed in relation to pre- and postnatal EI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Child functioning does not occur in a vacuum, but is influenced by the social interactions, physical features, and timing of the family's routines that make up the child's learning environment." They review the environment RP E3: "Practitioners work with the family and other adults to adapt the physical, social, and temporal environments to promote each child's access to and participation in learning experiences" (p. 7) and wonder if that is the missing piece. Talia identifies this might be a place for an adaptation, such as giving Julio one bowl at a time to promote self-regulation. i I Does positioning Julio in front of a mirror, supported by Clara behind him, help him participate and learn?. [Extracted from the article]

Authentic assessments are naturalistic methods to obtain functional, contextual information relevant to learning in routine activities. Seven focus groups were conducted with 73 practicing Part C early interventionists to gather their reports on authentic assessments. Participants reported various ways of applying authentic assessment methods, with eligibility determination identified as the most difficult assessment decision point and progress monitoring as the easiest assessment decision point to use such strategies. Barriers and facilitators to using authentic assessments were described in the themes of administrative requirements, knowledge and experience, and family-professional partnerships. Implications for professional development systems and early intervention leadership are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the television career of John Creswell as ITV chief operating officer and financial director. The author mentions that although Cresswell have been into hardships and battles, he still established himself as the backbone of ITV's senior management team. He explains that Sofia's Diary is orinally conceived by Portuguese multimedia development company BeActive as an experimental web and mobile phone service.

The purpose of this study was to inform early intervention practice by exploring the various adaptations families make to promote their child's learning, the supports they perceive as helpful in creating adaptations, and the supports they perceive as still needed. Holistic case studies were developed for 5 families of infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays. Resulting conclusions were that families (a) created adaptations according to their goals, their child's developmental characteristics, and environmental factors; (b) relied primarily on their own knowledge of their child; (c) most frequently used responsive caregiving strategies and adaptations of the requirements of, or instruction for, participation; and (d) applied intervention guidance in various ways. Resulting recommendations for early intervention practices are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the basic task and development of early intervention professionals. The author says understanding infant-toddler development requires knowing how this child, with his/her unique learning characteristics, approaches opportunities to participate, learn and function everyday. Intervention professionals must reportedly be attuned to competencies the infant-toddler uses.

The author discusses issues concerning the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children in the U.S. She mentions the highlights of the 2012 DEC conference, which include a keynote speech by Sondra Samuels on the vision of the organization. She cites the appointment of Ted Burke as conference program chair.