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Latin American families' history and life experiences impact the priorities and values the families have for their children with disabilities. It may be beneficial for early intervention (EI) providers to explore and integrate Latin American families' backgrounds to improve EI services. We completed a qualitative interview study using a collective case study analysis to (a) learn about Latin American families' parenting values and (b) explore families' experiences with a statewide early intervention model. Three mothers with young children who had received EI services completed two interviews. We found that each family had unique histories, compositions, support networks, and priorities that impacted their experiences with a statewide coaching model. Families revealed how their funds of knowledge were, at times, integrated into the EI they received. Our study describes a valuable method of learning about Latin American families' cultural backgrounds so that EI providers may sustain families' cultures within the services they provide.

A recent review of literature indicated limited research about the preparation of doctoral students in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). The purpose of this pilot study was to address this gap in research and investigate the mentorship of doctoral students who participated in the Division for Early Childhood's Consortium for Innovations in Doctoral Excellence (DECIDE). Mentors and mentees who participated in the DECIDE Mentoring Initiative participated in focus groups and interviews to share their mentoring experiences and provide suggestions for the mentorship of doctoral students. Qualitative research methods were used to analyze themes. Findings indicated (a) shifts in power dynamics occurred between the mentor and mentee dyad, (b) mentoring infrastructures may be beneficial, (c) mentoring relationships are unique for each dyad, and (d) further research is needed to investigate the mentoring needs of students from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds.

Rather than professional-driven decisions, shared decisions are central to family-centered philosophy and practices. This qualitative study investigated how four home visitors and 12 families engaged in institutional decision-making about 16 infants and toddlers enrolled in Early Head Start. The following research question was addressed: How do home visitor discursive strategies contribute to family participation during institutional decision-making about their child? Discourse analysis of detailed home visit transcripts focused on two phases of decision-making: (1) how home visitors opened decision-making; and (2) how home visitors signaled the opportunity for families to participate in making a choice. Although eight approaches were identified across both phases, only two aligned with features of shared decision-making. Instead, home visitors predominantly used unilateral approaches that drew on professional and curricular authority to narrow how families could participate in decision-making about their child. Unilateral approaches set the stage to enact professional recommendations without meaningful family participation, and created a context where home visitors could subtly exert decision-making control over families. Examining details of how decision-making unfolded contributes nuanced information about what shared decisions do - and do not - sound like, and offers insight into discursive strategies that better enact equitable partnerships with families.

As early identification of autism improves, there is a critical need for interventions to support the development of social communication skills in toddlers. Caregiver coaching and parental involvement is crucial for improving outcomes and providing children with adequate hours of planned active engagement. This pilot study assessed a 4-week intervention for individual caregiver-child dyads. Eight toddlers 21- to 45-months of age participated. Standardized assessments were collected at four study visits to assess autism symptomatology, language development, and both caregiver knowledge and engagement. Results demonstrated the feasibility of the intervention. Social communication, receptive and expressive language all improved as measured by direct assessment. Caregiver knowledge and caregivers' subjective feelings of engagement with their toddlers also improved.

The complex trajectories of higher education students are deviations from the regular path due to delays in completing a degree, dropping out, taking breaks, or changing programmes. In this study, we investigated degree changing as a cause of complex student trajectories. We characterised cohorts of students who graduated with a complex trajectory and identified the characteristics that influenced the time to graduation. To support this predictive task, we employed machine learning techniques such as neural networks, support vector machines, and random forests. In addition, we used interpretable techniques such as decision trees to derive managerial insights that could prove useful to decision-makers. We validated the proposed methodology taking the University of Porto (Portugal) as case study. The results show that the time to degree (TTD) of students with and without complex trajectories was different. Moreover, the proposed models effectively predicted TTD, outperforming two benchmark models. The random forest model proved to be the best predictor. Finally, this study shows that the factors that best predict TTD are the median TTD and the admission regime of the programme of destination of transfer students, followed by the admission average of the previous programme. By identifying students who take longer to complete their studies, targeted interventions such as counselling and tutoring can be promoted, potentially improving completion rates and educational outcomes without having to use as many resources.

Interventions are strongly recommended for preschoolers experiencing participation difficulties in their daily life, regardless of whether or not they have a diagnosis. Best practices recommend that interventions should include the child's significant adults and be delivered in the child's environments. Occupational Performance Coaching (OPC) has shown promising results in improving children's participation by supporting significant adults of school-aged children either with cerebral palsy or without a definite diagnosis, and of preschoolers with developmental coordination disorder. However, this approach has not yet been studied for preschoolers without a definite diagnosis. A multiple case study design was used to explore the interventions's feasibility for this population. Eight parents and three early childhood educators received OPC to help seven children (cases). Intra- and inter-case analyses were conducted to document the effects of the intervention on the children's participation and the caregivers' goals. All children had difficulties in their daily life, and most presented motor, sensory, behavioral and/or adaptive difficulties. Improvements in children's participation and significant adults' satisfaction as well as goal attainment were observed in most cases. Improvements were generally maintained at a three-month follow-up. These findings support the feasibility of OPC for significant adults of preschoolers with participation difficulties in daily life but no definite diagnosis.

High-quality early care and education is a known protective factor for infants and toddlers who experience early childhood poverty, especially for early communication outcomes. However, the quality of care is variable in the United States, and efforts to increase the quality of interactions is impeded by cost and high rates of turnover in the field. In this paper, we explore a low-cost, light touch social media intervention that uses the TikTok platform to increase infant-toddler teachers' (ITTs) knowledge of early communication and social interactions while validating the important role that ITTs play in the lives of young children. We use a mixed method, pre-post design to explore the feasibility and acceptability of the BabyTok project from the vantage point of the ITT participants. Teachers offered positive feedback about the content, delivery of the intervention through TikTok and the impact on their feelings about their role in helping young children learn.

Autism evaluation processes are often fragmented and lead to delays in accurate identification and services. These inefficient processes also lead to substantial burden on families when navigating the autism diagnostic odyssey that often requires information-sharing across providers and settings. Collaboration across schools, clinical settings, and communities can facilitate equitable and efficient access to autism evaluation services. Children and families from minoritized and marginalized backgrounds are particularly positioned to benefit from school-clinic collaboration. This paper: (1) highlights the current state of autism identification and systems inefficiencies and inequities along racial/ethnic/socioeconomic lines; (2) compares the processes, benefits, and challenges between educational identification and clinical diagnosis of autism; (3) describes how school-clinic collaboration processes can address these systems inefficiencies and inequities; (4) presents examples of models that use school-clinic collaboration; and (5) offers specific recommendations for providers.

Background: Many children experience delayed or missed identification of an intellectual disability diagnosis, meaning that key opportunities for early educational intervention may be lost. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the views of teachers, parents, and clinicians (n = 22), about the use of the Child and Adolescent Intellectual Disability Screening Questionnaire (CAIDS-Q) and what could improve screening and identification of intellectual disability in schools. Thematic analysis was used to identify relevant themes. Results: Three themes were identified: the need for, and role of, screening in the context of limited knowledge about intellectual disability; the impact of screening and subsequent identification of intellectual disability; and the context within which participants felt screening should take place in order to maximise its benefits. Conclusions: The results confirmed the importance and benefits of timely identification of children with an intellectual disability and the positive role that screening might play in this.

Background: The rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has transformed the Australian funding landscape for individuals with disability and their families. This study examined whether the profiles of autistic children and their families accessing an early intervention (EI) setting have changed following its introduction. Methods: The cognition and behavioural profiles of children funded under the NDIS (n = 58) were compared to children who had received block government funding (n = 58). Parental mental health and quality of life (QoL) outcomes were compared. Results: Children presented with similar baseline cognition, functional abilities and autism behaviours at intake into EI irrespective of funding type. While parental QoL was similar across groups, parents funded by the NDIS reported significantly higher stress and depression levels. Conclusions: The current findings suggest that modifications to the NDIS framework may be necessary to extend benefits beyond the individual living with disability to foster the health and wellbeing of their primary carers.

The first three years of a child's life are of critical importance to the development of the brain. Children identified as not developing at a pace that is age level appropriate may be referred to early intervention services. This study identifies the successes as well as the various challenges that Latinx families encounter as they navigate the early intervention system. Through one-on-one interviews, the researchers in the current study explore the attitudes, values, and concerns of nine Latina mothers who accessed and received early intervention services for their children with developmental delays. Results from this study provide direction for the development of strategies and guidance for practitioners in the application of recommended practices.

Infancy, a formative period for development, has been identified as an advantageous time to provide family-centered support for children with delays. Families should be included as stakeholders during development of such interventions to ensure social value. We describe a preliminary randomized controlled trial evaluating Infant Achievements (IA), an 8-week (16-session) parent-mediated intervention for parents of infants 8-12 months old with social and communication delays. This study reports our qualitative examination of the intervention's social validity. We conducted focus groups with seven IA parent participants and analyzed their responses using conventional content analysis. Five themes emerged: (a) difficulty identifying resources to address concerns; (b) seeking validation of concerns; (c) seeking support to enhance children's development; (d) experiencing a supportive coaching relationship; and (e) creating meaningful interactions to support children's communication and social skills. Our results emphasize the necessity of partnering with families in the development of evidence-based, family-centered interventions for infants with developmental delays to maximize their social value.

Early detection and access to interventions for developmental delays in young children have been shown to improve health, social, and academic outcomes later in life. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors associated with caregivers' perception of child developmental concerns in low-income communities. A countywide survey was conducted in Los Angeles County (LAC), California, among 4,863 participating Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) families with children ages 1-4 years. Proportional odds ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between the severity of reported developmental concerns and respondent characteristics. Results indicate that demographic characteristics, support systems, health care visits during COVID-19, and maternal symptoms of depression are associated with higher odds of reporting more severe developmental concerns among the WIC population. Advancing policies, programs, and research that aim to improve early detection and access to childhood professionals for all families will be essential to allow all children in low-income households to optimize their development.

Service coordinators under Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004) help families navigate the early intervention (EI) system and ensure regular communication among team members so services are aligned with family priorities and recommended EI practices. To meet the demands of service coordination, personnel entering the EI field who will serve as service coordinators must receive high-quality professional development to orient them to their unique roles and responsibilities. The purpose of this program evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of one state's service coordination training program and its alignment with the Knowledge and Skills for Service Coordinators (KSSC), a resource document in the Division for Early Childhood and IDEA Infant Toddler Coordinators Association (DEC & ITCA) Joint Position Statement: Service Coordination in Early Intervention (2020). Survey results suggested that the training program was associated with increased knowledge and skills for service coordinator participants in many of the KSSC areas. Participants also reported using what they learned in their work with families. The rubric used to evaluate this training program could be a resource for state-level professional development providers to evaluate alignment of current and future training for service coordinators with the KSSC.

Early childhood forms the fundamental basis for developing various social-emotional skills and represents a unique opportunity to lay the foundation for healthy development. Insensitive learning environments in early childhood may lead to social-emotional difficulties, increasing the risk of developing severe behavioral problems. However, professional development (PD) opportunities that support early childhood education professionals' (ECEPs) knowledge and skills to promote young children's social and emotional development are scarce. In Finland, notably, the increasing need to enhance competence through further training has been widely recognized. Therefore, this study introduced the POMPedaSens program in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland. The program aims to promote children's social-emotional learning (SEL) by supporting ECEPs' engagement and emotional availability. As a universal intervention program, POMPedaSens includes all children in ECEC regardless of risk factors. The present study included 200 children (M[subscript age] = 72.27 months, SD = 5.48; 53% girls) and 62 ECEPs (M[subscript age] = 43.82 years, SD = 11.71; 95% female). ECEPs received the intervention training to implement the curriculum in their everyday daycare routine. The present study describes the program design, implementation, and results from a preliminary evaluation of the social validity of the POMPedaSens program, measured by the ECEPs' satisfaction with the program. The results of the social validity evaluation suggested high teachers' satisfaction and improved children's SEL. These findings prove that the program may effectively build ECEPs' capacity to promote children's SEL.

Family-program partnerships in early care and education have the potential to influence young children's development through multiple pathways. Guided by the Head Start (HS) Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) framework, the current study uses data from the 2014 HS Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) to examine the direct, and indirect, through families' home involvement and young children's approaches to learning, associations between family-staff relationships and preschool children's receptive vocabulary and early math skills. Research Findings: Drawing on data collected from families, teachers, and direct assessments with children, and controlling for multiple child, family, and teacher factors, we found that strong family-family services staff partnerships were directly, and indirectly, through higher family-home involvement, associated with children's higher receptive vocabulary skills. In addition, we found that stronger family-teacher relationships were associated with children's stronger approaches to learning, which in turn, were associated with children's higher receptive vocabulary and early math skills. Practice or Policy: Our findings help substantiate and expand on the HS PFCE framework and help highlight the potential importance of family service staff in HS programs.

Purpose: The aims of this study were (a) to evaluate the convergent validity of the Language Use Inventory (LUI) with measures of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms, language, and social skills and (b) to assess discriminant validity of the LUI with measures of nonlanguage skills, including daily living skills and motor development. Method: This study sample included participants from a longitudinal study (n = 239) of infant siblings with elevated familial likelihood of ASD and lower familial likelihood. Assessment measures completed at 36 months included the LUI, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule--Second Edition (ADOS-2), the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales--Second Edition. Bivariate Pearson correlations were estimated between ADOS-2 comparison scores and four language and social skills measures. Additional correlations were estimated between LUI total scores and standard scores from nonlanguage measures. A series of Fisher's Z transformations were applied to evaluate whether bivariate correlations were significantly different. Results: All four language and social skill measures were moderately to strongly associated with each other and ASD symptom severity scores. The correlation between ADOS-2 comparison scores and LUI total scores was significantly stronger than ADOS-2 correlations with all other measures. Conclusions: Our findings provide support for the LUI as a feasible, pragmatic language--targeted instrument for inclusion in early developmental evaluations prompted by language concerns. Administration of the LUI may accelerate earlier referral for a comprehensive assessment of ASD symptoms. Given the high correlation with ADOS-2 scores, an LUI total score in a clinical range of concern may encourage a clinician to refer families for a full diagnostic evaluation of ASD.

Children are at high risk of exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) during early childhood. This developmental period, marked by rapid growth in fundamental skills, may render children particularly vulnerable to adverse developmental effects. Embedding universal trauma-informed supports within early childhood education (ECE) settings has the potential to mitigate the negative consequences of early exposure to PTEs; yet there is a lack of early childhood trauma-informed prevention and intervention programming. To address this need, a collaborative partnership via a participatory research approach was formed between an academic partner and several early childhood education centers in a large urban public school district primarily serving youth of color. This exploratory study describes the development of the "Ready to Learn through Relationships (RLR) Program" that emerged from this partnership. The RLR program is based on the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) guidelines for school-based models of trauma-informed care (TIC) and the "boots on the ground" experiences of the participating school district's early childhood personnel. It utilizes implementation coaching to promote program installation and sustainability. Results demonstrate high levels of need for the program, as well as its feasibility and acceptability. Recommendations for future refinement, implementation, and evaluation efforts are discussed.

Early intervention is a system of services designed to strengthen child outcomes and build family capacity. One approach of service provision is the Routines-Based Model which implements adult-learning practices wherein service providers and caregivers partner to build family-mediated interventions for children. Owing to COVID-19 and the benefits of telepractice, more and more service providers are likely to incorporate a telepractice modality into service provision. Because the Routines-Based Model uses family consultation, these home-visiting practices translate well to telepractice. In addition to consultation techniques, however, service providers must use technology advantageously to ensure effective communication practices. This article discusses technology uses in telepractice that can be incorporated in the Routines-Based Model, Tele-Routines-Based Home Visits, and examples of Tele-Routines-Based Home Visits.

This study examined predictors of access to early support amongst families of 0-6-year-old children with suspected or diagnosed developmental disabilities in the United Kingdom. Using survey data from 673 families, multiple regression models were fitted for three outcomes: intervention access, access to early support sources, and unmet need for early support sources. Developmental disability diagnosis and caregiver educational level were associated with intervention access and early support access. Early support access was also associated with child physical health, adaptive skills, caregiver ethnicity, informal support, and statutory statement of special educational needs. Unmet need for early support was associated with economic deprivation, the number of household caregivers, and informal support. Multiple factors influence access to early support. Key implications include enhancing processes for formal identification of need, addressing socioeconomic disparities (e.g., reducing inequalities, increasing funding for services), and providing more accessible services (e.g., coordinating support across services, flexible service provision).

The purpose of the study was to better understand the phenomenon of exploring early mathematics through book reading. The study centers on Head Start and lays on Bronfenbrenner's bioecological framework). Two sub-questions guided the qualitative single case study of six Head Start adult participants (teachers, parents, administrators): (1) What are Head Start participants' experiences in exploring early mathematics through picturebooks? and (2) What do Head Start participants say about exploring early mathematics through picturebooks? Findings showed that participants expressed interest toward exploring early mathematics through picturebooks. Picturebooks were commonly used in the classroom but also accessible for families. Participants provided evidence of mathematics practices and discussions around mathematics in the school and in the home. The participants' sayings and experiences in exploring early mathematics through picturebooks aligned with child development and contexts of learning, two cornerstones of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP), but potential obstacles emerged. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Over the past three decades, various efforts have been made to develop special education policies and services in Syria. However, to guarantee the improvement of special education services and to develop sustainable national enhancements during both the emergency and reconstruction phases of the Syrian Civil War, it is necessary to continue to address the intersectional ways by which people with disabilities have been disproportionately impacted. This paper provides an update on disability and special education in Syria, including a brief account of the historical development of, impact of the civil war on, and major current challenges for the field of special education. These challenges include, but are not limited to, inadequate financial resources, a scarcity of integration programs, negative social attitudes because of a lack of knowledge, limited accessibility to services, and barriers to appropriate disability programmes. Recommendations for action are also offered. Further, we provide suggestions to improve special-education services for people with disabilities in Syria, as well as to develop sustainable national improvements for them.

An emerging body of literature suggests that early motor skills may be a key predictor of language development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, characteristics of subject groups, targeted skill areas and their assessment tools, and methodological approaches significantly vary across existing studies. This scoping review aimed to map out the associative nature of motor and language skills among children with ASD according to different age groups and ancillary attributes by investigating empirical studies published in the past 20 years. We searched research articles published in peer-reviewed journals between January 2000 and December 2020 using PsycINFO, PubMed, and ERIC. A total of 11 studies were selected and analysed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist. Available evidence indicates that despite a lack of agreement among available instruments for skills assessments, there exists a positive relationship between motor and language development in that early motor skills predict the rate of both receptive and expressive language development in children with ASD. More studies on such relationship in later childhood and adolescence are warranted to provide practical implications of motor and/or language delay in children with ASD and further timely intervention development.

Reflection is a continuous process that is an essential part of an educator's work and their commitment to being a lifelong learner, actively working to improve professional practice (Division of Early Childhood [DEC], 2022). Reflective practice allows practitioners to continue to refine their knowledge and skills to become more effective in their work. In this article, the authors detail a cyclical, reflective practice framework to promote professional growth for Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) practitioners. Throughout the process, there are intentional opportunities to consider the assumptions or beliefs one holds that may be supporting or challenging decision-making and current practices (Brookfield, 2017). The goal is to provide an accessible and flexible process that promotes awareness of diverse perspectives, supports the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, and considers biases and systemic inequities (DEC, 2022).

Concepts such as participation and environment may differ across cultures. Consequently, to use a measure like the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) in other than the original English-speaking contexts, cultural adaptation needs to be assured. The objective is to cross-culturally translate, adapt, and pilot test the YC-PEM into the Dutch language and culture. In total 3 cognitive interviews with caregivers and one focus group with Occupational Therapists (N = 5) working in early intervention were conducted to evaluate the cultural relevance of the YC-PEM content for use in a Dutch context. Data was analyzed by content analysis using semantic, idiomatic, content, and conceptual equivalence. The YC-PEM was pilot tested with 31 caregivers of children with and without disabilities. Setting specific estimates of internal consistency and test-retest reliability were obtained. Results show adaptations mainly focused on content and conceptual equivalence, with conceptual equivalence being the most challenging to reach. Internal consistency estimates varied from 0.42 to 0.93 for the participation scales and from 0.74 to 0.83 for the environmental scale. This study gives preliminary evidence for the use of a culturally adapted YC-PEM in Belgium and the Netherlands. Further validation in a larger sample is indicated to evaluate its psychometric properties.

Mounting empirical support for early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) has increased demand for early intervention services for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which may include a variety of components such as discrete-trial instruction (DTI) or natural environment teaching (NET). Many caregivers are now learning EIBI techniques and becoming active agents in their child's ASD treatment. Behavioral skills training (BST) has been frequently used to teach individuals to correctly perform a variety of skills, including DTI (Lafasakis & Sturmey, Lafasakis and Sturmey, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 40:685-689, 2007). In this study, caregivers were trained to conduct a DTI procedure with a single-component BST method (i.e., real-time feedback). A concurrent, multiple baseline across caregivers design was used to evaluate the efficacy of real-time feedback on the caregivers' implementation of the DTI procedure with confederates. Results showed that real-time feedback yielded short caregiver training times and few sessions to meet the mastery criterion. In addition, caregivers expressed high satisfaction with the real-time feedback training method, and they were able to implement the procedures with their children with high integrity during treatment extension probes.

The IDEA requires schools to evaluate and provide services to students who have a mental health issue that is deemed an educational disability or a mental health issue that is comorbid with an educational disability. Etscheidt and colleagues (this issue) propose a six component approach to securing school-based mental health services for students with disabilities. This article illustrates the six component approach using two vignettes. The first vignette involves a preschool student referred due to aggression who has not been previously identified as eligible for special education. The second vignette involves a 5th grade student who was receiving special education services under the category of SLD who's academic progress had plateaued.

The mental health of students with disabilities has received increasing attention, yet it is difficult for early childhood teachers to identify young children with mental health issues and access support. Research has shown the lack of timely intervention might cause more serious emotional issues later. The interplay of disability, young age, and mental health issues complicate the teaching of early childhood teachers. The purpose of this article is to highlight the difficulties early childhood teachers are experiencing when a child with special needs requires additional support services for social-emotional and behavioral concerns. Barriers or challenges that exist to accessing mental health services for young children and their families are discussed. Through the use of vignettes, we present six strategies to assist early childhood special education professionals in addressing the mental health needs of young children, including: (1) recognizing the warning signs of mental health needs for early identification and intervention; (2) utilizing screening tools to detect a child's mental health needs; (3) selecting and providing school-based supports; (4) monitoring the child's response to school-based mental health supports; (5) collaborating with mental health professionals and partnering with families; and (6) securing additional networks and resources to support children with special needs.

The importance of parent-child relationships for child developmental outcomes suggests a need to incorporate a relationship focus into early intervention programs for children with developmental delays. Nevertheless, confusion exists about the definition and application of relationship-focussed interventions, and occupational therapists remain more developmentally- and child-focussed. There is a need to operationalize relationship-focussed interventions to make these approaches clinically accessible. This report defines, and provides a rationale for, including parent-child relationship-focussed interventions in early childhood occupational therapy interventions. A new conceptual model, the "Phased Approach to Incorporating a Relationship-focus" (PAIR), is detailed for consideration in pediatric therapy settings. The PAIR model can support professional education, inform practice, and guide future research regarding relationship-focussed interventions. Research is needed to test the usefulness of this model in occupational therapy practice.

Secure attachment has broad and long-lasting benefits for the development and wellbeing of a child. Conversely, disorganized attachment is associated with social, emotional, and behavioral problems in children, and later psychopathology. Children with a developmental delay or disability (DD) may be at greater risk of insecure or disorganized attachment than children without DD. This systematic review aims to: (1) synthesize the available evidence worldwide regarding attachment and children with DD; and (2) to examine the effectiveness of interventions employed to prevent or address attachment insecurity for this population. Peer reviewed articles with four-fold attachment classification data or attachment interventions for children with DD were included in the review. Seventeen databases were searched for studies published in English from January 1980 to January 2019. The systematic review protocol was registered a priori with PROSPERO (CRD42018117574). Twenty-three articles met the inclusion criteria, nine containing strange situation procedure (SSP) data and 14 relating to interventions. Meta-analysis was conducted with data from six of the SSP articles (n = 215). The remaining articles were reviewed narratively. Results indicate that children with DD are significantly less likely to develop a secure attachment and significantly more likely to develop a disorganized attachment than children without DD. Emerging research indicates promise that early intervention may be effective in improving attachment security.

There is little research regarding autistic adult, parent and professional perspectives on support goals for young autistic children. A total of 87 autistic adults, 159 parents of autistic children, and 80 clinical professionals living in New Zealand and Australia completed a survey about the appropriateness and importance of common support goals for young autistic children. Goals related to the adult supporting the child, the reduction and replacement of harmful behaviours, and improving child quality of life were the highest priority across participant groups, while goals related to child autism characteristics, play and academic skills were the lowest priority. Compared to parents and/or professionals, autistic adults gave lower priority ratings for play skills, autism characteristics and participation goals and were more likely to rate these goal domains as inappropriate. More research is needed to understand the underlying reasons for these similarities and differences.

As the field of early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) focuses intently on building, supporting, and sustaining leaders across varying contexts and roles, this study introduced the concept of self-leadership to EI/ECSE self-identified leaders. The research explores differences in self-rated skills based on role, analyzes themes of goals for developing self-leadership skills, and analyzes the measurability of goals set by participants. Fifty-six participants completed the Abbreviated Self-Leadership Questionnaire (ASLQ) (Houghton, Dawley, & DiLiello, 2012), self-rated their own skills, and identified leadership goals. Results show that participants scored themselves highest on "evaluating beliefs and assumptions" about self-leadership. Self-identified goals resulted in three primary themes (administrative tasks, relationship building and coaching, and growth in learning). Directions for future research, policy, and recommendations for practice are discussed.

Many children with developmental delays need early intervention services but do not receive them. Developmental screening provides the impetus for identification of delays and service referrals but is not used consistently across all early childhood education settings. We used an implementation science framework to examine attitudes and engagement in a developmental screening program across three U.S. early childcare centers. Teachers demonstrated adequate knowledge of screening following training in the screener and were highly engaged in the screening process. Teachers' positive attitudes toward screening increased yet perceived barriers to regular use of screening in their practice remained unchanged. Family participation in the screening process varied across centers and suggested a trend between family income and participation. Future research is needed to target pervasive barriers to teachers' use of screening, such as perceived difficulties in engaging parents in the screening process.

A family-capacity building approach to coaching, where providers support caregivers to embed identified strategies into daily routines and activities, is commonly embraced in Part C Early Intervention (EI). EI providers use several coaching strategies within this approach, yet few studies have reported process features, and coaching strategies are not well defined in the literature. We partnered in this Participatory Action Research (PAR) with current EI providers engaged in a year-long self-study process to provide an empirical account of one coaching strategy, joint planning, and related documentation. Our results indicate both providers and caregivers view documentation of joint planning as beneficial, highlight supports and challenges, and suggest that joint planning documentation holds significant promise for improving practice, data-based decision making, and progress monitoring of child and family outcomes including changes in caregiver capacity.

Practitioners of the statistics course embedded in a computer science programme at a fully online university were concerned with the high dropout rate. In the academic year 2018-19, they decided to carry out a two-phase project in order to address this issue. In the first phase, an early classifier to identify students at risk of dropping out of the 2018-19 statistics course was determined. The second phase was planned to design and implement an early intervention based on the results of the first phase. This article presents the analysis of this intervention. In the 2019-20 online statistics course, 35 students did not submit the first few quizzes before the respective deadlines. They were the target of this intervention, which gave them the chance to change their recent past by submitting the unsubmitted quizzes. Students were encouraged to change by means of an email message. The aim of the intervention was to reduce the dropout rate among the targeted students. Our analysis also includes the students' perception of the intervention collected via a set of interviews. The results show that the intervention clearly had a beneficial effect for some students.

Parents are often expected to be the primary implementers of intervention for their young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The provision of a few hours a week of intervention by a trained therapist, in addition to parent-implemented intervention, could increase child outcomes compared to parent-implemented intervention in isolation. This study evaluated the effects of a 12-week parent coaching program based on the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) followed by 12-weeks of therapist-delivered ESDM intervention for four children with ASD. The effects of these interventions on child participation, functional utterances, and imitation were evaluated using a multiple probe across participants design. Children's participation improved during both interventions. Children generally showed greater improvements in imitation with the therapist than with their parents but showed minimal improvements in functional utterances. This suggests there may be some benefit to low-intensity therapy in addition to parent coaching, but more research is needed.

Using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 Cohort, this study investigated the school readiness trajectories of 2,908 Head Start children from Head Start to kindergarten. Multilevel growth curve models examined differences by immigrant-origin status and the moderating role of enriching experiences. Research Findings: Immigrant-origin children demonstrated lower language and math skills at Head Start entry. However, the differences narrowed over time by accelerated gains in skills. Also, moderation analyses suggested that higher levels of enriching experiences, including community-based activities and family history/ethnic heritage talk, could potentially contribute to the school readiness of immigrant-origin children. Practice or Policy: Findings underscore that family resources may have implications for alleviating unequal opportunities and outcomes for immigrant-origin children, in particular.

The present study aims to examine the Executive Function (EF) skills of preschool-aged children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH), and explore the variables related to their EF skills. Thirty preschoolers who were DHH and an additional 35 preschoolers with typical hearing were recruited. All DHH use spoken language as their communication mode, and wore hearing devices. Results revealed that preschoolers who are DHH are delayed in some EF skills, particularly inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility. Interestingly, in working memory, they exhibit age-appropriate verbal working memory, whereas they do not have an advantage over their hearing peers in visual-spatial working memory. Correlational results showed that working memory is related to language skills, while inhibitory control is related to the age of auditory exposure and early intervention. Thus, the results highlight the importance of early auditory exposure and early intervention, as well as language, in EF development in preschoolers who are DHH.

Universal screening and progress monitoring are evidence-based practices in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) for infants/toddlers are measures that programs can use for universal screening, progress monitoring, intervention decision-making, and accountability. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, IGDIs were administered and scored exclusively in person by certified early educators. Because of COVID-19, EI/ECSE practitioners could no longer conduct in-person assessments. We report how two early intervention programs implemented IGDIs using remote protocols that included (a) preparation of parents for IGDI administration at home, (b) session observation by program staff using videoconferencing, and (c) remote coding of the child's performance by program staff when interacting with a parent/caregiver play partner using the standard toy set. The remote protocols are described, and uptake by the programs is compared before and during the pandemic. Equivalence of children's scores from in-person versus remote protocols is reported, as well as caregivers' and program staff's preferences. Implications for remote early childhood services are discussed.

This study aims to explore career technical education (CTE) students' involvement in practicing and promoting mental wellness in schools and communities. Specifically, this study focused on students enrolled in a career and technical student organization (CTSO) leading youth-defined activities raising awareness of risk factors and protective factors associated with psychological distress and wellness. This study is grounded in resilience theory expounding on the resilience of HOSA students and their motivation to thrive and overcome adversities as they advance their career and college readiness and their civic engagement. Purposive sampling was used to select 94 students from seven high schools with a CTSO (i.e., HOSA) and participating in a prevention and early intervention project. Semi-structured interviews were done with these 94 students enrolled in a CTSO. Our findings revealed three key implications: (1) a CTSO can serve as a protective factor that mitigates the many risk factors to which young people are exposed; (2) a CTSO is able to promote and focus on student's early signs of mental health issues; and (3) exposing students to leadership and training opportunities may facilitate a career path into mental health fields.

Clinicians' beliefs about an intervention's fit with an individual family influence whether they use it with that family. The factors that influence clinicians' decisions to implement evidence-based practices for young autistic children have yet to be evaluated systematically. These factors may partially account for the significant disparities in quality of and access to early intervention. We examined disparities in clinicians' reported use of caregiver coaching, an evidence-based practice, with families from minoritized or structurally marginalized groups, and the perceived reasons for those disparities, to assess the factors that influence clinicians' use of caregiver coaching. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 36 early intervention clinicians from publicly funded early intervention agencies in two distinct geographic regions in the United States. Clinicians identified social and structural factors, including perceived family characteristics and stigma, that influenced their beliefs about the fit of coaching with families from minoritized or structurally marginalized groups. These findings point to the presence of beliefs that likely exacerbate disparities in access to evidence-based practices and reduce the quality of care for minoritized families of young autistic children. These findings highlight the need to develop and deploy equity-focused implementation strategies to improve both access to and quality of evidence-based practices for young autistic children from minoritized groups. [For the corresponding grantee submission, see ED618068.]