This study investigated the effects of service coordinator variables on evidence of recommended practice in a sample of 120 Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs). Service coordinator variables were months of experience, college major, level of degree, first service delivery model practiced, and attendance at training. The IFSPs were rated on 12 indicators of recommended practice using the IFSP Rating Scale (Mc William & Jung, 2001). Service coordinators' months of experience and attendance in training had the strongest relationships with IFSP quality indicators. Results and implications for further research are discussed.
Researchers have suggested that individuals with autism have difficulties with self-regulation in early infancy, which may represent an early risk factor for autism. In this study, the authors explored self-regulatory behavior in young children who were later diagnosed with autism. Parents of children diagnosed with autism (n = 65) retrospectively reported on their children's self-regulatory difficulties at 1 year of age using the Temperament and Atypical Behavior Scale (TABS). One-year-olds with typical development (n = 120) from the TABS norming efforts served as the comparison group. Results indicate children diagnosed with autism exhibited significantly more self-regulatory difficulties at 1 year of age than did the comparison group. In addition, 86% of the parents reported that their children exhibited self-regulatory difficulties consistent with a diagnosis of regulatory disorder at 1 year of age.
The Griffiths' Mental Development Scales have been recommended for use in diagnostic assessment with infants and toddlers with special needs. The Griffiths' scales are British in origin, were developed in 1950, and cover five areas of infant development. This study compared results of Griffiths assessments with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Battelle Developmental Inventory for a population of 30 children under 24 months of age. All children had been referred to an early intervention program. While the Griffiths correlated well with the two comparison measures, age equivalents obtained on the Griffiths were considerably higher than those obtained from the Bayley and the Battelle. The authors suggest that the Griffiths be restandardized on an American population of infants to increase its usefulness as a diagnostic instrument for early intervention programs.
This article identifies issues regarding the match between family-centered philosophy and strategies for addressing infant-parent interaction in the early intervention process. A model is proposed for introducing and including infant-parent interaction in family-centered early intervention. This model is based on the family's vision for their child's future and is designed to assist families to be active decision makers. New directions for practice and research are raised based on family, professional team, and methodological concerns.
In this study, seven mothers of infants with visual and other impairments identified behaviors that they considered meaningful and interpreted these behaviors. The mothers identified 14 of 22 subcategories of behaviors that a previous study of mothers with sighted infants had identified. Not only was the range of behaviors they interpreted limited, but over 65 percent of their interpretations fell into only two of the 16 subcategories previously identified (attention preference and intentional behavior: desire). The implications for early intervention and future research are discussed.
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