No abstract

This study compared the interactive behavior of cocaine-using mothers and their neonates with a control group of drug-free mothers and their newborns. Infant arousal levels and infant-maternal interaction behaviors were measured during play and attention-getting tasks. The effects of three different social stimulation conditions, provided by the mothers to maintain infant states more conducive to interaction, were also investigated. The cocaine-exposed infants were asleep or distressed for significantly longer periods than their drug-free counterparts. Mothers who used cocaine spent significantly more time disengaged from, and passively looking at, their infants than did the drug-free group.

Early intervention for stuttering has been proven to have dramatic and lasting results in the remediation of the disorder. The mandates of P.L. 99–457 (now P.L. 102–119, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA) provide a vehicle for fluency management at the preschool level through the public schools. This article describes a conceptual framework for developing a multifaceted, individually tailored treatment program for young children who stutter, their families, and their preschool or daycare staff. Suggestions are provided for reducing environmental demands through education, affective support, and behavior change facilitation. Direct therapy techniques designed to reduce struggle and enhance fluency also are identified.

This article assists school-based clinicians in developing partnerships with the families and teachers of youngsters who stutter. Suggestions for initiating this relationship are provided, and recommendations for the shared roles that families, teachers, and clinicians play are described. School-based clinicians face challenges as they attempt to more actively engage families and teachers, including securing administrative support, developing creative scheduling and service delivery methods, and addressing the feelings of family members and teachers about involvement in stuttering treatment. Strategies for meeting these challenges are provided.

Relations are identified among specific measures taken at intake and discharge in an early intervention/prevention program for stuttering. The measures of interest were: waiting period between identification of a "problem" and onset of treatment, child’s age, articulatory rate of parents and child, number of questions asked by parents, number of interruptions of child by parents, and the child’s percentage of discontinuous speech time. The relations observed suggest the importance of beginning treatment for stuttering as soon as possible and the possibility of a pattern of parental reaction to discontinuous speech in children.