Background: Parent-mediated early interventions (EI) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can result in significant improvements in children's cognitive ability, social functioning, behavior, and adaptive skills, as well as improvements in parental self-efficacy and treatment engagement. The common component to efficacious parent-…

Parents of young children participating in either Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C early intervention or IDEA Part B-619 preschool special education programs were surveyed to obtain a consumer science perspective of the practitioners who were the children's primary service providers. Parents were asked to make judgments of…

Findings from a study investigating the effects of early intervention settings on the extent of parent involvement in IDEA Part C Infant and Toddler Programs are reported. Participants were 124 parents and other primary caregivers of children receiving early intervention in 22 states who completed an investigator-developed scale measuring…

The effects of a socially interactive robot on the conversational turns between four young children with autism and their mothers were investigated as part of the intervention study described in this research report. The interventions with each child were conducted over 4 or 5 days in the children's homes where a practitioner facilitated…

Findings from a meta-analysis of studies investigating the use of five different assistive technology devices (switch interfaces, powered mobility, computers, augmentative communication, weighted/pressure vests) with young children with disabilities are reported. One hundred and nine studies including 1,342 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were…

The effectiveness of three types of in-service training designed to improve early intervention practitioners' abilities to use family-systems intervention practices was evaluated in the study of 473 participants. Participants attended either conference presentations or one of two types of workshops (half day/full day or multi-day), or received one…

The effectiveness of different types of practices for promoting practitioner and parent adoption of different kinds of assistive technology and adaptations with young children birth to 105 months of age was the focus of a meta-analysis. Six operationally defined adult learning method characteristics and between 2 and 5 practices for each…

A capacity-building approach to natural learning environment intervention practices was the focus of the study. Capacity-building early childhood intervention promotes parents' or other caregivers' skills, abilities, and confidence to provide children development-enhancing learning opportunities. Natural environment practices use everyday…

The extent to which the influences of family-systems intervention practices could be traced to variations in parent-child interactions and child development was investigated by meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). MASEM is a procedure for producing a weighted pooled correlation matrix and fitting a structural equation model to the…

This article includes descriptions of a process used to conduct practice-based research syntheses and the manner in which synthesis findings are used to inform and evaluate early childhood intervention practices. The main focus of a practice-based research synthesis is the unbundling of an intervention practice to identify those practice…

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of interventions with organically impaired infants in terms of how well the experimental designs used controlled for threats to interval validity were analyzed. The use of methodologically more rigorous designs in evaluation studies is recommended to prevent or ameliorate the adverse effects of…

Findings from two research syntheses of the relationship between caregiver sensitivity and secure infant attachment and one research synthesis of factors associated with increased caregiver use of a sensitive interactional style are presented. The main focus of analysis was the extent to which different measures of caregiver contingent social…

A model of early intervention that focuses on Proactive Empowerment through Partnerships (PEP) is described. The manner in which the PEP principles and social systems notions are operationalized at the programmatic level is also described. Data are presented to validate and evaluate the social systems perspective of early intervention. (Author/CL)

Comments from parents such as, "It's nice to work with someone who understands how complicated my life is"; "I know when I make a decision about my child, my home visitor will respect it"; "Now, I feel like I can help my child learn"; and "I enjoy being with my child so much" are great to hear. These types of comments let early interventionists…

A meta-analysis of 47 studies investigating the relationship between family-centered helpgiving practices and parent, family, and child behavior and functioning is reported. The studies included more than 11,000 participants from seven different countries. Data analysis was guided by a practice-based theory of family-centered helpgiving that…