Background: Substantial development in social communication skills occurs in the first two years of life. Growth should be evident in sharing emotion and eye gaze; rate of communication, communicating for a variety of functions; using gestures, sounds and words; understanding language, and using functional and pretend actions with objects in play.…

This study presents an independent replication and extension of psychometric evidence supporting the "Theory of Mind Inventory" ("ToMI"). Parents of 20 children with ASD (4; 1-6; 7 years; months) and 20 with typical development (3; 1-6; 5), rated their child's theory of mind abilities in everyday situations. Other parent report…

The goals of our study were to (a) compare agreement between autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and outcome of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers and Parents Evaluation of Developmental Status in a sample of toddlers and (b) examine specific concerns noted for toddlers who screened negative on the Modified Checklist for Autism in…

Background: Deficit in motor performance is common in children with intellectual disabilities (ID). A motor function measure with sound psychometric properties is indispensable for clinical and research use. The purpose of this study was to compare the psychometric properties of three commonly used clinical measures for assessing motor function in…

Aims: To explore the validity of Developmental Behaviour Checklist-Autism Screening Algorithm (DBC-ASA) as a screening instrument for autism among children with intellectual disabilities. Method: Data were collected from the case notes of 109 children with intellectual disabilities attending a specialist clinic in the UK. Results: The mean score…

Reliability and validity for three autism instruments were compared for 190 children with low functioning autism (LFA), 190 children with high functioning autism or Asperger's disorder (HFA), 76 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 64 typical children. The instruments were the Checklist for Autism Spectrum Disorder…

This study investigates the usefulness of the Preschool Attainment Record (PAR) as a measure of children's developmental skills. The PAR was compared to the Denver Developmental Screening Test (DDST) as the criterion measure, and they were found to correlate .891. (Author)

The Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI) measures the development of preschool-age children, using an inventory format to obtain mothers' observations. To demonstrate the validity of MCDI results, the authors compared them to the results of psychological evaluations, including data on intellectual functioning, fine motor skills, and…

The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised (DIAL-R) and the Learning Accomplishment Profile-Diagnostic (LAP-D) were compared using 121 children in a Head Start Program. Results suggest that profile interpretations of the scales may not differentiate skill domains and that these scales may be indicative of general…

This study, involving 67 children (ages 2 to 60 months) with motor delays, found that the Battelle Developmental Inventory (BDI) possessed moderate to high levels of concurrent validity with appropriate subtests from the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. (Author/JDD)

Longitudinal analyses on normal versus impaired functioning across 7 domains were conducted in children who had experienced profound institutional deprivation up to the age of 42 months and were adopted from Romania into U.K. families. Comparisons were made with noninstitutionalized children adopted from Romania and with nondeprived within-U.K.…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a specific method of measuring fathers' childrearing involvement. The conceptual scheme underlying the method addresses involvement in routine child care, play with the child, and school-related interactions. Measures involved the father's share of childrearing (as compared with the mother's) and the…

Three measures of self-concept or self-esteem and one measure of social competency development, designed for young children, are assessed. The instruments assessed include: (1) the Martinek-Zaichkowski Self-Control Scale for Children (MZSCSC); (2) the Behavioral Academic Self-Esteem Scale (BASE); (3) the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale…

A computer-based questionnaire was developed to help parents who have not received specialized training to determine whether their young children need further assessment for diagnosis of developmentally at-risk status. The computer automatically determines a starting point for a series of questions according to the child's chronological age. The…

Noting that few studies have examined the relationship between quality of early childhood education (ECE) programs in India and the impact of such programs on young children's learning competencies, this study explored the relationship between various components of programs in the southeastern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and other family and…