Thirty families with a developmentally disabled child less than 1.5 years old were compared to 30 families with a nonhandicapped child. Half of the families lived in California, and half in Denmark. Parents with a very young developmentally disabled child saw themselves more negatively after the baby's birth and expressed more negative feelings…

The importance of evaluation in early childhood interventions of infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities is discussed. Eight questions guiding the evaluation process are presented, focusing on intervention expectations, purposes of intervention, personalization of intervention, and specification of anticipated outcomes, among others.…

This article describes a hospital-based education program that provides early intervention services to infants with chronic health impairments and developmental disabilities and their families during hospitalization. Emphasis is on family-centered care and transition to home/community services. An additional benefit is education of other health…

This review of the effects of contingency experience on development and data from a model intervention program provides evidence demonstrating how basic technology can be used to teach young children with developmental disabilities that the environment is responsive and controllable and to promote positive attentional, emotional, and motivational…

There is an increasing awareness that the astrocytes in the immature periventricular white matter are vulnerable to ischemia and respond to inflammation. Here we provide a synopsis of the articles that have evaluated the causes and consequences of developmental brain injuries to white matter astrocytes as well as the consequences of several…

The goal of the study was to identify and differentiate subgroups among mothers whose infants were diagnosed as having a developmental disability. The sample consisted of 80 mothers from intact families whose infants had such diagnoses, most of whom were diagnosed with Down syndrome. All mothers were receiving early intervention services.…

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.…

This report studied the cases of 826 infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities from 1988 to 1995 and the role of the facilities in identifying and referring the children to a rehabilitation center in Higashi-Osaka City, Japan. A list of the classification of main developmental disabilities is provided, along with a table showing the…

This collection of five factsheets provides basic information about the need for and provision of respite care services for particular populations. Each factsheet is presented in a format which provides some background information on the population, a brief discussion of the purpose of respite care programs for this group, a discussion of the…

In response to a research review indicating that few programs address the father's role in early intervention and preschool programs for the young exceptional child, a three-month practicum was designed which included fathers in physical therapy sessions and in daily home exercise programming for their developmentally disabled children. Practicum…

The findings of language development studies in normally developing children (from birth to school age) and in children who deviate from the norm in physiological and cognitive development are outlined and compared. (LH)

The investigation was designed to determine the effectiveness of day care intervention on the use of intentional communicative behaviors by 26 twenty month old low socioeconomic status infants at risk for developmental retardation, and to compare their communicative development to a group of 14 normally developing middle class infants. Literature…

The article describes an alternative approach to preparing infant interventionists by providing interdepartmental training in special education and maternal and child health. The program recognizes the transactional nature of infant development, infants as part of a family system, and the ecological notion that the family system is nested within…

Three papers and four task force reports from a 1979 conference on the state of the art in early intervention for developmental disabilities are presented. J. Gliedman, in "Social, Psychological, and Ethical Foundations for Early Intervention for the Developmentally Disabled," applies a minority group model to the education of handicapped…

This booklet reviews the developmental tasks and needs of infants and toddlers, describes the support for healthy development currently available in the United States, and documents needs which are not being met. Two major initiatives are proposed and strategies for their implementation are recommended. Proposals argue for the (1) establishment of…