Partnerships between Early Head Start (EHS)/Head Start and child care programs have existed for many years. In 2014, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) granted funds to establish Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCPs) with the goal of expanding access to high-quality early learning programs to meet the needs of…

Various issues related to positioning infants and children with central nervous system dysfunction in order to conduct videofluoroscopic swallowing function studies are discussed. Extensive illustrations demonstrate solutions to specific problems. (DB)

In families with two working parents, fathers make important contributions to children's early language skills. Results from a new study by FPG Child Development Institute show that children whose fathers' vocabulary was more varied when they were two, had greater language skills at age three. Mother's vocabulary was not found to have a…

Measures fathers' and mothers' linguistic involvement in the development of communication between young siblings--infants and toddlers. In a laboratory setting, 39 families, each with a mother, a father and two children, were videotaped in semistructured activities. Results suggest that fathers very actively direct sibling interactions, especially…

More children than ever are in care centers, and child care experiences of infants and toddlers are believed to have a powerful and lasting impact on children's well-being. A team of researchers from the FPG Child Development Institute created a study to examine the effects that transitions have on children's behavior and observable stress when…

To assess changes in visual-motor function with age, 20 visually impaired infants and toddlers were followed, longitudinally, with the Bayley Mental Scale of Infant Development (BMSID). The BMSID was seen to be an appropriate tool for evaluating such children and especially effective as part of a longitudinal process. (Author/DB)

The paper reports data from four studies using the Language Development Survey (LDS), a screening tool for the identification of language delay in two-year-old children. The LDS was found to have excellent sensitivity and specificity. Prevalence data using the LDS are reported, comparing three different severity cutoffs. (Author/DB)

This study examined behaviors reflecting mastery motivation in 17 young (ages 2 and 3) children with moderate and severe cognitive delays. Results supported the application of the mastery motivation model to this group of children who used mastery behaviors significantly more often than lower level exploratory behaviors. Use of mastery behaviors…

A newly revised parent questionnaire for the assessment of vocabulary and syntactic development, the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory-Toddlers, was evaluated. Concurrent validity correlations demonstrated high validity for parent report in both domains and some ability to differentially assess the two. (Author/DB)

The empirical support for three theoretical approaches to infant intervention is reviewed, including direct intervention via nonsocial means, direct intervention via social means, and indirect infant intervention via social support to the family. For each approach, underlying theoretical assumptions are identified, and for each assumption,…

The concurrent validity of the Battelle Developmental Inventory was explored by correlating Battelle results with scores from the Bayley Scales in 30 infants with known or suspected disabilities. Both the pattern and strength of the obtained correlations support use of the Battelle to measure development in infants with handicaps. (Author/JDD)

This article discusses the assessment and evaluation of infants and toddlers with disabilities or at risk for developing disabilities, recent contributions to knowledge of assessment of infants and toddlers, current practices, and future trends. The paper cautions against using one test for all purposes or using a test with an insufficient…

Examines the role of the partner in the development of social pretend play in two related studies. In both studies, toddler age children played with same-age and five-year-old partners. In both studies, two-year-olds engaged in more social pretend play with older than same-age partners. (Author/BB)

This collection of 66 assessment instrument profiles was compiled to address the issue of multidisciplinary evaluation of infants and toddlers, aged birth through 2 years, and the identification of family needs. Six categories of instruments are included: (1) developmental screening, (2) developmental tests, (3) specific screening, (4) specific…

A 14-month-old was well-treated by his family until 6.5 months old, when his young mother was traumatized, and the child became neglected and physically abused. Explosive destructive behavior not seen in him before was then observed, supporting the hypothesis that the abused become abusers due to excessive unpleasure, which mobilizes their…