This paper outlines the objectives for a facilitator of a parent infant program working with Spanish-speaking families of hearing-impaired infants or toddlers. It is recommended that the early intervention program begin counseling in the parents' fluent language and introduce English gradually to both parents and infant, and provide support from…

This article reviews data on problems in communicative development of maltreated children and discusses their implications for practitioners concerned with communicative development. The influence of social class and cultural factors is examined, and the impact of child maltreatment on communicative development from infancy up to school age is…

This paper examines issues related to the screening and assessment of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities or at risk for disabilities, from families of various cultural and linguistic backgrounds. An introductory section outlines issues of cultural and linguistic competence and provides definitions of key terms. Interviews are…

This article discusses the family systems framework and its implications for understanding families with developmentally disabled infants/toddlers from diverse cultures. It presents guidelines to assist home visitors in becoming sensitive to culture's effects on family values, beliefs, and practices, and describes the phases of a home visit and…

A critical component in the provision of services to young children (birth through age 5) is an effective system for identifying and referring children and their families, who may be eligible for early intervention or special education.This report provides a synthesis of current practice in establishing "child find" services in local…

From 1996-2001, the Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) has worked to support practitioners in increasing their understanding and awareness of the impact of culture and language on their interactions with children and families. This report presents four articles outlining some of the key…

This guide is intended to be used in conjunction with the fourth module of the Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers (PITC), a four-module video training course for providers of family and center day care. The videos illustrate key concepts and caregiving techniques for a specific area of care, and the guides provide extensive and in-depth…

This document presents eight scholarly articles on the multicultural milieu in which children grow and develop. Readings address the following questions: (1) What is culture and how is it formed? (2) How do people develop their cultural orientation? (3) What are some major insights about culture that are critical to the early childhood educator's…

In this report, shifts underway in early intervention (EI) from a professional-centered to a more family-centered model of service delivery are documented. The demographic changes in the past decade of young children and families receiving EI services (e.g., teen parents, children with more complex developmental and medical needs), in addition to…

This report provides a theoretical framework for understanding different approaches to interaction intervention and uses this framework as background for considering how various cultural factors might influence families' (and providers') views of these approaches. Most research in interaction intervention has been conducted without explicit…

By exploring what school readiness means in the context of work with very young children, program leaders can better understand how they can support the lifetime learning of infants and toddlers in their programs. This book, designed for infant-family program leaders, examines the important role that cognitive and social-emotional skills play in…

This report identifies key issues for providing early childhood special education services to young children who are visually impaired and for working with families of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. First, it discusses the incidence of visual impairment and associated disabilities among young children, the process of early…

This trainer's manual covers module IV of the Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers (PITC), a four-module video training course for providers of family and center day care. The manual is intended to be used by module instructors and includes an overview of the PITC and instructions for using the manual and its accompanying videos. The module…