This study used an intact group comparison to examine attention following in 34 children aged 2 years diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) matched pairwise for vocabulary comprehension with a group of typically developing toddlers. For both groups of children, the presence of verbal labels during a referential task increased attention to…

It frequently is suggested that parents underutilize assistive technology (AT) for their young children with disabilities despite wide spread recommended practices for providing optimal AT interventions (i.e., devices and services). However, neither parent perspectives of AT underutilization or families' experiences with AT have been reported in…

This article describes The Hilton/Early Head Start Training Program, a public-private partnership between the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Head Start Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. The purpose of the training program was to develop skills and strategies for including infants…

The effects of modifying the structural quality components of inclusive classrooms on material engagement among toddlers (18-36 months) with and without disabilities were evaluated. Initially, three classrooms were evaluated using items that addressed structural quality from the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, the National Association for…

This article focuses on the remarkable story of a deeply disorganized child, Rachel, and her experience in foster care with Janet and Paul Mann, founders of the Children's Ark. Rachel and her mother were referred to the Ark, an innovative intervention center for at-risk families, when Rachel was 10 months old. After 11 months at the Ark, Rachel…

The use of music in facilitating second language (as well as first language) learning is supported by evidence that points to the musical nature of even preverbal infants. Music and language have been found to develop similarly, and researchers have noted advantages to using song in learning. The author observed her Korean 21-month-old for …

Background: Children who have reached the age of 2 years without having acquired a 50-word vocabulary and/or who use no word combinations are referred to in the literature as "Late Talkers". Research has not yet identified the factors that cause slow development of expressive language; in particular, relatively little research has been carried out…

Using data from the final two rounds of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a longitudinal study begun in 2001, this First Look provides a snapshot of the demographic characteristics, reading and mathematics knowledge, fine motor skills, school characteristics, and before- and after-school care arrangements of the cohort…

This Handbook provides an introduction to basic procedures and methods of data analysis. The authors provide a framework to guide program staff in their thinking about these procedures and methods and their relevant applications in MSHS (Migrant and Seasonal Head Start) settings. Accordingly, this Handbook was developed to support the work of…

The Early Social Interaction (ESI) Project (Woods & Wetherby, 2003) was designed to apply the recommendations of the National Research Council (2001) to toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) by using a parent-implemented intervention that (a) embeds naturalistic teaching strategies in everyday routines and (b) is compatible with the…

Participants in this study were 66 British toddlers who were observed at home with familiar peers on two occasions, six months apart. The majority of toddlers spoke to their peers, with short sequences of conversation emerging after the age of 24 months. The use of possessive pronouns emerged between 18 and 24 months of age and consolidated over…

Screening measures to identify very young children at risk for autism spectrum disorders include the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) and the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). To examine the validity of these written questionnaires, parents completed them prior to their child's diagnostic assessment at a tertiary autism…

To explore how online speech processing efficiency relates to vocabulary growth in the 2nd year, the authors longitudinally observed 59 English-learning children at 15, 18, 21, and 25 months as they looked at pictures while listening to speech naming one of the pictures. The time course of eye movements in response to speech revealed significant…

Despite recent research indicating that 1 of the pivotal times for identifying pathways to early conduct problems is the toddler period, few family-based preventive interventions have been specifically designed to modify child disruptive behavior during this age period. This randomized trial tested the effectiveness of the Family Check-Up in…

The present research investigated whether children's referential choices for verb arguments are motivated by pragmatic features of discourse referents across different developmental stages, not only for children learning null argument languages but also for those learning overt argument languages. In Study 1, the form (null, pronominal, or…