The Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC) was funded by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education to provide technical assistance to State Systems of Early Childhood Intervention and Institutions of Higher Education on issues related to personnel development. One initiative of the ECPC has been to collaborate…

The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives of physical therapists on the level of importance of the early intervention competencies to practice in early intervention and differences in perspectives based on demographic factors. A web-based survey was disseminated to physical therapists who worked in early intervention or with children…

The purpose of this study was to compare the sensory-processing patterns of preterm and term children at 6 years of age. The sensory profile (SP; W. Dunn, 1999) was used to evaluate sensory-processing patterns. We compared the section and factor SP scores of 118 preterm children with those of 158 term children at 6 years of age. Preterm children…

Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) grants help states and communities improve early childhood systems to support child development, equitable access to quality services and supports, and family well-being. Truly interdisciplinary, ECCS promotes cross-sector systems change initiatives that focus on integrating health care, mental health,…

The purpose of this article was to describe 2 studies that examined the relation between descriptive praise and generalized diversity of forms and colors used during art activities in young children. Study I used a true reversal design to examine the relation between descriptive praise and diversity during art activities. All 4 children had small…

This study looked at the effect of mother's educational level, child emotional difficulties, peer interactions, age, and gender on children's sophistication level of engagement. Eighty-six randomly selected children, aged between 36 and 72 months, and 20 teachers from 5 early childhood education centers in Valencia, Spain, participated in the…

Intervention services positively impact outcomes of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. However, families face many burdens when accessing high-quality intervention services such as availability of providers, time, and cost; these burdens are often magnified for underserved families. Therefore, the purpose of this…

Developmental assessment scales are important tools for determining developmental delays and planning preventive interventions. One broad assessment scale used to evaluate child development is the Battelle Developmental Inventories (BDIs). The BDI-2 has a standardized version in English with good psychometric properties and a translated version in…

Parent training can help support the development of communication skills for young children with complex communication needs (CCN). Online delivery of such training may alleviate some of the burden on families, thereby increasing participation and outcomes. To determine the effectiveness of online parent training in communication partner…

A multiple-probe design across participants was used to investigate the effect of a peer-mediated intervention on the turn-taking behavior of 3 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) attending inclusive childcare centers. An educator trained peers to support the child with a disability to take turns playing a game on an iPad. The educator…

There are concerns about the quantity and quality of personnel in early childhood intervention (ECI) as the numbers of infants and young children with delays and disabilities grow in number, needs, and diversity. The Early Childhood Personnel Center (ECPC) was funded to provide technical assistance (TA) to state systems of ECI and institutions of…

Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE) is a widely used screening instrument for detecting social-emotional difficulties in infants and young children. To use a screening instrument across cultures and countries, it is necessary to identify potential item-level biases and ensure item equivalence. This study investigated the…

Low-income children, particularly those with special needs, may have limited access to high-quality early care experiences. Childcare subsidies are intended to increase families' access to quality care, but little is known about subsidy use by children with special needs. Using a nationally representative sample of 4,000 young children who…

Early intervention (EI) service providers working with young children with developmental disabilities and delays and their families often utilize coaching practices to engage caregivers in the EI process. Within the literature, the usefulness of coaching has been identified. However, little is known about how coaching practices look in…

In the United States, there is a widespread concern with not referring more infants and toddlers with a risk of or identified autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to Early Intervention (EI) under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004). Despite early signs and screening initiatives, most children with ASD are not referred…