Background: Posterior nasal fricatives are a learned compensatory articulation error and commonly substituted for oral fricatives. Treatment of such articulation errors requires the modification or teaching of skilled movements. A motor-based approach is designed to teach the complex motor skill movement sequences required in the production of…

A growing body of research indicates that three foundational cognitive skills--executive function, motor skills, and spatial skills--form the basis for children to make a strong academic, behavioral, and social transition to formal school. Given inequitable early learning environments or "opportunity gaps" in the United States, these…

Reversing characters (digits and letters) when writing, and complete mirror writing, raise one of the oldest and most mysterious questions in developmental and educational psychology: Why do five-year-old children write symbols (e.g., [reversed E] for E) they have neither learnt nor seen? Attempts to draw up a complete explanatory theory of…

We evaluated the efficacy of vitamin D (VID), omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 LCPUFA, OM), or both (VIDOM) on core symptoms of ASD. New Zealand children with ASD (n = 73; aged 2.5-8.0 years) received daily 2000 IU vitamin D[subscript 3], 722 mg docosahexaenoic acid, both, or placebo. Outcome measures were Social…

Background: Gross motor movement is a vital part of the growing process and ultimately plays a role in a person's ability to lead a physically active life. Researchers have analyzed the different ways in which individuals develop skills. At the heart of that discussion has been gender. Most recently, researchers have focused on the differences…

When observing skill and determining the competency of children and youth physical education teachers often focus on the coordination dynamics within the individual in the early years and then the individual's ability to play the game as they develop. But in these game contexts the focus is often still on the individuals' actions and not the…

High rates of error and variability in early word production may signal speech sound disorder. However, there is little consensus regarding the degree of error and variability that may be expected in the typical range. Relatedly, while variables including child age, word frequency and word phonological neighbourhood density are associated with…

Outdoor experiences allow teachers to focus on expanding child learning in different domains. Nature experiences can sharpen child senses, enrich vocabulary, increase spatial understandings, and permit more practice for large muscle skills. As well, teachers can arrange outdoor activities to promote positive peer cooperation and aesthetic…

Executive functioning (EF) is a key cognitive process for development. Little is known about EF in Kindergarten children at risk for developmental coordination disorder (DCD), despite this age being one of the most critical and intensive period of motor and cognitive development. In our investigation we compared EF in kindergarten children at risk…

The study was aimed at better clarifying whether action execution impairment in autism depends mainly on disruptions either in feedforward mechanisms or in feedback-based control processes supporting motor execution. To this purpose, we analyzed prehension movement kinematics in 4- and 5-year-old children with autism and in peers with typical…

Autism spectrum disorder is the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States. As such, there is an unprecedented need for research examining factors contributing to the health disparities in this population. This research suggests a relationship between the levels of physical activity and health outcomes. In fact, excessive…

Research Findings: This study examined the contributions of motor skills and executive function (EF) to early achievement. Participants were 7,797 children (3,889 girls) between 36 and 72 months of age from 6 countries in East Asia and the Pacific. Fine and gross motor skills, EF, language and literacy achievement, and mathematics achievement were…

This article presents the importance of multidisciplinary, family-centered care, and a developmental bio-psycho-social approach to treating feeding difficulties in a child with a complex medical history. Hannah spent the first 9 months of her life in the hospital and was discharged dependent on nasogastric tube feeding. Her journey to recovery…

This cross-sectional study was designed to identify Slovenian early childhood educators' beliefs concerning the importance of the competencies required to carry out physical education (PE), to identify which of those competencies early childhood educators might lack and to identify which competencies should be developed in the process of…

Every year brings new research studies that aim to describe early childhood development. Despite this boom in research, there has been little useful translation of these studies into clear recommendations for educators and mental health practitioners. This book shows experienced educators and mental health practitioners who work with young…