The goal of this book is to assist families and caregivers in the early intervention, care, and development of the toddler and to be instrumental in reaching the child's potential. By drawing attention to the ways in which some children with disabilities have been excluded from public education, these families and caregivers become aware of the importance of understanding the law, its content, and its implications. It is also important to be aware of the laws that have been tested through litigation. The author provides a comprehensive yet easily understandable background on these laws and includes basic insight into various examples. Main topics include: (1) Federal legislation and state compliance, child find and screening, evaluation, determination of eligibility, the IFSP, service delivery, and reimbursement of the early intervention process; (2) co-treatment and assisted intervention, counseling, limiting services, the efficacy of early intervention; (3) professional responses, consumer satisfaction, and knowledge of risk versus at-risk challenges; and (4) socioeconomic and cultural diversity and how professionals view each other as team members, including their comments. Personal experiences are provided which serve to make a point and/or bring levity to sometimes grave situations. These experiences contribute to the subjective opinions and research findings that promote the efficacy of early intervention. In addition, this book explores the benefits and success of animal assisted intervention. The primary audience for the book includes parents, educators, social workers, and others who work with toddlers who have special needs and challenges.

Eighteen new chapters have been added to the 2000 edition of this valuable Handbook, which serves as a core text for students and experienced professionals who are interested in the health and well being of young children. It serves as a comprehensive reference for graduate students, advanced trainees, service providers, and policy makers in such diverse fields as child care, early childhood education, child health, and early intervention programs for children with developmental disabilities and children in high risk environments. This book will be of interest to a broad range of disciplines including psychology, child development, early childhood education, social work, pediatrics, nursing, child psychiatry, physical and occupational therapy, speech and language pathology, and social policy. A scholarly overview of the underlying knowledge base and practice of early childhood intervention, it is unique in its balance between breadth and depth and its integration of the multiple dimensions of the field.

The first three years of life play a crucial role in setting the stage for later adjustment and success. For children with disabilities, children at risk, and even for healthy infants and toddlers born into well-functioning families, support and early intervention can foster optimal growth and development. This concise and readable guide presents a developmentally sound framework for strengths-based intervention with parents and young children. The volume is filled with practical suggestions for building positive family relationships, cultivating parental knowledge and understanding of child development, and enhancing family support systems. Also featured is an extensive annotated bibliography that describes a wealth of additional resources for professionals and parents. Grounded in research and informed by wisdom from the field, this book provides essential knowledge and skills for professionals and students across a range of health care, social service, and educational disciplines.

Special education is now an established part of public education in the United States—by law and by custom. However, it is still widely misunderstood and continues to be dogged by controversies related to such things as categorization, grouping, assessment, placement, funding, instruction, and a variety of legal issues. The purpose of this 13-part, 57-chapter handbook is to help profile and bring greater clarity to this sprawling and growing field. To ensure consistency across the volume, chapter authors review and integrate existing research, identify strengths and weaknesses, note gaps in the literature, and discuss implications for practice and future research. Key features include: Comprehensive Coverage—Fifty-seven chapters cover all aspects of special education in the United States including cultural and international comparisons. Issues & Trends—In addition to synthesizing empirical findings and providing a critical analysis of the status and direction of current research, chapter authors discuss issues related to practice and reflect on trends in thinking. Categorical Chapters—In order to provide a comprehensive and comparative treatment of the twelve categorical chapters in section IV, chapter authors were asked to follow a consistent outline: Definition, Causal Factors, Identification, Behavioral Characteristics, Assessment, Educational Programming, and Trends and Issues. Expertise—Edited by two of the most accomplished scholars in special education, chapter authors include a carefully chosen mixture of established and rising young stars in the field. This book is an appropriate reference volume for anyone (researchers, scholars, graduate students, practitioners, policy makers, and parents) interested in the state of special education today: its research base, current issues and practices, and future trends. It is also appropriate as a textbook for graduate level courses in special education.

This eye-opening set looks at young children with special needs, their families, and the laws, policies, programs, and services designed to help them. The three-volume Early Childhood Intervention: Shaping the Future for Children with Special Needs and Their Families is a unique, comprehensive, and much-needed examination of a critically important issue. In its pages, a diverse array of experts discuss key aspects of policies, laws, rights, programs, and services available to children today. Examinations range from historical roots to present-day considerations, such as culturally and linguistically diverse children, use of technology, and contemporary testing and teaching methods. Throughout, the most current and best available research is combined with professional and clinical experience, wisdom, values, and family perspectives. The work explores issues affecting both children with psychological disorders and those with physical challenges, such as children who are blind or hearing impaired. Coverage includes all aspects of life-skills, medicine, health sciences, education, and child welfare. Although it is focused on programs in the United States, this comprehensive set offers additional insights by including comparisons of U.S. programs and services with their international counterparts.

This book provides a broad range of practical information on the famil y as the context for communicative growth, and ways that families prom ote or constrain development of communication.

This handbook offers practical strategies and evidence-based parent-implemented interventions for very young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It explores this important subject within the context of rapidly increasing numbers of toddlers who are diagnosed with ASD during the second year of life. The handbook discusses how parents of young children with ASD can effectively be supported, taught, and coached to implement evidence-based parenting strategies and intervention techniques, and describes a broad range of developmentally appropriate programs at the family, community, and service delivery levels. In addition, the handbook examines individual differences in parenting cognitions, emotions, and practices and proposes strategies for supporting the varying capacities of diverse families to meet the needs of young children with ASD. Chapters provide diverse coverage, spanning cultural/socio-economic differences as well as differences in family structure; parenting cognitions, emotions, and practices; parental learning styles; and access to social support. Featured topics include: Supporting families of high-risk infants who have an older sibling with ASD. The use of video feedback strategies in parent-mediated early ASD intervention. The Incredible Years (IY) Parent Program for preschool children with ASD and language delays. Self-help for parents of children with ASD. The Family Implemented TEACCH for Toddlers (FITT) support model. Parent-implemented interventions for underserved families in Taiwan. Family and provider-based interventions in South Asia. The Handbook of Parent-Implemented Interventions for Very Young Children with Autism is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians/professionals, and graduate students in clinical child, school, and developmental psychology, family studies, behavioral therapy, and social work as well as rehabilitation medicine/therapy, child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatrics, and special education/educational psychology.

This book provides easy-to-access, reliable, up-to-date information on the numerous advances in research, assessment, treatment, and service delivery for clinicians, academics, administrators and other mental health professionals. It examines issues surrounding intellectual and developmental disabilities in a real-world sociopolitical framework. In addition, the book summarizes the major domains and emerging subspecialties of this vast area into one useful reference and so offers a wide range of assessment and diagnostic tools and tactics, including cognitive and adaptive behavior assessments.

The sixth edition of Occupational Therapy for Children maintains its focus on children from infancy to adolescence and gives comprehensive coverage of both conditions and treatment techniques in all settings. Inside you’ll discover new author contributions, new research and theories, new techniques, and current trends to keep you in step with the changes in pediatric OT practice. This edition provides an even stronger focus on evidence-based practice with the addition of key research notes and explanations of the evidentiary basis for specific interventions. Unique Evolve Resources website reinforces textbook content with video clips and learning activities for more comprehensive learning. Case studies help you apply concepts to actual situations you may encounter in practice. Evidence-based practice focus reflects the most recent trends and practices in occupational therapy. Unique! Chapter on working with adolescents helps you manage the special needs of this important age group. Unique! Research Notes boxes help you interpret evidence and strengthen your clinical decision-making skills. Video clips on a companion Evolve Resources website reinforce important concepts and rehabilitation techniques.