Executive functions (EFs) involve a number of interconnected systems that, when compromised, can result in difficulties that affect a child's ability to perform tasks across early childhood settings, including the home and community-based settings. In retrospective research studies, researchers have found that a young child's…

Most children are able to successfully develop and use social skills in the context of interactions with peers and significant adults. Moreover, the ability to interact successfully with peers is crucial in establishing and maintaining viable social relationships. For children with disabilities, like pervasive development disorder (PDD),…

The goal of prompting a child is to prevent him or her from making errors while learning a new skill, and to decrease the amount of time it takes to learn the new skill. As a child shows improvement in performing the skill, adults can fade the amount of assistance provided until the child reaches his or her level of independence. Several prompting…

Social skill acquisition is an essential step in young children's development with lasting implications for the quality of social experiences throughout life. Difficulties with social skill acquisition may be related to delays in physical development, communication methods, and/or social awareness that limit one's ability to progress along a…

This article discusses an approach to assessment and intervention of challenging behavior in early education settings that integrates a focus on instructional conditions and early academic skill development. The authors suggest this approach allows for a better understanding of the relationship between social behavior and child performance with…

This article focuses on early childhood classrooms in which young children with disabilities are enrolled, ideally inclusive classrooms. A foundational assumption about which most early intervention professionals would agree is that young children with disabilities learn from: (1) their experiences (interactions) with their physical environments…

The purpose of this article is to offer preschool teachers strategies for preventing challenging behavior and supporting the development of social skills and emotional competencies. This article is framed in a question and answer format using questions from teachers who the authors have worked with in the past. These questions and strategies are…

The development of early literacy skills is critical to children's later success in reading and reading-related activities; therefore, understanding how teachers can support early literacy development is equally important. In this article, the authors provide information on how early childhood teachers can use specific strategies and techniques as…

Video self-modeling (VSM) is a method that, with some creative editing, allows children to view positive examples of their behavior or demonstrations of skills slightly beyond their present ability. Although VSM has been successfully used across a range of behaviors and ages with children having a variety of disabilities, its use with preschoolers…

Many young children with autism exhibit feeding-related difficulties, such as accepting a limited diet, demonstrating texture aversions, or using only specific mealtime utensils. Young children with autism need assistance to acquire skills to improve mealtime behavior, including increased acceptance of a variety of foods (types and textures) at…

Play allows preschoolers to use creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, motor, cognitive, language, and socioemotional abilities (Ginsberg, 2007). Play gives children the opportunity to be creative, develop their verbal skills, and learn how to get along with their peers. Skills that children learn during play include sharing,…

Young children who are born deaf or hard of hearing are at risk for language and emergent literacy challenges. Emergent literacy skills play a significant role in early reading abilities for typically developing children with hearing. The purpose of this article is to (a) provide an overview of the research relating to oral language and emerging…

Children with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), are frequently included in classes with typically developing peers. Although these children may receive instruction on appropriate communication skills, without directly targeting these skills in typical activities, they may not demonstrate these skills when they are with…

The promotion of language and social skill development for young children occurs in multiple contexts with a range of empirically validated methods. One specific intervention strategy used to promote language and communication would be to arrange the environment so that it is structured to elicit a range of communicative functions, such as…

Many teachers and other service providers struggle with trying to address the many skills that are important for young children to acquire during the preschool years. Early Literacy Initiative project (Project ELI) is a comprehensive, two-tiered, early language and literacy intervention model that includes activities for all children as well as…