A unique component of early childhood involves understanding how caregivers and educators promote children's developmental outcomes, with play opportunities being a key avenue for enhancing these skills. Targeted coaching is one type of support that can tap into active family engagement during playful learning. This collective case study examined…

Caregivers from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds perceive and work to prevent challenging behavior exhibited by their children with disabilities in various ways. However, limited research has been conducted with caregivers across racially and ethnically diverse groups, to explore the parenting practices and preventative strategies used…

Children with disabilities between the ages of 0-5 and their families are supported by a broad coalition of special education and general education teachers and providers who collaborate in the planning and delivery of services. When services are provided in early care settings (e.g., home care, center-based care, general education Pre-K),…

Suicide is a major public health issue, and a leading cause of death in the United States. Caregivers of young children with or at-risk for disabilities and developmental delays may experience significant life stressors that increase their risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Early childhood special education (ECSE) home visitors may be in a…

Parents of young children with disabilities may experience high levels of stress and psychological distress that may put them at higher risk for experiencing suicidality. Thus, early childhood home visitors (e.g., professionals who work for home-based early intervention programs) may serve as important gatekeepers for identifying and referring…

As it is common for infants and toddlers with disabilities to receive their early intervention (EI) services in child care programs, this mixed method study examined the experiences of child care and EI providers (e.g., occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists) in collaborating to support infants and toddlers with…

Children with disabilities take part in child care programs across the country every day. However, existing research is lacking on how infants and toddlers with disabilities are supported in these inclusion efforts, particularly from the perspectives of child care and early intervention (EI) providers. In this article, we describe the results of a…

The complex and collaborative work of early childhood practitioners (e.g., educators, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, social workers) and families requires effective implementation of evidence-based practices. Effective implementation of early childhood practices can be hindered by deeply held assumptions practitioners…

Self-determination is vital to the successful transition of youths with disabilities into adult life; however, this ability does not emerge without these skills being fostered during the early years of childhood. On the basis of the survey proposed by Palmer and Summers (Early Intervention & Early Childhood Special Education Goal 2: U. S.…

Research demonstrates young children with autism and other developmental disabilities can benefit from participation in play activities with peers. Play provides opportunities to increase social skills across developmental domains in an integrated manner and provides opportunities to develop a sense of belonging and friendship; these goals…

Play is a critical milestone that contributes to the learning and development of young children in multiple ways and is essential to their well-being. Play is also considered as a central component to promote school readiness and incorporates pre-literacy, language and numeracy skills. However, play deficits seem to be acutely apparent in…

A key aspect of the Reggio Emilia inspired curriculum is a learning group approach that fosters social and cognitive development. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how a Reggio Emilia inspired learning group approach works for children with and without disabilities. This study gives insight into how to form an appropriate learning group…

This article reports the results of a post hoc analysis of child data from a single-case multiple-probe study of pre-service teachers' use of communication strategies before, while, and after receiving distance coaching. Data were analyzed for the number of functional communication utterances used by groups of preschool children with and without…

Quality early childhood education programs have a responsibility to provide enriched educational services to preschool students paired with parent support, education, and outreach. Pearl Buck Preschool, a non-profit organization devoted to the delivery of preschool services for children of parents with intellectual disabilities or learning…

Early childhood practitioners can play a vital role in the development of early self-determination in partnership with families. Self-determination has been generally considered to be about personal agency or control that can also relate to the quality of one's life. Young children with disabilities start to develop a range of critical skills such…