Intervention For Young Children Research Articles

Effectiveness of a Computer-Assisted Intervention for Young Children with Attention and Reading Problems

Children who are significantly inattentive and poor early readers require intervention, and traditional tutoring approaches may not be effective with this group. Using a single-subject, multiple-baseline-across-participants design, Study 1 examines whether a computer-assisted reading intervention increases performance for three first-grade children with teacher-rated inattention and early reading problems. Study 2 replicates this intervention using three second-grade students. The independent variable was an evidence-based computer-assisted intervention (Earobics). Dependent variables were oral reading fluency, phoneme segmentation, and attention-to-task. Results provide evidence of reading gains, suggesting moderate size effects. For all, attention-to-task was higher during the computer-assisted intervention than during small-group reading instruction. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. The use of computer-assisted interventions for children who are inattentive and poor early readers may be an effective solution to improve reading performance.

No differences were observed between six months of context‐ versus child‐focussed intervention for young children with cerebral palsy on self‐care, mobility, range‐of‐motion or participation

To compare context- vs. child-focussed interventions for improving participation in everyday activities, functional task performance and mobility of children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Perbedaan agresivitas pada anak usia dini yang dibacakan dongeng dengan yang tidak dibacakan dongeng sebelum tidur oleh ibu

Aim of this research is to know about difference of aggression in young children that get fairytales reading and in young children that don’t get fairytales reading before sleep from their mother. Aggression has been a problem many people talk about, especially about its cause, or its intervention. Every people has aggression, including young children. People believe that young children’s aggression isn’t dangerous, so they only focus doing interventions in adult or adolescence aggression and disregard interventions in childhood aggression. Actually, it’s better to do intervention in young children, for it prevents long term negative impact of aggression. One of the interventions in controlling aggression is read fairytales to children. Fairytales give children good impacts that related to the aggression’s causes. Fairytales-reading is familiar thing in Indonesian culture. According to that, researcher formulates a research’s problem, that is, is there difference of aggression in young children that get fairytales reading and in young children that don’t get fairytales reading before sleep from their mother.
 Research’s subjects are 92 mothers of young children from kindergartens in Denpasar. Research’s method is comparation research. Data are collected by questionnaire (aggression scale and fairytale reading’s categorization). Validity test of aggression scale find 6 invalid items and 68 valid items from 74 items, with reliability coefficient’s score is 0,989. Data are analyzed with independent sample t-test. Data analysis’s result shows that data are normal and homogen. Score of significant in t-test is 0,000 (p=0,05). It means that research’s hypothesis who state there is difference of aggression in young children that get fairytales reading and in young children that don’t get fairytales reading before sleep from their mother, is accepted. Categorization of aggression’s score shows that children who receive fairytales reading have lower score than children who don’t receive fairytales reading.
 Keywords: aggression, fairytales, early childhood, mother

Effects of Dose Frequency of Early Communication Intervention in Young Children With and Without Down Syndrome

Children with intellectual disability were randomly assigned to receive Milieu Communication Teaching (MCT) at one 1-hr session per week (low dose frequency, LDF) or five 1-hr sessions per week (high dose frequency, HDF) over 9 months ( Fey, Yoder, Warren, & Bredin-Oja, 2013 . Non-Down syndrome (NDS) and Down syndrome (DS) subgroups were matched on intelligence, mental age, and chronological age. The NDS group had significantly more growth in spoken vocabulary than the DS group. In the DS subgroup, the HDF group had more spoken vocabulary growth than the LDF group when IQ was controlled. In both etiological subgroups, the HDF group yielded greater vocabulary production outcomes than the LDF group for children who played functionally with a range of objects.

Early years practitioners’ views on early personal, social and emotional development

Current policy guidance stresses the need for early identification of obstacles to learning and appropriate intervention. New standards for learning (Early Years Foundation Stage) place personal, social and emotional development (PSED) as central to learning and development. This paper reports a survey and follow-up interviews with early years practitioners on early identification and intervention of young children with difficulties in PSED. As previous research with primary and secondary colleagues has shown, practitioners find low-level disturbance occurring most frequently. Although aggressive behaviour (hurting others, kicking, hitting and biting) is a concern, not attending or listening and immature social skills (lack of sharing and turn-taking, and inability to relate to other children) is a bigger challenge. Practitioners report a range of strategies for formally teaching relevant skills but point to the greater challenge of supporting recent immigrants where different cultural and social norms need to be understood.

Systematic Review of Interventions Used in Occupational Therapy to Promote Motor Performance for Children Ages Birth–5 Years

We examined the research evidence for interventions used in occupational therapy to promote the motor performance of young children ages 0-5 yr. We identified 24 trials, Levels I-III, that met our review criteria. The studies fell into three categories: (1) developmental interventions for infants (ages 0-3 yr), (2) interventions for young children with or at risk for cerebral palsy (CP), and (3) visual-motor interventions for preschool children (ages 3-5 yr). Developmental interventions showed low positive short-term effects with limited evidence for long-term effects, and findings on the benefits of neurodevelopmental treatment were inconclusive. Interventions using specific protocols for children with CP resulted in positive effects. Visual-motor interventions for children with developmental delays (ages 3-5 yr) resulted in short-term effects on children's visual-motor performance. Of the intervention approaches used in occupational therapy, those that embed behavioral and learning principles appear to show positive effects.

Patterns of Objectively Measured Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity in Preschool Children

Identifying periods of the day which are susceptible to varying levels of physical activity (PA) may help identify key times to intervene and potentially change preschool children's PA behaviors. This study assessed variability of objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during weekdays and weekend days among preschool children. One hundred and eighty-eight children (aged 3 to 5 years; 53.2% boys) from a northwest English city wore uni-axial accelerometers for 7 consecutive days. Higher levels of MVPA were recorded in boys, particularly those who attended preschool for a half day. Children who attended preschool for a full day engaged in 11.1 minutes less MVPA than children who attended for a half day. After-school hours were characterized by a decrease in activity for all groups. Patterns of activity during the weekend were smoother with less variability. This study identified discrete segments of the week, specifically afterschool and during the weekend, when preschoolers engage in low levels of PA. Higher levels of MVPA among children who attended preschool for less time each day suggests that the structured preschool environment is related to decreased activity. Consequently, there is a need for interventions in young children to focus on school and home environments.

Model of Social Competence in an Early Childhood Environment

Maintaining relationships and interacting socially are essential aspects of children's occupational performance. A Model of Social Competence in an Early Childhood environment has been formulated to guide the assessment of and intervention for young children with issues in social skills. This article aims to (1) present the constructs that contribute to social competence for young children, (2) describe the interrelated contextual, foundation and environmental influences on social competence using the Model of Social Competence in an Early Childhood environment as a means of systematically examining these factors, and (3) discuss future directions for early intervention for children with social competence concerns. Cultural considerations will be discussed in relation to the Singaporean early childhood context.

Individualized Autism Intervention for Young Children

Individualized Autism Intervention for Young Children

Three Common Early Indicators of Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD) and Their Roles in Screening and Assessment

The purpose of this study was to review the three indicators of autism spectrum disorders(ASD), which were “response to name”, “joint attention”, and “imitation”. There is a arrangement of social communication parameters hat are important early indicators of ASD, particularly deficits in three aspects listed above. In addition, the roles of these indicators in two popular behavior scales, Developmental Profile(CSBS-DP) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule(ADOS) Module 1, were analyzed with a case study of a boy. These scales have high degree of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and high validity among other popular tools for ASD screening. In the case, the boy was 24 months old and recently diagnosed as ASD. Using ADOS, his behaviors were observed and recorded. Based on the observation, he demonstrated deficits in areas of the three behaviors. A summary of the review suggests that these indicators still play important roles in diagnosis and assessment of ASD as well as early intervention for young children with ASD.

More than child’s play: the potential benefits of play-based interventions for young children with ADHD

The phrase ‘play-based interventions’ tends to generate thoughts and images of play therapy. This treatment, which originated with Anna Freud and Melanie Klein, and was subsequently developed by Ax...

Joint attention intervention for young children with autism and their parents: Combined discrete trial and milieu teaching approaches

Joint attention intervention for young children with autism and their parents: Combined discrete trial and milieu teaching approaches

Caregiver mediated joint engagement intervention for young children with autism: A case study

Caregiver mediated joint engagement intervention for young children with autism: A case study

“Remember the bubbles hurt you when you cook in the pan”: Young children's views of illness causality

The present study examines four-year-old children's everyday understandings of illness causality. Research into young children's conceptualisation of illness has led to different expectations of children's comprehension and ongoing debate regarding the nature of children's knowledge. Awareness of preschoolers' spontaneous views of illness causality, rather than explanations restricted by predetermined response categories, is likely to assist practitioners to provide more appropriate interventions for young children. Adopting a socio-constructivist perspective of children's learning and development, and using a narrative methodology, we interviewed five preschoolers regarding their views of illness causality. As part of the interview process children were invited to construct their own storybooks about illness using photographs of children experiencing illness and a variety of art materials. Analysis of young children's narrative accounts revealed two major threads regarding children's illness causality constructions: (1) “behaviour-based explanations for illness”, and (2) “illness prevention messages and behavioural rules”. Findings suggest that four-year-olds' understanding may be more sophisticated than traditionally maintained, and that the illness prevention messages and behavioural rules within sociocultural contexts may significantly influence children's conceptualisation of illness causality.

Recovering From Early Deprivation: Attachment Mediates Effects of Caregiving on Psychopathology

Children exposed to early institutional rearing are at risk for developing psychopathology. The present investigation examines caregiving quality and the role of attachment security as they relate to symptoms of psychopathology in young children exposed to early institutionalization. Participants were enrolled in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), a longitudinal intervention study of children abandoned and placed in institutions at or shortly after birth. Measures included observed caregiving when children were 30 months of age, observed attachment security at 42 months, and caregiver reports of children's psychopathology at 54 months. At 54 months, some children remained in institutions, others were in foster care, others had been adopted domestically, and still others had been returned to their biological families. Thus, the children had experienced varying amounts of institutional rearing. After controlling for gender, quality of caregiving when children were 30 months old was associated with symptoms of multiple domains of psychopathology at 54 months of age. Ratings of security of attachment at 42 months mediated the associations between quality caregiving at 30 months and fewer symptoms of psychopathology at 54 months. Among deprived young children, high-quality caregiving at 30 months predicted reduced psychopathology and functional impairment at 54 months. Security of attachment mediated this relationship. Interventions for young children who have experienced deprivation may benefit from explicitly targeting caregiver-child attachment relationships.

Strategies for Transitioning From PECS to SGD. Part 2: Maintaining Communication Competency

Abstract The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an evidence-based AAC system that often is chosen as a first intervention for young children with complex communication needs who are not developing spoken communication. Speech language pathologists (SLPs) often plan to transition to a speech-generating device (SGD) for long-term use after students successfully progress through the PECS protocol. The minimum criterion for device selection and purchase should be appropriate and independent use of the SGD across environments. The transition process should begin with an assessment of the student's PECS skills so modifications can be made to facilitate the transition to the SGD. Teaching strategies that are part of the PECS protocol are used to teach spontaneous, efficient, and effective use of the SGD. Successful transition occurs when the student uses the SGD in social interactions similar to his use of PECS and when he or she has developed the skills that will ensure continued language growth.

Multisensory processing in children with cochlear implants

ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to investigate the functions of the vestibular, tactile, visual, and proprioceptive modalities in children with prelinguistic hearing loss. Specifically, the study sought to examine evidence for the compensation hypothesis (auditory deprivation leads to enhancements in functions of other sensory systems) versus the deficiency hypothesis (functions of the spared senses are compromised as a result of auditory deprivation). MethodsTwelve children between the ages of 5 years, 1 month and 8 years, 11 months with bilateral severe-profound hearing loss participated in the study. All children used bilateral cochlear implants. Subtests of two norm-referenced instruments, the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test and the Beery–Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, were administered to all of the children. Mean subtest scores for children with hearing loss were compared with the mean scores for the normative group. ResultsAs expected, a majority of children demonstrated vestibular dysfunction. Assessment of other modalities revealed significantly below average performance on two tasks by children with hearing loss when compared to the normative group. Both tasks involved temporal processing of tactile or proprioceptive signals. Conversely, children with hearing loss showed significantly better performance compared to the normative group for a spatial task that involved localization of a tactile stimulus. No group differences were found for any of the visual tasks. ConclusionsResults supported both the compensation and the deficiency hypotheses. The findings have implications for both assessment and intervention of young children with hearing loss. Further investigations are necessary to replicate these findings with a more comprehensive set of measures on a larger cohort of children with prelinguistic, severe-profound hearing loss.

Weight status and gender-related differences in motor skills and in child care - based physical activity in young children

BackgroundOver the last decades, a decline in motor skills and in physical activity and an increase in obesity has been observed in children. However, there is a lack of data in young children. We tested if differences in motor skills and in physical activity according to weight or gender were already present in 2- to 4-year-old children.MethodsFifty-eight child care centers in the French part of Switzerland were randomly selected for the Youp'là bouge study. Motor skills were assessed by an obstacle course including 5 motor skills, derived from the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment test. Physical activity was measured with accelerometers (GT1M, Actigraph, Florida, USA) using age-adapted cut-offs. Weight status was assessed using the International Obesity Task Force criteria (healthy weight vs overweight) for body mass index (BMI).ResultsOf the 529 children (49% girls, 3.4 ± 0.6 years, BMI 16.2 ± 1.2 kg/m2), 13% were overweight. There were no significant weight status-related differences in the single skills of the obstacle course, but there was a trend (p = 0.059) for a lower performance of overweight children in the overall motor skills score. No significant weight status-related differences in child care-based physical activity were observed. No gender-related differences were found in the overall motor skills score, but boys performed better than girls in 2 of the 5 motor skills (p ≤ 0.04). Total physical activity as well as time spent in moderate-vigorous and in vigorous activity during child care were 12-25% higher and sedentary activity 5% lower in boys compared to girls (all p < 0.01).ConclusionsAt this early age, there were no significant weight status- or gender-related differences in global motor skills. However, in accordance to data in older children, child care-based physical activity was higher in boys compared to girls. These results are important to consider when establishing physical activity recommendations or targeting health promotion interventions in young children.

In Search of Prediction Factors for Autism Spectrum Disorders:An Impossible Task?

Clinical work and prediction of development are closely linked in the practice of early detection, diagnosis and choice of modes of intervention in young children with autism. Variables are often defined in terms of risk factors or of development, and may refer to general or specific phenomena. The purpose of this paper was, using a generalized mixed model, to test ways of measuring development and its prediction regarding joint attention (that is to say, response to and initiation of joint attention) in children with autism. Over a period of one year, seventy-seven children were followed from the age of four and a half years upwards. The results show that it is possible to identify general risk factors, but much more difficult to pinpoint specific factors. In our current state of knowledge, prediction can only be of a global nature and therefore requires the use of general markers.

Early Developmental Cues for Diagnosis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Young Children

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood-onset disorder that is considered one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders. The symptoms of ADHD should be cast, not as static or fixed neurobehavioral deficits, but rather in terms of underlying developmental processes. Targeting attentional disorders early in life can bring about fundamental alterations in the pathogenesis of ADHD, and thus prevent or moderate the course of the disorder. The developmental approach can enable predictions concerning characteristics of ADHD that develop over time and inform us about multiple risk and protective factors that transact to impact its development, as well as the development of a broad range of associated co-morbid features. In this review, we describe the complex factors that predict and mediate the developmental course of ADHD, providing early cues for ADHD diagnosis and intervention in young children that will optimize outcome.