Development of a Routines-Based Early Childhood Intervention model

The Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) literature recommends that intervention is embedded within everyday routines that occur in the natural environment. However, little research has examined the implementation of routines-based models of ECI. The aim of this paper was to describe the development of a Routines-Based Early Childhood Intervention (RBECI) model. The RBECI model consists of four key components: a) Routines-Based Interviews (RBIs); b) participation-based goals; c) home visits; and d) community consultations. Empirical evidence supporting each component of the model is provided, and results from a preliminary evaluation of the implementation of the model are discussed. Further research is required evaluating processes involved in the implementation of the model by ECI professionals and its impact on children and families

DEECD Early Childhood Intervention Reform Project

This literature review was commissioned by the Office for Children and Early Childhood Development, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), as part of its Early Childhood Intervention Services (ECIS) Reform Project (Stage 2): Developing Options and Next Steps. This Project aims to significantly enhance the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of Victoria’s ECIS system and improve outcomes for children with a disability or developmental delay and their families. Early childhood intervention services (ECIS) support children with a disability or developmental delay from birth to school entry and their families. ECIS provides special education, therapy, counselling, service planning and coordination, assistance and support to access services such as kindergarten and child care. The services funded through DEECD are provided by government Specialist Children\u27s Services teams and non-government Early Childhood Intervention agencies. In addition to the services provided by ECIS teams and agencies, the state and federal governments fund a range of complementary programs to support young children with developmental disabilities and their families. These include initiatives to support families (My Time parent groups, Family Support Packages), services to support inclusion (Preschool Field Officers, Inclusion Support Facilitators), and funding to support particular disability groups (Helping Children with Autism packages). These additional services and supports, together with the ECIS teams and agencies, make up the totality of early childhood intervention provision for young children with disabilities. The focus of the literature review is research on contemporary Australian and international evidence-based service delivery models for children with a disability, developmental delay or additional needs aged 0-8 years

Treatment Outcomes for Toddlers with Behaviour Problems from Families in Poverty

Background. Relatively few treatment studies address mental health issues in very young children. This study examined the effectiveness of a treatment program for toddlers whose behavior problems were further complicated by living in poverty. Method. An empirically-validated treatment program was adapted for use in the homes of 102 toddlers for an average of 12 weekly sessions. Results. Significant improvements were found for the children’s behavior problems and their compliance to parent requests. Discussion. The inherent challenges in working with at-risk families and the challenges in delivering mental health services for very young children living in poverty are discussed

Behavioral family intervention for children with developmental disabilities and behavioral problems

The outcomes of a randomized clinical trial of a new behavioral family intervention, Stepping Stones Triple P, for preschoolers with developmental and behavior problems are presented. Forty-eight children with developmental disabilities participated, 27 randomly allocated to an intervention group and 20 to a wait-list control group. Parents completed measures of parenting style and stress, and independent observers assessed parent-child interactions. The intervention was associated with fewer child behavior problems reported by mothers and independent observers, improved maternal and paternal parenting style, and decreased maternal stress. All effects were maintained at 6-month follow-up

Reducing problem behavior during care-giving in families of preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities

This study evaluated two variants of a behavioral parent training program known as Stepping Stones Triple P (SSTP) using 74 preschool-aged children with developmental disabilities. Families were randomly allocated to an enhanced parent training intervention that combined parenting skills and care-giving coping skills (SSTP-E), standard parent training intervention alone (SSTP-S) or waitlist control (WL) condition. At post-intervention, both programs were associated with lower levels of observed negative child behavior, reductions in the number of care-giving settings where children displayed problem behavior, and improved parental competence and satisfaction in the parenting role as compared with the waitlist condition. Gains attained at post-intervention were maintained at 1-year follow-up. Both interventions produced significant reductions in child problem behavior, with 67% of children in the SSTP-E and 77% of children in the SSTPS showing clinically reliable change from pre-intervention to follow-up. Parents reported a high level of satisfaction with both interventions

Working with Young Children with Disabilities: One Size Fits Only a Few

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Supporting children and their families

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Marital adjustment in families of young children with disabilities: Associations with daily hassles and problem-focused coping

A family systems framework was used to examine associations between stressors/hassles, problem-focused coping, and marital adjustment in 67 families of young children with disabilities. Most of the couples were experiencing average to above average marital adjustment. When daily stress ors/hassles were higher, husbands and wives viewed their marriages more negatively. After variance contributed by stress ors/hassles was statistically controlled, fathers who employed more problem-focused coping strategies were more positive about their marriages. For wives (but not husbands), a cross-spousal partner effect was found; women reported higher marital adjustment when their husbands employed more problem-focused coping strategies. We reaffirmed the systemic nature of family processes and highlighted the role of parent gender in understanding the relationships among stressors, coping, and marital well-being

Staff characteristics and attitudes towards the sexuality of people with intellectual disability

Background: The identification of individual staff characteristics that have a relationship with specifi c attitudes of staff caring for people with intellectual disability (ID) may enable targeted training and better support. Method Sixty-six participants from services for people with ID in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, completed a survey, including the Attitudes to Sexuality Questionnaire (Individuals with an Intellectual Disability; Cuskelly & Gilmore, 2007). Staff attitudes towards the sexuality of people with ID were quite positive. Age, program agency position, and training uptake were all associated with positive staff attitudes. Conclusion Targeted training programs in sexuality can benefi t direct care workers in general, and older staff more specifi cally. Emphasis is warranted in the area of training for managing male sexual behaviours