Neonatal intervention

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68335/2/10.1177_027112148300300105.pd

Early Indicators of Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Second Year of Life

Three groups of 18 children were selected for this study, one group with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), one group with developmental delays in which ASD was ruled out (DD), and one group with typical development (TD), from a pool of 3026 children who were screened with the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS DP, Wetherby & Prizant, 2002) Infant-Toddler Checklist under 24 months of age. The CSBS DP Behavior Sample was videotaped on selected children as a second-level evaluation during the second year of life. The Infant-Toddler Checklist had a sensitivity and specificity of 88.9% for this sample of children. Significant group differences were found on the Infant-Toddler Checklist and the Behavior Sample, however, these differences did not distinguish children with ASD and DD with high accuracy. The videotapes of the Behavior Sample were reanalyzed to identify red flags of ASD. Nine red flags differentiated children in the ASD group from both the DD and TD groups and four red flags differentiated children in the ASD Group from the TD group but not the DD group. These 13 red flags were found to discriminate the three groups with a correct classification rate of 94.4%.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44624/1/10803_2004_Article_492544.pd

Dimensions of Early Identification

Several dimensions of early identification are discussed, including the relationship between early identification and prevention. A preventive component is described for the various forms of early identification—child find, screening, assessment, and program planning. Also discussed are recently published guidelines for screening and assessment and the assumptions on which these guidelines are based. Chief among these assumptions is the notion that risk and disability are multidetermined; hence, systems of early identification must similarly be founded on a multiple risk model. The implications of this model for selecting assessment instruments and for determining eligibility are described, as are future directions that should be explored in early identification.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67883/2/10.1177_105381519101500105.pd

Parental Involvement in the Developmental Screening of Their Young Children

Because multiple risk factors can influence child development, methods designed to screen young children for developmental problems should incorporate information from various sources in order to cover all potential areas of delay effectively. In this study we combined results from a standardized parent questionnaire with those of an individually administered developmental screening instrument (the Early Screening Inventory) in order to predict more accurately which children will be at risk for school failure. Our results show a decrease in misclassifications after combining the parent measure with the screening instrument, thus increasing the predictive accuracy of the developmental screening process. Implications of our findings are discussed within the context of screening from a perspective of multiple risks and multiple sources of input.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67704/2/10.1177_105381519401800203.pd

The Relationship of Parental Knowledge to the Development of Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants

This study examined the relationship between parental experience, parental knowledge, and the development of extremely low birth weight infants. The subjects (N = 40) were extremely high-risk infants averaging 1000.0 grams birthweight and 28.1 weeks gestational age. The study found that mothers of preterm infants called upon the same types of experiences and sources of information about infancy as mothers of full-term infants. Further, ratings of maternal accuracy on the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory accounted for 13% to 15% of the variation on the Mental Development Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 8 months corrected age. The infants of mothers with greater than average knowledge about infancy scored approximately one standard deviation higher on both the MDI and the PDI than did the infants of mothers who had less than average knowledge about Infancy. Implications for intervention are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67695/2/10.1177_105381519201600302.pd