Eyjafjallajokull. Unless you were familiar with volcanoes in Iceland, chances are that you never heard this word before a few months ago. Now it is well known, if only for the fact that few can pronounce it correctly!! This volcano was recently responsible for halting international air travel for over a week and creating the largest number of flight cancellations in aviation history. The volcanic ash from the eruption will continue to affect all parts of our world for weeks to come.
In the United States, we are also being affected by 2 environmental disasters: the devastating oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and the widespread and severe flooding in the South. It seems as if every day there are troubling events happening around our world, making it very easy for us to become distressed, discouraged, depressed, and even paralyzed. As a consequence, our emotions, attitudes, and subsequent actions may negatively affect those around us as well as the work we do. For example, as our financial infrastructures continue to decline in the field of early childhood intervention, we are beginning to see how attitudes and beliefs affect the type and quality of services for infants, young children, and their families. This can be seen in the limits being proposed on criteria for service eligibility as well as a shortage of early childhood intervention personnel preparation programs within institutions of higher education. Both actions pose risks to the quality of service delivery.
In his well-received book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey, 1990), Stephen Covey provides a blueprint for action and taking responsibility for our lives and the outcomes we produce. His first of 7 principles focuses on becoming proactive by deciding how to respond to the outside conditions and circumstances that affect our lives. Rather than become reactors who abdicate control to those forces outside of ourselves, we can choose to recognize the events and circumstances we can control, and those we cannot. We can be proactive and use our time and energy to expand our influence in those areas where we can make a difference, as opposed to only being reactors to those events we have no control over. We instead can create opportunities to expand our circle of influence in the world at large and in the relatively focused arena of early childhood intervention. For example, instead of dwelling on the negative effects of dwindling resources on program quality, we can choose to redesign our service models or collaborate with other early childhood programs. We can also choose to redesign courses or programs of study to improve and focus student preparation in those areas that we know are most effective for the children and families we serve. As always, I am grateful to the authors for choosing to disseminate their work through IYC. I am pleased again to bring you the work of new authors, authors from UCEDD programs, and authors from outside of the United States. I am most grateful to the guidance given by the editorial board of IYC during the review process that occurs between manuscript submission and subsequent publication.
CURRENT ISSUE
The articles presented in this issue of IYC each demonstrate areas where our field can prove its effectiveness and expand its influence.
Our first 2 articles remind us how important family professional partnerships are to the outcomes of young children receiving early childhood intervention. Indeed, parents' participation and satisfaction in both developing and implementing interventions with their children provide value added benefits to the intervention process.
First, Kling, Campbell, and Wilcox provide data to support the involvement of caregivers in solving their children's challenges in participating in daily activities/routines. The children in the study all had physical disabilities, and the majority of caregivers were able to find solutions using assistive technology. However, the majority of the caregivers in the study did not feel very competent in the technology, thus leading the authors to suggest that early interventionists must become knowledgeable and skilled at training caregivers in how to increase their use and comfort with assistive technology.
Second, Ziviani, Cuskelly, and Feeney present a study with families conducted in Australia on the use of the European Parent Satisfaction Scale about Early Intervention. A group of caregivers of children, also with physical disabilities, completed a modified version of the scale to determine internal consistency with this sample from Australia. The results suggested a high degree of internal consistency with the scale and across subscales and programs, thus suggesting its usefulness outside of European countries. The authors conclude by recommending the use of scales as a strategy for quality improvement of early childhood intervention service systems.
The next article is also an international submission. Silva et al. examine the functionality, measurability, and application of goals contained on the IEPs of 83 preschoolers in Portugal. Their data suggest weaknesses across all measures and raise questions about the subsequent quality of interventions delivered as specified in the examined IEPs. The authors recommend guidelines for IEPs and teacher training to develop quality goals that will then guide interventions that meet recommended practices.
Our next article reports on a study in Head Start programs located in high- and low-violence communities. Fedor, Bender, and Carlson used the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment to assess the level of risk and protective factors demonstrated by the children in these programs. Interestingly, the findings suggest greater behavior concerns in children reported by parents in the low-violence communities, and no differences found in levels of protective factors between the high- and low-violence groups. The authors suggest that risk may be a more complex and broad-based variable of concern to the development of young children.
Our next article, from a UCEDD, describes an application of an online curriculum on behavioral interventions for young children with autism. Once only used for distance purposes, online courses are being practiced as an alternative to traditional classroom courses for those who want the flexibility of accessing instruction from work or home at any time of day or night. Serna et al. enrolled 51 participants in an online course, and results demonstrated a statistical significant difference between mean pre- and post-test scores. While the authors note the need for expanded coursework on behavioral interventions, the effects shown on pre-/post-measures of course content suggest the feasibility of this teaching method.
Our last article, also from a UCEDD, focuses on the importance of a systematic approach to evaluating and changing policy. A detailed description of a model evaluation of a state Part C program is presented by Conn-Powers, Piper, and Traub. The authors use their evaluation methodology to provide guidance to others who may be interested in refining policy and subsequent practices to better serve infants, toddlers, and their families.
Enjoy the summer!!
Mary Beth Bruder, PhD, Editor
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