Relationships
TOC
All Together Now! is published three times per year.
Letters, contributions, subscription requests, or reprint
requests should be sent to
All Together Now!
521 South Greensboro Street, Suite 100
Carrboro NC 27510
919.966.0059 • FAX 919.843.5784
email Molly_Weston@unc.edu
www.fpg.unc.edu/~atn
27,000 copies of All Together Now! were printed at a
cost of 42¢ each.
3 Concept Building Relationships with Families
by Sandy Steele and Pat Wesley
6 Policy Update Supporting Families
by Irene Nathan Zipper, MSW, PhD
8 Family Focus What It Means to Me: Leadership
by Karen Barbour
10 Books Reviews
by Molly Weston
12 Trainings Calendar of Training Events
14 Ask PFI Building Relationships with Home Visits
by Pat Wesley
16 Feature Program Good Relationships in the Workplace
by Molly Weston
20 Research Early Identification of Infants with Autism
by Grace Baranek, PhD & Jennifer C. Neitzel, MEd
23 KidSeen&Heard KidSpeak
24 Programs Reaching the 5 Stars
The latest programs to receive 5 stars
Editor’s Notes
After the hot summer, I hope you’re enjoying crisp fall days now. I’m
always glad to put the heat behind me and pull out sweaters and boots for
the coming season.While putting things behind us, we’re finishing our
theme on relationships and we’ve crammed this issue with lots of articles
focusing on this topic. I hope you’ll find them interesting and useful.
Partnerships for Inclusion (PFI) has been short staffed for the last
several months, but we hope to be able to introduce new inclusion
specialists to you soon. We miss Jane Scanlon in the west and Kay
Dixon in the east, but they’re both still working with young children in
those regions.
PFI staff members are working on several new products that we’ll
announce soon.We’re not ready to talk about them yet, but one will be
something dear to my heart and it involves my favorite activity—reading.
I hope you’ll send in some sayings for KidSpeak. That column has
garnered more comments than any in a long time—but you readers
aren’t doing your share. Send me something, folks! Remember, if your
selection is printed, you’ll receive a book reviewed in that issue of ATN!
As they used to say on the radio,“keep those cards and letters coming in.”
Till next time.
—Molly
A publication of
Partnerships for Inclusion
Pat Wesley, Director
Editor Molly Weston
Designer Gina Harrison
Photographer Don Trull
Proofreaders Dave Sanel
Sabrina Tyndall
Editorial Board & Contributing Agencies
Norman Allard Head Start
Chapel Hill Training Outreach
Kathy Baars NC Public Schools Early
Childhood/Exceptional Children
Susan Byerly Cumberland County Schools
Deborah Carroll Early Intervention Branch
Karen Chester NC Interagency Coordinating Council
for Children Ages Birth to Five with
Special Needs
Karen Ferguson NC Division of Child Development
Gina Harrison FPG Child Development Institute
Katherine Laveck NC Division of Early Childhood,
a division of the Council for
Exceptional Children
Ron Moore Head Start
Duncan Munn Early Intervention Branch
Karen Ponder NC Partnership for Children
Pat Wesley FPG Child Development Institute
All of us find it hard to work
with some people some time. Although
professionals and families know the value
of positive relationships in promoting
children’s development and learning, no
one said collaboration would be easy!
Sometimes families of very young chil-dren
offer particular challenges because
they are so vested in having the best for
their child. When a child has a special
need, often additional challenges arise.
For early childhood professionals, having a
good relationship with families is key in
promoting children’s development and
learning. Meaningful and productive rela-tionships
between parents and profession-als
are based on two key ingredients. First,
professionals and families must believe that
parents have important information to
share about their children. In other words,
family-school collaboration is an attitude,
not a single activity (Christenson, 1999).
Second, they must avoid laying blame for
challenges that arise and practice shared
problem-solving that emphasizes the
strengths and resources of the child, family,
and program.
Children are served best when providers
and families communicate,plan, and solve
problems together.Each family’s needs are
different; however, what works for one
family does not necessarily work for all.
Sometimes in our work with young chil-dren
we get to know a family with whom
our tried-and-true communication skills
just aren’t effective. Conversations are
stressful and relationships are strained.
There can be many reasons for this, from
having different expectations for the child
to very different interpersonal styles. As
PFI inclusion professionals and parents of
children with special needs, we have had
opportunities to work with many people
and to see these interactions through the
eyes of both a professional and a family
member. Here are some tips for turning a
challenging relationship with a family into
a productive one.
What’s going on?
It is always helpful to try to understand
why people may not respond to you in a
respectful or collaborative manner. Some
possible reasons include:
Poor communication
This is the most frequent problem we see
in working with families. Families may feel
they don’t have a voice in decision making
and are being told what to do and not to do
Building relationships with
Families
by Sandy
Steele & Pat
Wesley
Sandy is an Eastern
Regional inclusion
specialist with PFI.
She and her family
live in Greenville.
Pat is the director
of PFI. She and her
family live in
Chatham County.
Concept
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 3
regarding their child. They may feel that
opportunities to meet with professionals
are rushed or infrequent. Perhaps
providers with good intentions contact
resources for the family before asking their
permission.Perhaps parents receive phone
calls or notes from providers only when
there is a concern about the child. If fami-lies
are not asked for input about program
policies and practices, they may feel that
services are not truly responsive to them,
that they and their child are expected to fit
the mold of the program.
Negative assumptions
Sometimes we negatively stereotype fami-lies
based on their neighborhood, socio-economic
status, marital status, religious
beliefs, sexual preference, or ethnicity. For
example, a teacher may make assump-tions
about children early in the year
based on what school bus they take to
school.While we all probably have found
ourselves at some point judging the book
by the cover, negative attitudes come
across to families loud and clear.
Us vs. them
Some professionals see themselves as the
expert on children—the ones who know
what’s best for each child—leaving the
family feeling a sense of competition with
the professional. It takes time to see the
whole picture of the child at home and at
school and wisdom to understand that the
family knows their child best and may have
insight about the child’s experiences at
school.Asking families to share this insight
not only makes them feel more involved,
but it often provides you with methods that
make your interactions with both the child
and the family more positive.
Degrees of participation
Most programs have set expectations for
family participation.Contact with parents
often is organized around individual
family conferences, group meetings, or
parent volunteerism in the classroom. For
some families these options work well all
of the time; for other families they work
well only some of the time. Still other
families may prefer ways to participate in
their child’s program that do not include
any of these opportunities.
Some families may work very hard just
getting their child to your program each
day. Relationships with families are
enhanced when professionals understand
that life circumstances affect the way an
individual family is able to participate in
their child’s program during any given
year. A one-size-fits-all parent program
will not address the needs of all families.
Asking families how they would like to
participate may very well gain volunteers
for things you may never think to ask.
Overwhelmed!
Families who have very young children,
children with special needs or who care for
ill or aging family members may feel over-whelmed
from their day-to-day stresses.
4 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
Are families welcomed as warmly as children?
Feelings of guilt, anger, hopelessness, fear,
and fatigue are common.
Exclusion
A common fear across families is that
someone will exclude or make fun of their
child. Starting school or changing class-rooms
or programs can be times of
extreme stress for families.
Making it better
The following list includes strategies to
foster positive relationships with families:
w Retool your listening skills. More than
90% of communication is listening—
and that doesn’t mean just waiting your
turn to talk! Ask meaningful questions.
Rephrase what the family has said in
your own words to ensure that you’ve
understood them correctly. Try to
understand the other person’s point of
view, to see the world through their eyes
and experiences. Keep in mind that
parents may vent their feelings and frus-trations
and need only a listening ear
without advice.
w Keep an open mind. We all come from
different cultures, beliefs, and parenting
practices. Take a hard look at any
assumptions you may have formed
about families based on stereotypes or
biases. Try many different approaches to
get to know and form positive relation-ships
with families.Don’t give up!
w Reframe your thinking. If you have had a
challenging relationship with a certain
family, practice thinking about them in a
positive way. As you sit in the car at their
house prior to a home visit, identify one
positive outcome that you feel you can
count on during the visit. List in your
mind the ways they have supported their
child���s development and learning.Remind
yourself that few people start the morning
planning to create tension in their rela-
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 5
tionships, and set your own course for
making this visit a success.
w Keep your eye on the prize. Never forget
that you are in the early childhood field
because you want to make a difference in
the lives of children.Keep the resiliency of
children in mind as you consider your own
skills and patience in working with others.
w Identify your own buttons. How do you
typically react to situations that you find
challenging? What about those reactions
makes the situation better or worse?
Share your most challenging relation-ships
with a colleague or friend and
discuss new ideas for reacting when old
buttons are pushed!
w Be prepared to step back from a relation-ship
to think things through.Do not feel
that issues must be resolved during
every meeting. Feel comfortable in stat-ing
that you need time to reflect. Ask if
another meeting time can be arranged
in the near future.
w Look closely at your program. How are
families welcomed into the program in
general? What opportunities do parents
have for sharing their experiences and
expectations with you, spending time
with you and the child together, provid-ing
input about program policies and
practices, staying informed about their
child’s activities?
w Work with families to set mutual goals
for their child, to establish effective
strategies to meet the goals, and to agree
on ways to measure and report progress.
Be sure to ask them what a typical day
with their child is like at home and find
out what the family enjoys doing
together.
w Expand your knowledge about commu-nity
resources so that you can provide
current and relevant information to
families when asked.
Working with all families to build true
partnerships takes time and possibly
means trying new approaches. The end
result will benefit everyone involved—
especially the children. ATN!
Set your course for making each home visit a success.
Citation
Christenson, S.L. (1999).
Families and schools: Rights,
responsibilities, resources, and
relationships. In R.C. Pianta &
M.J. Cox (Eds.), The transition to
kindergarten: Research, policy,
training and practice. (143–178).
Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
6 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
“Family Support” has many
meanings—from emergency assistance to
the concept of family-centered practice.At
the Family Support Network of North
Carolina (FSN-NC), family support means
the support of other families in similar
situations—families who have been there,
who understand what a family is experi-encing,
and who have worked within the
service system.
Building on state and national policy to
increase families’ access to resources, FSN-NC
offers a comprehensive program for
families with children who have or are at
risk for disabilities. Learning that a child
may have a disability can be a devastating
and lonely experience. Service providers
can help families address the challenges of
parenting a child with special needs, but
their services can be hard to access and
can seem intimidating.
Parents who themselves have children with
special needs are in a unique position to
address other families’needs for social and
emotional support and for information.An
experienced family can help others to navi-gate
the complex service system and can
share the most practical advice. Support
makes it easier for families to experience
the joy and satisfaction that can come from
parenting a child with special needs. This
family-to-family support is available
through the local FSN-NC programs, along
with training, information and referral
services.
Local programs
FSN-NC is made up of 18 community-based
family support organizations that cover 56
counties across the state. These programs
are housed in local or regional hospitals, in
regional Developmental Evaluation
Centers, in local Arcs, with local Smart
Start Partnerships, and solo organizations.
Each local organization has a program
coordinator. Most also have additional
staff. Programs are funded with both
public and private funds.
While local FSN-NC organizations vary
somewhat, most engage in similar activi-ties.
These include parent-to-parent match-ing
whereby family members with
concerns about their child and/or family
are matched with other family members
with similar concerns who have been
trained to provide guidance and support.
Many offer support groups and workshops
Supporting
Families
by Irene
Nathan
Zipper, MSW,
PhD
Irene is the new
director of the
Family Support
Network of North
Carolina. She lives
and works in
Chapel Hill.
Policy
for family members and for service
providers. They make presentations to
increase public awareness of disability
issues. Many of the program coordinators
are family members with children with
disabilities who have made use of the serv-ice
system. They are strongly committed to
effective support for families and believe
that this support is best provided by others
who have had similar experiences.
Eight FSN-NC programs participate in the
Foster Families Project in which local
programs provide training to enhance
the ability of foster families to serve chil-dren
with special needs and those who
are at risk.
Information
The Central Directory of Resources is a free
source of information for family members
and service providers.Callers can get infor-mation
about specific disabilities and about
the local resources and organizations that
serve children and their families.Through a
toll-free phone line, 800.852.0042, and a
web site, www.fsnnc.org, information is
available to family members, service
providers, students, and others across the
state. Callers can speak with a resource
specialist about a child’s particular issues,
find help with advocacy, and get informa-tion
about services available in their own
community. FSN-NC also sends written
information and lends materials from the
FSN-NC Outreach Library. The Central
Directory of Resources has a Spanish-speaking
resource specialist who is part of
the Hispanic Initiative, which was recently
established to ensure that complete and
accurate information is available for
Hispanic families across the state. All of
these services are offered without charge.
Training
An array of training activities is provided
by FSN-NC. University students can learn
about community-based support through
classroom and practicum activities. Early
childhood intervention practitioners can
participate in the NC Mentor Program,
through which experienced professionals
are paired with those who are new to early
childhood intervention. Through this
ongoing, supportive, mentoring relation-
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 7
ship, new service providers can enhance
their skills and knowledge about early
intervention. They may also be connected
with family members with children with
special needs. In this way, they can learn
directly from families about their experi-ences
raising their child and accessing the
service system.With this information, they
can be more effective as they work with
other families in the system.
Together, all of these programs are known
as Family Support Network of North
Carolina. The central office of FSN-NC is a
department of the UNC-CH School of Medi-cine,
operating in collaboration with the
Clinical Center for Development and
Learning. In addition to facilitating the
activities of the local programs, the central
office supports the development of new
programs,maintains the Central Directory
of Resources, and carries out and coordi-nates
educational activities.Through these
programs, FSN-NC serves thousands of
families and service providers across
North Carolina each year.ATN!
Family Support Network of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
cuddled and to dazzle you with a smile.
But I had a sense that something was
askew when at 20 months he did not
respond to directive language. For exam-ple,
he would spill his Goldfish and I
would model picking them up while
saying “Help mommy pick up.” It seemed
to go right over his head. During bath
time, I’d ask the typical “Where’s baby’s
belly?” or “Where’s mama’s nose?” Noth-ing!
Friends discounted my concern by
saying “Oh he’s just being stubborn.”But I
trusted my gut and we took him to the
Wake County Developmental Evaluation
Center (DEC).
Early intervention
This is where my connection to leadership
and early intervention started. Before we
arrived at the DEC, I did a lengthy phone
interview with a speech and language
pathologist there. She asked me what
seemed like a hundred questions about
what Joshua was doing.At the end I asked
her to please give me her best-guess esti-mate
of what could be going on with
Joshua. She qualified her response and
by Karen
Barbour
Karen is actively
involved with many
early intervention
activities in Wake
County, having
served on the state
Smart Start Early
Childhood Advisory
committee and the
Wake County First
in Families manage-ment
team.
What it means to me
Leadership
FamilyFocus
8 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
Before I discuss what leadership
means to me, let me give you some context
and background. I am the mother of two
wonderful boys, Jeremiah, six, and Joshua,
four. Six years ago my husband Ray
Gonzales and I moved to Cary from the
Boston area with two-month-old Jere-miah.
Ray was starting a new job as a
mechanical engineer.
I grew up in New Hampshire and I have a
BA in psychology from UNH. Before
becoming a mother I had my own
massage therapy practice for five years,
and before that I worked with special deaf
populations in group homes and in a state
institution. I am fluent in American Sign
Language, having grown up with a deaf
younger sister. I would say that I grew up
with a sensitivity and an awareness of
difference. As an adult I definitely value
diversity in people.
Early signals
My youngest son was diagnosed with
autism when he was two. He was an
incredibly joyful baby who loved to be
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 9
said that it really was not appropriate to
give a diagnosis over the phone and that a
whole team would be evaluating Joshua
when he came in. When I pushed, she
finally said many of the things I was
describing fit with a diagnosis of autism.
For the first time—the words Joshua and
autism together. My wheels started spin-ning.
I got out my old psychology books;
they were not much help. Unfortunately
my husband was in Switzerland on busi-ness.
I talked to him daily but it wasn’t
like I had full access to my sounding
board.We also didn’t have internet access
at that time. I called the speech patholo-gist
back and told her I was falling apart.
She listened and hooked me up with early
interventionist Mary Ann Olsen.
Mary Ann was like our angel, our cham-pion,
our support. Through our journey
together she listened to our concerns,
fears, and observations. She held our
hands through a very anxiety-filled time.
She gave us very sound advice—
“connect with other parents as they will
be your best resource of information.”
She respected our parenting styles and
she made us feel confident in ourselves.
She made us feel that we could handle
whatever came our way.
Beginning leadership
Mary Ann empowered me personally to
find and cultivate the leader within me.
She told me of the opportunity to attend
the Parent Leadership Development
training through the FPG Child Develop-ment
Institute. I am very grateful for that
experience. Through this training I have
been able to learn more about myself
(my strengths and weaknesses), improve
my communication skills, and do more
of what I love—network and be an asset
to other parents and professionals.
So what does leadership mean to me? I
believe it is definitely different for every
individual. For me leadership means
believing in myself, trusting my gut and
knowing that I am the expert on my
child. It is about finding my own voice
and getting that voice heard. There have
been countless professionals with whom I
have come in contact as I advocate for my
son and support his learning, growth,
and inclusion in the community. The best
ones are knowledgeable in their fields,
truly caring and genuine, open and want-ing
to help, and,hopefully,willing to learn
as much from us as we learn from them.
Leadership is also a process for me.With
each new experience I am fine tuning
myself. I value my mentors who have done
the hard work before me. I also under-stand
that not all families come from the
same place even though they face many of
the same challenges having a child or chil-dren
with disabilities. I do value diversity
and hope I will be able to help other fami-lies.
I know I am a voice for those who do
not have a strong voice, but I know I do
not speak for all people.My child is young
but, hopefully, I can help him find his own
voice. I do have the wisdom to know that
only he can speak for himself. ATN!
Josh enjoys roller skating, horseback riding,
and playing dress-up.
10 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
No Ordinary Olive
by Roberta Baker
illustrated by Debbie Tilley
Little, Brown
ISBN 316-0733609
When Olive was born, it was immedi-ately
clear that she was different from
other children. Olive’s parents were
delighted, and they celebrated the
unique qualities in their child.Unfortu-nately,
Ms. Fishbone, her teacher, and
Mr.Weepole, the principal at the Stick-ler
Street School wanted all students to
conform to standards. Luckily for Olive,
she gets support from some unsus-pected
sources. Children will love
Olive’s absurdities; adults may learn
something about being different!
Bored! Bored! Bored!
by Jill Newton
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
ISBN 1-58234-760-3
Every creature in the sea is busy—
raking, pruning, planting—but
gardening just doesn’t interest Claude
the shark. In fact, the whole project
bores him to tears until the workers
hold a party to celebrate their work and
they don’t invite him. Rather than
giving in to hurt feelings, Claude sees a
way to be involved with his friends
while doing his own thing. Everybody’s
delighted with Claude’s effort, and
Claude finds a way to contribute with-out
being bored.
It’s
Snowing!
by Olivier Dunrea
Farrar Straus Giroux
ISBN 9-780374-399924
Celebrate life with Mama as she intro-duces
Baby to his first snowfall. Sparse
text evocatively sets the stage for the
peasant family’s tale of living life to the
fullest and enjoying the moment.
Exquisite watercolors detail the family’s
hovel and the incredible winter land-scape.
Get ready for a winter treat!
Raymond’s
Perfect
Present
by Therese On Louie
illustrated by Suling Wang
Lee & Lowe Books
ISBN 1-58430-055-8
When Raymond’s mother comes home
from the hospital, he spends a lot of
time looking out the window of their
apartment. Seeing the joy on the face of
a girl who receives a bouquet, he
decides to buy flowers for his mother.
Unfortunately, his savings aren’t
enough to buy them at the florist, so, he
buys packets of seeds, and with help
from his neighbors he plants a window
garden for his mother.Another hospital
stay for his mom coincides with the
blooming season, but an unexpected
bonus gives both Raymond and his
mother an even better surprise.
books
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 11
Musical Beds
by Mara Bergman
illustrated by Marjolein Pottie
Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISBN 0-689-84463-8
Family stories are sure to pop out when
you read this delightful story about
bedtime. One patient dad hears all the
stories about why a child can’t sleep as he
kisses each child in turn and puts them
back to bed. Naturally, none of them stay
in place, and when the exhausted man is
ready to call it a day, he has to look long
and hard to find an unoccupied spot.Chil-dren
will love learning they’re not the only
ones who hear things, see things,
and get thirsty at bedtime!
Making Toys for
Infants & Toddlers
ISBN 0-87659-249-3
Making Toys for Preschool
Children
by Linda G.Miller & Mary Jo Gibbs
Gryphon House
ISBN 0-87659-275-2
Subtitled “Using Ordinary Stuff for Extra-ordinary
Play,” these books will help
stretch your budget while reusing, recy-cling,
and re-creating. Consider: a tissue
box stage for finger puppets, a jack-in-the-box
from a dryer vent hose, cereal box
books, animal tails, corrugated paint
rollers. Quick directions for toys and tools
made from items destined for the trash or
recycling center will soon have you look-ing
at everything and thinking,“Now how
can I use that in my classroom?”
by
Molly Weston
To check out books
reviewed in
All Together Now!
contact
Clara Hunt
NC Early
Intervention Library
517 West Fleming Dr.,
NC School for the Deaf
Morganton NC 28655
828.432.5970
email
ncei.library@ncmail.net
The Ticky-
Tacky
Doll
by Cynthia Rylant
illustrated by Harvey Stevenson
Harcourt
ISBN 0-15-201078-5
Leaving behind the doll made from her
grandmother’s scrap basket was the hard-est
part of starting to school for one little
girl. In fact, the separation from her friend
kept her from paying attention to every-thing—
from lunch to numbers. Fortu-nately,
the grandmother knew a thing or
two about loneliness, and she found a way
to help the little girl work around the rules
which declared that toys must stay home.
This is a wonderful story about multi-generational
love and understanding.
Hide
Clyde!
by Russell
Benfanti
ipicturebooks
ISBN 1-59019-047-5
Chameleons are supposed to take on the
color of their surroundings, right? Well,
Clyde just can’t make it happen, until one
day when he enjoys an exhilarating expe-rience
and, suddenly, he can blend with
the best. The rhyming story lends itself to
a rap rhythm that children will enjoy so
much they won’t even recognize that
they’re learning about sounds. Don your
shades and groove with Clyde!
Mark your calendar! Children’s Book Week is November 18–24.
12 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
October 23-24
Orientation to Early Intervention
Winston-Salem
Clara Hunt, 828-432-5970
October 23
s Creating a Caring Community TPB13
October 24
s The NC Museum of Natural Sciences as a Resource
for Early Childhood Professionals TOB14
s Using Sign Language to Enrich Literacy &
Language With 3–5 Year Olds TPB15
v Touchpoints: Enhancing the Parent/Child Relationship
October 25
Biases, Stereotypes and Cross Cultural Conflicts in
Health Care
Asheville
Mountain AHEC, 828-257-4475
October 28-29
Parent Leadership Development Retreat
Black Mountain
Gretchen Loftis, 919-966-5799
October 30
s A Guided Observation of Infants & Toddlers TOB16
October 31
Me, Write a Grant? You’ve Got to Be Kidding!
Kinston
Sandra Hardison/Judy Whitlev 252.208.3808
October 31–November 1
Learning to Use and Using to Learn
Raleigh
www.pat.org or 919.872.2298
December 10
Using Humor as a Therapeutic Tool
Asheville
Mountain AHEC, 828.257.4475
December 11
Update on Psychopharmacology in Children
Fayetteville
LaLisa Hewitt Robinson 910.678.7293
Learning to Use and Using to Learn
Raleigh
www.pat.org or 919.872.2298
November 1
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB17
November 1–2
Child Care Quality: Next Steps
Greensboro
Cheryl Sarratt, 336.334.3601
November 6–8
NACCRRA Regional Conference
Greensboro
Angela Bogle 919.202.4893, abogle@dockpoint.net
Barbara Coyle 919.933.5090, bcoyle@alltel.net
November 7
v Sibling Rivalry & Relationships
November 7–8
Needs, Dreams and IFSPs
Kinston
Clara Hunt, 828.432.5970
November 8
Autism in Toddlers & Preschoolers: Implications for
Communication Intervention
Greensboro
Greensboro AHEC 336.832.8025
November 12
Working with Latino Clients and their Families
Greenville
Mental Health Education 252.816.5228
s The Kids Are Here! What Do I Plan? TPB18
November 13
Strengthening Parent and Child Relationships
Fayetteville
Southern Regional AHEC 910.678.7293
November 14
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB19
s Reflections on Curriculum for Toddlers & 2s TPB20
v Effective Teacher/Child Communication
November 18–24
Children’s Book Week
November 20–21
Needs, Dreams & IFSPs
Burlington
Clara Hunt 828.432.5970
November 21
School Age Children with Special Needs
Fayetteville
LaLisa Hewitt Robinson 910.678.7293
v Parenting & Teaching Young Children with Autism
November 25
The Young Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Practical Strategies & Community Connections
Wilmington
Eastern AHEC, 252.816.5228
December 2–3
Leo M. Croghan Conference
Raleigh NC
Wake AHEC 866.641.1814 or 919.350.8547
December 3
s Setting Up Learning Environments for Toddlers &
Twos TPB21
December 4
s A Guided Observation of Infants & Toddlers TOB22
s Learning to Read & Write: Pre-K Emergent
Literacy TPB23
December 5
s Coaching Social Skills TPB24
December 10–12
Improving the Quality of Early Childhood Programs:
PFI’s Model of On-Site Consultation
Chapel Hill
Sabrina Tyndall 919.966.7174
December 11
Update on Psychopharmacology in Children
Fayetteville
LaLisa Hewitt Robinson 910.678.7293
December 12
v Social & Emotional Kindergarten Readiness trainings
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 13
v Cary, Lucy Daniels Center for Early
Childhood 919.677.1400
s Raleigh, Project Enlightenment
919.856.7774
• Training events are subject to change.
• Call the contact number before
attending any training events.
• To add your event to this calendar,
contact
Molly Weston 919.843.5784
FAX 919.966.0862
molly_weston@unc.edu
February TBA
Orientation to Early Intervention
Southern Pines
Rita Jenks 910.486.1605
February 6
s Spirited Child: Teaching Social Skills TPB35
February 10–11
Orientation to Early Intervention
Aberdeen
Rita Jenks 910.486.1605, ext.252
February 13
s The Spirited Child: Bridging the Gap Between
Home & School TPB36
February 4–6 & March 4–5
Trauma & Loss in Children
Fayetteville
LaLisa Hewitt Robinson 910.678.7293
February 6
v The Impact of Divorce & Other Losses on a Child
February 11
s Finger Play Fantasy for Toddlers & 2s TPB40
February 17
Coming Together Conference 2003
Wilmington
Sheryl Ewing 910.792.6133
Feb. 19, 26, & March 5
s Exploring Sensory Integration TPB41
Feb. 20 & 27
s Tricks of the Trade: Making Learning Centers
Exciting TPB42
February 21
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB43
Feb. 25 & March 4
s Art as a Process, Not As A Product TPB44
February 27
s Puppet Pals TPB45
v Supporting the Adopted Child
December 13
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB25
January 9
s Reading Aloud with 3- & 4-Year-Olds TPB26
v Helping a Child Develop a Healthy Conscience
January 14
s Sharing Music & Movement with 3-, 4-, & 5-Year-
Olds TPB27
s Sharing Music & Movement with Toddlers & 2s TPB38
January 15
s A Guided Observation of Infants & Toddlers TOB29
January 15, 22, & 29
s Teaching 3-, 4-, & 5-Year-Olds with Challenging
Behaviors TPB30
January 16
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB31
s The Spirited Child: Understanding the Spirited Child
TPB32
January 16
v Recognizing & Responding to Child Maltreatment
January 18
v Does This Child Have AD/HD? What Then?
January 21
Evaluation of Young Children with Complicated
Developmental Disabilities
Greensboro AHEC 336.832.8025
s What’s New in Early Childhood? TPB37
Jan. 27, Feb. 3, 10, 17, & 24
s Let’s Build on WORD TW38
January 23
s Spirited Child: Dealing with Strong Emotions TPB33
v Why & How Preschool Children Play
January 30
s Spirited Child: Strategies for Promoting Positive
Behavior TPB34
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB39
Useful Web Sites
Charlotte AHEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.cltahec.org
Division TEACCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.teacch.com
Early Childhood Link at UNC . . . . . . . . . . .www.cdl.unc.edu/link/trainmenu.htm
Early Childhood Low Incidence NetworK (LINK) . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ec-link.org
Exceptional Children's Assistance Center . . . . . . . . .www.ecac-parentcenter.org
Family Support Network of North Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . .fsnnc.med.unc.edu
North Carolina Partnership for Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ncsmartstart.org
Parent Training &
Information Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.ecac-parentcenter.org/
Smart Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.calsplus.net/ncpc
TelAbility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.TelAbility.org
US Consumer Products Safety Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.cpsc.gov
Wake AHEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.wakeahec.org
March 6
s Managing Toddlers & 3s without Saying No or
Stop TPB46
v Helping Children Develop Healthy Self-Esteem
March 13
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB47
Mar. 25,Apr. 1 & 8
s Beyond Story Stretchers TOB48
March 26
s Issues & Solutions for Preschool & K Classrooms
which Include Spanish-Speaking Children TSB49
March 27
s A Guided Observation of Infants & Toddlers TOB50
v Childhood Bereavement
April 2
s Circle Time: Come Join in…for Teachers of
3-, 4-, & 5-year-olds TSB51
April 3
s Using the Discovery Room at the NC Museum of
Natural Sciences TOB52
April 10
s A Guided Observation of the Demonstration
Preschool at Project Enlightenment TDB53
v Fears & Phobias in Young Children
April 24
v Helping Step-Families Come Together
s A Guided Observation of Infants & Toddlers TOB54
s Nature for Little Hands: Using the School Grounds
for Nature Discoveries TSB55
April 26
v Approaching Discipline & Aggression Constructively
May 1
v How to Raise Boys to be Sensitive & Girls
to be Strong
May 14
s A Guided Observation of Infants & Toddlers TOB56
14 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
Home visits are a powerful tool
for building positive relationships among
parents, teachers, and children. Home
visits allow teachers to get a feel for the
child’s life outside school and to meet with
parents in surroundings that are comfort-able
to the family. The informal personal
contact with the teacher may help parents
feel more comfortable sharing informa-tion
about their child than if the meeting
were to take place in a school.
Some parents may worry about the
purpose of a home visit. They may feel
that the teacher wants to judge the quality
of their home, learn details of their family
life, or assess their parenting abilities.
Some parents, for other reasons such as
their cultural preferences, may prefer to
meet the teacher in a community setting
that is not the home or school—maybe a
park or community center.
When planning a home visit, a teacher can
help relieve parents’ stress by assuring them
that the purpose of the visit is to get to know
the child and family better. It is critical to
provide other options for meeting with the
family and to try to find out the family’s
candid feelings about having a home visit.
Below are some simple guidelines for plan-ning
and conducting home visits.
Home visiting guidelines
w Plan the home visit at the family’s
convenience and be clear about your
purpose. Tell them you are looking
forward to having their child in your
class and that you view the home visit as
one way to help the child get to know
you. If you are seeing a child who
receives special services, consider
whether it would be beneficial to pair
your visit with that of a therapist or early
intervention professional who may be
seeing the child in the home and who is
already familiar to the family.
w Send a postcard confirming the time and
date of the visit and providing a way for
the family to contact you, should they
need to cancel.
w Make sure you know your facts before
you arrive. Do you know the name the
AskPFI
Building relationships with
Home Visits
by
Pat Wesley
Pat is director of
Partnerships for
Inclusion. She has
worked in the early
childhood field for
25 years. She and
her family live in
Chatham County.
Classroom teaching doesn’t seem to be enough any more.Now I’m being told that it’s impor-tant
to make home visits! Why should I have to add this chore to my workload? What good
will it do anyway? How can I be sure the visit will be appreciated?
Smooth Moves
Information on home visits was
taken from Smooth Moves to Kinder-garten
by Patricia W.Wesley,
published by Chapel Hill Training-
Outreach Project, Inc., 2001.You
may want to consult Smooth Moves
for more information on overcom-ing
challenges in relationships
between schools and families.
Smooth Moves also provides infor-mation
about many aspects of tran-sition,
sending and receiving agen-cies,
and kindergarten readiness.
Copies of the book are available
from Chapel Hill Outreach for
$19.95. Contact Pam Singletary at
919.490.5577, ext. 242 for more
information.
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 15
child prefers to be called? Do you know
the parents’ names? Do you have clear
directions to the home and a phone
number for the family, if one is available?
w Decide in advance what information
you want to share with the family during
the visit and bring any necessary writ-ten
materials.
wWhen you arrive, let the family direct
you by inviting you in and indicating
where they would like the visit to take
place. Some families may prefer to meet
on a porch or in the yard. Thank the
family for letting you stop by. Tell them
how much you value this opportunity
and let them know you will be staying
only 30 minutes or so.
w Be friendly and at ease, but professional.
Dress casually, but neatly. If you are
inclined to do so, accept any offer the
family makes of food or drink. Doing so
may go a long way to making the meet-ing
feel less formal.
w Take some items from your program to
show the child. For example, you may
want to take a classroom scrapbook, an
audio tape of a music activity from the
year before, or materials with which to
make a nametag for the child, inviting
the child’s help to do so.
w Do not ask to see the child’s room. If the
child invites you to see his or her room,
check with the parents to make sure
that’s all right with them. If they agree,
you may want to say,“Why don’t we all go
see your room together.”
w Be sure to provide many opportunities
for the family and child to ask questions.
Because this is a visit to get to know
them, be aware of how much you are
talking versus listening!
w Stay flexible! Realize that even though
you hope to spend time with the child on
the visit, the child may have other ideas.
Recognize that simply by your presence
in the home, you have taken a giant first
step in building a relationship with the
child—one the child is sure to notice.
w Do not make judgments about the
family. Try to keep in mind that families
are systems with their own unique
composition, family roles, and ways of
functioning. It is especially important to
respect differences between a family’s
values and customs and those of the
home visitor.
w Before you leave, let the family know
again how to contact you.You may want
to give them written information about
your program, for example a classroom
schedule or school calendar.
Making the effort to reach out to families
in surroundings comfortable to them will
afford you a chance to “walk a mile in their
shoes.” And, it might well be the first step
to a good relationship that will point a
child toward success in school.
ATN!
During a home visit be prepared to answer questions that pareents
may have about their child’s day
ATN!
16 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
by Molly
Weston
Molly is editor of
ATN! She lives with
her husband and
Old English Sheep-dog
in Apex and
works from PFI’s
Carrboro office.
Feature
anybody I’d rather leave her with. The
experience has turned into so much more
than I expected—it’s even better for her
than if she had stayed home with me.”
The family-centered philosophy at SAS
allows employees to share programs with
their children during the business day.We
met John later during the day as he was
leaving, “I’ve been watching Tony’s
Tumbling,”an extra activity Maggie enjoys.
The heavily subsidized child care
programs are available to any SAS
employee, no matter their position;
however, as with most excellent programs,
there are waiting lists, and all children
cannot be accommodated. John explained,
“Few children leave the program. When
Maggie moved to preschool, two-thirds of
her friends moved with her.”
Teachers move with kids
Not only do children’s friends move from
class to class, the teachers do too! Karen
Vettel, director of the program said, “An
important part of our program here is that
our teachers move with the children from
the infant room through the one-year and
two-year-old rooms when possible. Then,
usually they go back for a new rotation
Early in its life as an organiza-tion,
management at SAS Institute in Cary
realized that some of their brightest and
best employees were having babies and
staying at home to look after them. To
meet the challenge of losing outstanding
workers, even temporarily, child care had
to be addressed. In the early 1980s, SAS
first implemented on-site child care. Now,
in addition to two Montessori centers on
the campus, two Bright Horizons Family
Solutions centers serving SAS are just
across the street.We visited one of them.
Quality on-site child care programs are
now what Beth Ayres calls “my favorite
benefit.” Beth had just arrived with two-year-
old Emma; and John Lewis, with
three-year-old Maggie. Both were enthusi-astic
about their children’s care. John said,
“I’ve noticed that Maggie’s language skills
are very good. I think her experiences in
child care make her very comfortable with
language. That makes a big difference.”
Beth was equally enthusiastic. “I took 12
weeks off after Emma was born and I
thought it would be enough, but it wasn’t.
I came here and stayed with her for a day
before I brought her in for real. It is such a
comfortable environment. There isn’t
Good relationships in the
Workplace
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 17
beginning again in the infant room. Occa-sionally,
however, a teacher will stay with a
group all the way through preschool.
“I’m totally committed to having the teach-ers
move with the children.We know this is
what’s best with care for children—to form
bonds with their caregiver.The relationship
with the teacher and child and family is crit-ical.
We like to keep that bond going the first
three years of their lives. When we have
done that,when the children go to preschool
they are comfortable moving with their
peers and are ready to form new bonds.
“Our teachers bond with children and
families so incredibly well. This center has
been nurturing these bonds by moving
teachers with children since it opened.We
hire teachers with the expectation that they
will do that and they come in really excited
about the concept. In fact, when we inter-view
for teachers, if they are not interested
in moving with the children,we refer them
to other Bright Horizons in the area,”
Karen continued.
John picked up the thread,“Miss Nancy got
married last year, and all the kids went to
the wedding. They were all talking about
Miss Nancy’s big white dress.”
Garden and playgrounds
As in many high quality programs, infant
and toddler classrooms border the play-ground
for the little folks. The infant
rooms were warm and inviting, stimulat-ing
and restful, with happy babies. It was
the playground, however, that marked the
difference from the ordinary.
“When I came this was just a grassy area,”
Karen said, pointing to a low fenced area.
“I hired a landscaper to make it a sensory
garden for our infants.We’ve incorporated
things so that they can crawl and
discover—thyme, rosemary, lamb’s ear, all
safe plants.” Traditional slate stepping
stones are joined by glass brick and
cement shapes embedded with marbles
for more discovery options.Cannas,wind-mill
palms, ajuga, and tall grasses with
fuzzy plumes add color and more textures
and shapes.Two low adirondack chairs are
positioned in front of cheerful wind socks
so providers can sit comfortably while
pointing out interesting sights to babies.
The toddler playground is covered by sand
surrounded by wide concrete walks for
riding toys and running. Teachers, almost
like the Pied Piper of Hamlin, are active
participants in play. “Today we are
airplanes,” Miss Michelle announced as
she slowly ran at the front of a group of
“biplanes.” Another teacher, Miss April,
worked with one child as they marched
near the planes. Before the friendly skies
tired completely, Miss Maureen brought
out a large bottle of bubble soap, and the
group shifted. Bubble blowing seems to be
a favorite activity everywhere!
Outdoor playground structures were
larger and more complicated as we moved
into the preschool playground. One side
was covered with sand, the other with
mulch. One end boasted a shaded area
with picnic tables. On this hot, post-Labor
day visit, spray bottles were tremendously
popular with the preschool group—teach-ers
and kids alike! Water and disposable
cups stood ready for rehydration.
Big Mike
While on the preschool playground, our
eyes were drawn to a young man who
looked as if he would be more at home
surrounded by defensive linemen than
laughing children. Mike Whiting is a
support, or floating, teacher who works in
all classrooms. He explained, “When I was
in high school, I needed one more class,
and my guidance counselor recommended
Exploring the infant garden with a baby is
one of the highlights of Karen Vettel’s day.
a course called ‘Peppy.’ Through this
course, I worked in an elementary school
three days a week and spent the other two
days planning what I’d do. I liked it, so I
later started working at a YMCA preschool
camp. I had a friend working here at Bright
Horizons two years ago and she told me to
check it out. I really like it. I took some
early childhood classes at Wake Tech and I
plan to go back to school. I definitely want
to keep working with children. If we made
more money I would probably stay here
my whole life!”
Most of the kids call him “Big Mike”; some
call him Magic Mike.“Oh, I do a few magic
tricks once in a while.”
Teachers
Not only are children happy at Bright
Horizons, teachers are treated well, too.
Karen explained, “Most work an eight-hour
day, on rotating hours to accommo-date
the program’s being open from 8:00
to 6:00. Some teachers have reduced
schedules to accommodate going back to
school and having families. Everyone gets
a full lunch hour.
“We have a very low teacher turnover. One
teacher has been with Bright Horizons for
10 years, but at this program only about
eight months. She adopted a baby with
special needs, and the child is here in the
program. Typically people will move
within the large program to climb the
ladder for a promotion or for convenience.”
Bright Horizons is the largest corporately-sponsored
child care program in the US.
It’s the only child care program in the
Fortune 500. Bright Horizons forms part-nerships
with corporations such as SAS,
Glaxo, Nortel, and Universal Studios who
are willing to subsidize child care
programs for their employees to ensure
that it is a high quality program.”
Family-friendly program
The program is fully inclusive, and every
SAS employee is eligible for the
program—from lawn maintenance and
cafeteria workers to top executives. Thera-pists
are welcome in the program and
their work can be integrated or pull-out—
whatever the child needs at that time.
Announcement sheets on classroom doors
offer special activities that can include
parents. Computertots, Tony’s Tumbling,
and Spanish are but a few. “Parents are
invited to come for any of the classes,”
Karen said, “but the Spanish teacher
encourages parents to join the classes so
that the children can practice at home.”
A music teacher works with all classes in
the program, and a drama teacher is an
extra for the preschoolers.
Bright Horizons
Family Solutions
101 Endeavor Way
Cary 27513
919.677.9213
Susan Kilbourne,Area Manager
skilbourne@brighthorizons.com
Karen Vettel, Director
sas@brighthorizons.com
SAS subsidizes the child care costs
from 60–75% (as with most
programs, infant care is more
expensive at Bright Horizons than
is preschool care).
140–160 children
40 teachers, including full- and
part-time support teachers who
cover absences whenever the
regular classroom teacher is out,
whether for personal leave or
planning time.
5 administrators (director; and 4
program coordinators, one for
each age group, shared by both
Bright Horizons; and an adminis-trative
assistant)
13 classrooms
3 infants
3 toddlers
3 two-year olds
4 preschool
18 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
Big Mike is totally comfortable with little folks!
and, in always-growing Cary, to see and ask
questions about community change.
Classroom environment
Motivating children to want to learn is an
important element in all the classrooms.
Notwithstanding the blocks and books and
well-stocked interest areas, teachers are
always actively involved with what the chil-dren
are doing and learning.At circle time,
the emphasis is not on sitting in a ring and
paying attention, but in participating.
During a song fest in a preschool room of
three- and four-year-olds, Miss Sue sat
with several children gathered around her,
all of them singing and making the proper
hand motions. To her left, one child was
sitting at a table drawing with crayons, but
singing along with the group, never miss-ing
a word.Another child sat at a computer,
head bobbing in rhythm to the songs. Two
more children worked with blocks with
Miss Kamala, all the while listening to and
learning the songs.
It’s not a great leap to conclude that having
excellent subsidized child care close at
hand makes SAS parents happier in their
jobs. After all, providing for the good of
their families is why most people work in
the first place. Oh, for the day when every
work environment in North Carolina can
afford this excellent benefit!
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 19
Even the cubbies are a little bit special.
Boxes at the top are for a change of cloth-ing;
those near the floor are for special
blankets or stuffed animals from home
that make nap time special. Shelves
running above the cubbies have labeled
loose leaf notebooks—the children’s jour-nals
stand ready for parent perusal at any
convenient moment.
Karen obviously appreciates parents. “We
have very good parent involvement.
They’re welcome to come anytime—
there’s coming and going all during the
day. Sometimes a parent will take a child
back to SAS to eat lunch in the cafeteria.
That’s always a big treat!”
With so much coming and going, security
could be a concern, but that’s also
addressed. A computer kiosk opposite the
reception desk at the front allows parents
and staff members to log in and out upon
arriving and leaving. A non-connected
keyboard allows interested children to
mimic the procedure.
Although there are schedules for play-ground
and meal times, individual teach-ers
have flexibility to change things during
the day.One empty classroom had a sign on
the doorknob that read, not “gone fishin’,”
but “We are on a walk.” Nature walks
around the campus are frequent and offer
opportunities to explore the environment ATN!
A handy computer where family and staff
log in and log out makes visiting easy.
The open door policy makes it easy for parents
to interact with children in the classroom.
20 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
Recent estimates indicate that
between 60,000 and 115,000 children
under the age of 15 years in the United
States have been diagnosed with autism
spectrum disorders. Three core-defining
features mark autism in older children:
impairments in socialization, impair-ments
in communication, and restricted
and repetitive patterns of behavior.Despite
parental concerns about their child’s
unusual development prior to 18 months
of age in the majority of these cases, few
children received a definitive diagnosis
from a physician or psychologist until
close to three years of age. The huge gap
between the time that parents first suspect
a problem and the time that a diagnosis is
made interferes with the family’s ability to
obtain early intervention and support
services.
Researchers Howlin and Moore surveyed
1300 parents of children with autism and
published their results in the journal
Autism. They reported that fewer than
10% of families surveyed received a defin-itive
diagnosis when they first sought
medical assistance, while another 10%
were told either to return if their worries
persisted or that their child would “grow
out of it.”The overwhelming remainder of
families (80%) were referred to another
professional for a second evaluation. Of
these, 40% were given a formal diagnosis,
while 25% were told “not to worry,” and
25% were referred to a third or fourth
professional for yet another evaluation.
The delay in diagnosing children with
autism is due primarily to concerns about
stigmatizing a child or applying an incor-rect
label; however, it is also a fact that
early symptoms of autism are elusive and
may appear clearer in hindsight to parents
and professionals.
Early indicators
Several studies by Drs. Simon Baron-
Cohen, Tony Charman, and other
researchers in England have confirmed
specific indicators of autism as early as 18
months of age. These studies utilized an
instrument called the “CHAT” (Checklist
for Autism in Toddlers) that combines
parent reports and play observations in
order to test babies at a general health
screening. Children were tested at 18
months and were followed to six years of
age to see which indicators were most reli-able
predictors for a diagnosis of autism.
Research
by Grace T.
Baranek, PhD,
OTR/L &
Jennifer C.
Neitzel, M.Ed
Grace is an assistant
professor in the Divi-sion
of Occupational
Science, Department of
Allied Health Sciences,
at UNC-Chapel Hill and
serves as the principal
investigator for the
Infant Behavior Project.
Jennifer is a research
assistant for the project
and is completing her
doctorate in early
childhood, families, and
literacy at UNC.
Early Identification of Infants with
Autism
These researchers found that symptoms
related to “joint attention” were most
useful in identifying autism. That is, chil-dren
with autism were more likely to have
difficulty directing their attention for
social purposes or for sharing enjoyment
with people (e.g., showing objects to other
people, pointing to events of interest, or
following a person���s gaze toward an
object). They were also less likely to
demonstrate pretend play (e.g., feeding a
doll, pouring a cup of tea) that often
requires knowledge of social routines.
Items such as these are very helpful in
screening children for autism at 18 months
of age and many new tools are being devel-oped
that will include such items to help
diagnose autism. Some children with
autism are still missed during these
screenings because they may pass these
items, but later show a loss of previously
existing skills. Likewise, infants below the
age of 12 months are not expected to have
such advanced skills and, thus, some of
these items are not useful for identifying
autism in very young infants. Conse-quently,
the quest for finding early, reliable,
and alternative symptoms of autism at
various points in infancy continues.
New method
Recently, studies using a method called
“retrospective video analysis” have shown
promise in identifying the earliest symp-toms
of autism during infancy.This type of
method allows researchers to view chil-dren’s
natural behaviors by watching home
movies taken by parents prior to a time that
they were aware of their child’s diagnosis.
This method is more objective than relying
on parents’ recollections that are often hazy
after the passage of many months or years.
Drs. Grace Baranek, Linda Watson, and
Elisabeth Crais, at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, are using this
scientific video method in their current
research as part of the “Infant Behavior
Project.” This project was funded by the
Cure Autism Now Foundation to study the
early developmental changes of infants
with autism from nine months through 18
months. These individual video record-ings
of children were taken by parents
during genuine family routines.
The researchers are analyzing children’s
play patterns, gestures, body movements,
social interactions, and reactions to
sensory experiences as they occur naturally
in the home movies. For example, while
By watching home videos, researchers can often identify
early symptoms of autism in very young children.
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 21
viewing the videos, researchers study an
infant’s response to being touched while
the mother bathes or feeds him. Or,
researchers study how the child uses toys
while playing.These behavioral patterns of
infants with autism are then compared to
those of children who are typically devel-oping
and those who have developmental
disabilities other than autism. Such
comparisons are needed to sort out which
behaviors are unique to children with
autism so that better screening tools can be
developed and used in physician’s offices or
early intervention settings.
Changes over time
Drs. Baranek, Watson and Crais believe
that symptoms of autism change dramati-cally
over time. Some of the earliest symp-toms
of autism, such as difficulties
responding to environmental stimuli,
create challenges for infants to engage
with people and objects in meaningful
ways. Thus, unusual attention to events or
lack of responsiveness early in life may
create a developmental path that leads to
some of the better-known core symptoms
of autism seen in older children. The
results of the first study published by Dr.
Baranek in 1999 in the Journal of Autism
and Developmental Disorders, indicated
that children with autism were indeed less
responsive than other children at nine to
12 months of age.These children had more
difficulty responding to their names and
required that their parents cue them more
often (e.g., repeat the child’s name several
times) in order to engage them success-fully
in interactions. Likewise, the babies
with autism tended to withdraw from
touch, place objects into their mouths
more frequently, and orient less to novel
visual events in their environment than
other groups of children.
Help is available
The Infant Behavior Project is continuing
to collect and analyze home videos of
infants.This project’s three aims include:
w to determine additional behaviors that
might supplement already known symp-toms
of autism during infancy,
w to examine how symptoms relate to each
other and change over time from nine to
18 months of age, and
w to develop a screening tool for autism that
can be used by physicians and early inter-ventionists
at 12 months of age.
As important as this research is, it has been
difficult for the researchers to recruit enough
families of children with autism and other
types of developmental delays between the
ages of two and six years to participate.
Thus, passing on information about the
study is very helpful to the research team.
Participants needed
To participate in this study, families must
have home movies of their child that were
taken during the ages of nine through 18
months. For more information about this
study, contact The Infant Behavior Project
by telephone at 919.843.5774, by email at
ibproject@med.unc.edu, or by visiting
www.unc.edu/depts/ibp.
The earlier we have effective screening
tools for very young infants to identify
autism, the sooner children can begin
receiving early intervention services.
Research has shown that intensive early
intervention services provide the best
treatment for and prognosis of autism. It is
therefore extremely important that every
individual who works with or comes into
contact with young children be aware of
potential warning signs of developmental
delay and autism specifically. Some red flag
indicators listed in the sidebar at left
provide a guide for recognizing some
possible signs associated with autism and
can help identify those children who need
referral for evaluation at a local Develop-mental
Evaluation Center (DEC).
Teachers, psychologists, therapists and
other early childhood professionals can
also use screening tools (websites listed in
sidebar at left) that have been developed
specifically for young children with autism
if they suspect a problem.These tools allow
identification of children who might be at
risk and need a more focused diagnostic
evaluation for autism or related disorders.
Other standardized tools that might be
helpful for identifying generalized develop-mental
delays in young children include the
Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), the
BRIGANCE Screens, the Child Development
Inventories, and the Parents’ Evaluation of
Developmental Status (PEDS).
Red Flags for
Further Evaluation
At 6 months: No big
smiles/joyful expressions.
At 9-12 months: No
back/forth sharing of sounds,
smiles, or facial expressions;
lack of attention to the care-giver’s
voice, doesn’t turn
when you call name, with-draws
from touch.
At 12 months: No babbling; no
pointing, showing or other
gestures; no sharing a focus of
interest with others such as
following an adult’s gaze
toward an object.
At 16 months:All the above
listed at 12 months, plus no
single words.
At 24 months:All of the above
at 12 months, plus no 2-word
spontaneous phrases; no social
or pretend play.
At ANY age: loss of language
or social skills.
Websites with
Screening Tools
Checklist for Autism in
Toddlers (CHAT)
www.nas.org.uk/profess/
chat.html
Modified-Checklist for Autism
in Toddlers (M-CHAT)
(expanded American version
for children at 18-24 months)
http://firstsigns.org/down-loads/
Screening Tool for Autism in
Two-Year-Olds (STAT) by Dr.
Wendy Stone (24-36 months)
http://vanderbilt.edu/
kennedy/topics/autism.
html
Infant Behavior
Project
www.unc.edu/depts/ibp
The authors acknowledge CURE AUTISM NOW
FOUNDATION for their support.
22 Vol. 8, No. 3 • Fall 2002
ATN!
ALLTOGETHERNOW! 23
KidSeen&Heard
KidSpeak
Win a Children’s Book!
All of the stories in this issue’s KidSpeak
are from folks at the FPG Child Develop-ment
Institute.
If you’d like to share a story or photo
with the readers of All Together Now!,
send your selections (200 words or
fewer, please) to
MollyWeston, Editor
All Together Now!
521 S. Greensboro St.,
Suite 100
Carrboro NC 27510
molly_weston@unc.edu
If your story or photo is used in ATN!
you’ll receive a copy of one of the books
reviewed in that issue.
Topic for the next issue: Overheard in
Child Care.
After hearing some very unharmonic
sounds from our piano, my husband
looked inquiringly at our four-year-old.
She beamed up at him and explained,
"Look, Daddy. I pushed all the buttons."
Rebecca Kameny
Joe (almost 3), Kate (6 months), and I
were listening and singing along to a tape
of kids' music. After we finished "Home
on the Range," Joe asked "What were the
deer and envelopes doing?"
Noreen Yazejian
Three-year-old Johnny was having a
speech evaluation session to look at his
articulation difficulties and determine if
he needed therapy. The therapist said, "if
you sing you are a singer... So, if you win
you are a…"
Johnny looked really puzzled and did
not answer, so the therapist repeated
herself—slower and louder, "IF YOU
SING YOU ARE A SINGER ... SO, IF YOU
WIN YOU ARE A..." Johnny beamed and
said "champion!"
Mary Ruth Coleman
My first year teaching my students loved
to earn free time to draw on the dry
erase boards. One afternoon a student
eagerly bellowed out, "Miss Fox, Miss
Fox, I drew a picture of you and I even
drew your nipples!" My jaw dropped as I
spun on my heels to see the student
holding up the dry erase board with a
picture of my face and dimples on each
side of my smile.
Dana Fox
One day during Christmas my grandma
came in to play special music for us.
Afterward she sat with the children
during lunch. Grandma asked Tierney,
age four, “Did you clean your plate?”Tier-ney
replied, "No, we just throw them in
the trash!"
Sherri Marlette
The next Satchmo!
Asheboro B. Y. Annex Head Start
Black Mountain The Rose Garden
Chapel Hill Christine Wang Child Care Home
Charlotte Blythe Elementary ASEP
High Point Linda Hughes Day Care Home
Raleigh Early Preschool & Learning
Jackie's Li'l Keikis Home Day Care
Rocky Mount Art of Day Care Home
Snow Hill T J's Day Care
Non-Profit Org.
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