Vol 9 Issue 3
FOCUS ON: EDUCATION AND SUPPORT FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH EXTRA CHALLENGES: SENSORY IMPAIRMENT, AUTISM AND DOWN SYNDROME
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Early intervention for children with autism
- Understanding visual impairment in children
- Helping parents give their babies with visual impairment the best start
- Meeting the needs of parents of a baby with Down syndrome
- Simultaneous bilingual approaches for young children with deafness
- Best practice guidelines for supporting families with a deaf child
- The Elizabeth Foundation for Deaf Children
ADDITIONALLY
- Early intervention in the prison pipeline
Author: Mary Nolan
Author title: Professor
Description: Mary Nolan, Editor, renews the call for early intervention for babies with extra needs and for families with children at risk of offending. She also urges readers to be sure of the evidence around the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women.
Description writer: Professor of Perinatal Education, College of Health, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Worcester, UK
Author: Lara Anderson
Author title: Children and Young People Clinical Development Lead
Description: Lara Anderson introduces the work of Vision Australia, a leading provider of blindness and low vision services.
Description writer: Children and Young People Clinical Development Lead, Service Excellence, Occupational Therapist, Vision Australia
Author: Julie Hughes, Chief Executive at The Elizabeth Foundation for Deaf Children
Author title: Chief Executive
Description: Julie Hughes, Chief Executive at The Elizabeth Foundation for Deaf Children outlines the services they offer.
Author: Ian Lambie, Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand Chief Science Adviser for the Justice Sector, New Zealand
Author title: Professor in Clinical Psychology
Description: ‘This report puts forward the view that potentially the most effective way to reduce serious crime rates in the longer term – and hence to reduce the use of imprisonment – is to take a life-course approach to crime prevention. This involves putting in place a planned and co-ordinated series of progressively more powerful barriers to progress along the trajectory to serious adult offending. An effective prevention programme would have to link up policy and practice in [child development, child health], social services, education, youth justice and adult justice.’ (About Time, 2001:26)
Description writer: Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand Chief Science Adviser for the Justice Sector, New Zealand
Author: Paula S. Sterkenburg, Department of Clinical Child and Family Studies and Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam; Bartiméus, Doorn, The Netherlands
Ellen van den Broek, Royal Dutch Visio, Huizen, The Netherlands
Ans van Eijden, Royal Dutch Visio, Huizen, The Netherlands
Description: For parents, it can be difficult to read the (attachment) behaviour of their young child with a visual or visual-and-intellectual disability. The opposite is also true; children with a visual or visual-and-intellectual impairment cannot always see their parents’ emotions, reactions, and intentions. This can hinder the sensitive responsiveness of parents and the attachment relationship. In this article, we discuss the following questions: What elements are important in the interaction between parents and a child with a visual or visual-and-intellectual impairment? What helps promote sensitive parenting and secure attachment relationships between children with a visual or visual-and-intellectual impairment and their parents?
Description writer: Paula S. Sterkenburg, Department of Clinical Child and Family Studies and Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam; Bartiméus, Doorn, The Netherlands
Ellen van den Broek, Royal Dutch Visio, Huizen, The Netherlands
Ans van Eijden, Royal Dutch Visio, Huizen, The Netherlands
Author: Rachel Pilling, Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Professor of Learning Disability and Special Needs Eye Care, University of Bradford, UK
Author title: Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist
Description: This article describes early visual development, discusses what ‘vision’ is and highlights the causes and features of visual impairment in young children. The intention is to provide the reader with an appreciation of the importance of understanding both what and how a child sees in order to provide an appropriate environment for them to develop and learn in.
Description writer: Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Professor of Learning Disability and Special Needs Eye Care, University of Bradford, UK
Author: Nicola Enoch, Trustee, Positive about Down Syndrome, UK
Author title: Trustee
Description: Positive about Down syndrome, UK, currently works with more than 2,000 parents and in this article, Nicola Enoch shares her insights into her own experiences and those of the families she works with, and challenges some of the many myths and outdated perceptions that prevail around Down syndrome. She focuses in particular on best practice guidelines in relation to appropriate use of language
Description writer: Trustee, Positive about Down Syndrome, UK
Author: Julie Hughes, Chief Executive, The Elizabeth Foundation for Preschool Deaf Children & their Families, UK
Author title: Chief Executive
Description: Deafness can have a significant impact on a child’s language, communication and social development. With the advent of the newborn hearing screening programme in the UK, the identification of deafness can happen a few weeks after birth. This article explores the components of effective early intervention services that should be paired with early identification, so that deaf children have the best possible start in life.
Description writer: Chief Executive, The Elizabeth Foundation for Preschool Deaf Children & their Families, UK
Author: Katherine Rowley,
Kristin Snoddon,
Rachel O’Neill,
Author title: Katherine Rowley, Ph.D
Kristin Snoddon, Ph.D.,
Description: This article reviews research and presents recommendations concerning bimodal bilingualism for families with young deaf and hard of hearing children. Bimodal bilingualism means deaf children and their families have access to a national sign language in addition to other spoken/written languages. National sign languages have their own vocabulary, grammar, and social rules of use, and many sign languages are used by deaf communities around the world. Bimodal bilingualism and enhanced family communication have long-lasting benefits for deaf children’s development and wellbeing. We look at how to support early bimodal bilingual communication and literacy, and the role of practitioners in guiding families.
Description writer: Katherine Rowley, Ph.D., Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre, University College London, UK
Kristin Snoddon, Ph.D., School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University, Canada
Rachel O’Neill, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Author: Joseph Mintz
Author title: Associate Professor in Education, Faculty of Education and Society (IOE), University College London, UK
Description: There has been, over recent decades, increasing awareness and understanding in society about autism. Many more people receive a diagnosis of autism now than in earlier decades and the prevalence is typically judged to be between 1.8 and 2.6% of the population (Fombonne, 2018). The average age of diagnosis in the United States is four years (Landa, 2018). However, the extent to which we should aim to identify autism in very young children, as young as 12 months, remains a matter of significant debate in research, policy and practice. This paper aims to summarise this extant debate and its potential implications for professionals and parents.
Description writer: Associate Professor in Education, Faculty of Education and Society (IOE), University College London, UK
Author: Sally Hogg
Author title: Head of Policy and Communications
Description: Sally Hogg considers the children who have dropped off school registers or been persistently absent since the start of the pandemic and especially babies and infants not known to services.
Description writer: Sally Hogg, Head of Policy and Communications at the Parent-Infant Foundation, UK
