Early Support Improvement Bulletin Archive

Items listed aphabetically

Contrasting a therapy approach with an educational approach to the early skill of moving on the floor
Building the case for moving early child and family support out of hospitals into education settings
Essay by Peter Limbrick

Co-Designed Collaborative Digital Platform for Early Childhood Development: An Innovative Web and Mobile Application for Practitioners and Guardians
The UPDEIT EU-funded project addresses the need for improved digital solutions in Early Childhood Development and Intervention (ECDI) by offering a more collaborative platform than existing applications. Its contribution lies in the design and development of a progressive web application (PWA) that can be used either as a web platform or a mobile application, facilitating real-time collaboration between practitioners (i.e., developmental specialists) and guardians.
https://doaj.org/article/b7af05b0af594685aa21d6fe88ce6cdb

Death of critical thinking? VIDEO
There are some very interesting observations here about tribal opinion for those of us trying to bring about change. I think tribal opinion took hold in early child and family support from its first days. A large part of the problem was using some medical ideas and practices that were not appropriate for babies and infants - and opinions of pediatricians can be very hard to counter even when they are wrong. (PL)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1YH2T36q5U

Defining and measuring what matters: quality of life for children with disabilities
The quality of life of children with disabilities improves when health systems move beyond survival-oriented biomedical interventions and metrics, and promote participation and wellbeing. Quality of life should be considered and measured through the experiences and views of the child, ensuring that judgements about what a meaningful life looks like are made by those people for whom these tools are designed.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(25)00370-0/abstract

Definition for Early Childhood Intervention from PRECI in Australia
Early childhood intervention refers to specialist services and supports provided to young children with developmental concerns, delay or disability and their families. These services and supports aim to strengthen the capabilities of families and other caregivers to provide their children with the experiences and opportunities that will promote optimal development and meaningful participation in everyday home and community life. The ultimate aim is the same for all children and families: to ensure that young children with developmental concerns, delay or disability and their families thrive.
https://mailchi.mp/278a6e16a12f/preci-connect-newsletter-november-8335482?e=3a564d64b5

Disability-inclusive MAMI Training for Frontline Workers
The Disability-inclusive Management of small and nutritionally at-risk Infants under 6 months and their mothers (MAMI) Training for Frontline Workers training package provides resources for facilitators to train frontline workers on understanding, counselling, and managing disabilities in infants and their mothers, focusing on inclusion, feeding strategies, and effective communication.
https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/disability-inclusive-mami-training-for-frontline-workers

Early Childhood Development, Adversity, and Resilience: A review for pediatric health care providers
This interactive, self-paced learning module offers interconnected lessons on key science related to early childhood development, adversity, and resilience. The information and materials have been curated for pediatric health care providers, including talking points and resources specifically designed for use in clinical practice.
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/toolkit-and-learning-module/pediatric-health-care-providers-review/

Early Relational Health - BOOK
Early relational health (ERH), or the dynamic process of mutual, meaningful, and affirming moments of connection in the youngest relationships, is foundational in shaping lifelong physical, behavioral, and mental health. These early relational experiences, expressed through varied cultural pathways, serve as a key ingredient of early learning and well-being.
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/resource/29234/Report_Highlights_Early_Relational_Health.pdf

Guide to Communicating About Early Childhood Development
When we communicate this information to various audiences, it’s important to remember that it’s not as simple as deciding what to say—we can also make strategic choices about how we say it, what we emphasize, and what we leave unsaid. These framing choices can shape what people hear, what they understand, and how they feel and act as a result.
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resource-guides/guide-to-communicating-about-early-childhood-development/

Innovative Approaches to Teacher Preparation for Improving Use of Evidence-Based Practices in EI/ECSE
Making connections between macro and micro-level practices help teacher candidates to better understand the interdisciplinary nature of the system in which they work. Therefore, we present a collaborative approach to support an increase in early intervention and early childhood special education teacher candidate knowledge and application of best practices.
https://openjournals.bsu.edu/JOSEP/article/view/4652/2889

Mattering in early childhood
Our sense of mattering—the feeling that we are valued and have value to add to the world—is a key ingredient for lifelong well-being, and it begins in the earliest days of infancy. While it’s never too late to build a sense of mattering, when we start early, we can have an outsized positive effect on children’s health and well-being across their lifespan.
https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?e=04c910e11f&u=641f78fe500d565329121ffc9&id=b7c6fcb19b

Multisite Study Evaluating the Benefits of Early Intervention via Telepractice
This study sought to determine the effectiveness of telepractice as a method of delivering early intervention services to families of infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing.Infants & Young Children: April/June 2017 - Volume 30 - Issue 2 - p 147–161
Visit: http://journals.lww.com/iycjournal/Fulltext/2017/04000/A_Multisite_Study_Evaluating_the_Benefits_of_Early.5.aspx

Multi-modal Imaging Investigations of Individuals with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Excisions
Clinical and imaging data on 118 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), 72 who underwent excisions with post-operative outcomes recorded, are included from two epilepsy surgical centres in Ontario, Canada.
https://www.braincode.ca/content/controlled-data-releases

National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention released
The endorsed National Best Practice Framework for Early Childhood Intervention has now been released by the Australian Government. This Framework is the official Framework endorsed by Minister Mark Butler and available on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing
website

Nepal: Partnership for Sustainable Development (PSD) bridges the gap
Large parts of the Nepali population live in poverty and are unable to access education. From their website: PSD builds capacity in the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Nepal, notably amongst children, women, orphans, those with disabilities, and in rural communities.Functioning as an intermediary organization between the 'haves' and the 'have not's', PSD serves to link Nepal with international grants, donors, and fundraising projects. PSD is a non-governmental, social development organization....
Visit: https://www.psdnepal.org/

New Study Reveals Subclasses of Autism by Linking Traits to Genetics
An analysis of more than 5,000 individuals with autism reveals four distinct groups that link autism-related traits with underlying genetics. The work could open the door for more precise diagnoses and personalized support, such as counseling and physical therapy.
https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/07/09/new-study-reveals-subclasses-of-autism-by-linking-traits-to-genetics/

Occupational Therapist–Teacher Collaboration in Inclusive Education in Québec: A Qualitative Descriptive Study
In inclusive schools, collaboration between occupational therapists (OTs) and teachers has the potential to build capacities among these school-team members working with students with disabilities. Current evidence supports multi-tiered delivery models, such that OT interventions are integrated within the context of school life. Collaboration, however, is a complex multifaceted phenomenon that poses systemic, organizational, or interpersonal challenges.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00084174241310078

Perspectives on Palliative Care for Children and Young People: A Global Discourse
Edited by Rita Pfund and Susan Fowler-Kerry. Publishers: It is an important move towards ensuring that all children and their families, regardless of geographical location, gender, ethnicity or socio-economic class have equal and guaranteed access to comprehensive paediatric palliative care services.
https://www.crcpress.com/Perspectives-on-Palliative-Care-for-Children-and-Young-People-A-Global/Pfund-Kerry-Fowler/p/book/9781846193330

Premature Infants: New Paradigms in Their Follow-Up
By Dr. Norma Aspres, Iris Schapira, Rachelle Zaid
Currently, the survival of very low birth weight and low gestational age infants is possible. This highlights the challenge that the healthcare team must face in achieving adequate follow-up of the growth, development, and survival of these patients.
Most of these infants, critically ill at birth, have a favorable long-term prognosis in terms of health and quality of life, but they also have a higher probability of sequelae or morbidities with varying impacts.
The need for a long-term follow-up program for this population is imperative and requires expert voices for its dissemination.
This guide is intended for healthcare professionals, pediatricians, neonatologists, psychologists, speech therapists, social workers, educational psychologists, occupational therapists, childcare workers, psychomotor therapists, teachers, and all professionals interested in the care of high-risk infants.
Two links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO0wj-xVrmU
https://www.imedba.com/web/libro_prematuros.html

Pre-school education in Ethiopia
Despite these achievements, true integration of pre-school education remains a complex challenge in Ethiopia’s diverse and multicultural context. Integration means more than including children with disabilities; it involves addressing disparities between urban and rural areas, linguistic and cultural diversity, and socioeconomic inequalities. With over 80 ethnic groups and languages, Ethiopia’s diversity presents both opportunities and challenges in creating an inclusive early childhood system that reflects and respects its cultural richness.
Click here

Putting the Pieces back Together: Centring Children and Their Protection in the Humanitarian Response in Gaza
Despite prolonged denial of humanitarian access — a grave violation of children’s rights on its own — communities and child protection practitioners in Gaza have worked tirelessly to protect children, their families, and communities. However, the scale of children’s needs has been far beyond what they could humanly achieve with limited access and resources. The children of Gaza remain in urgent need of life-saving and life-sustaining child protection services.
https://alliancecpha.org/sites/default/files/technical/attachments/Putting%20the%20Pieces%20back%20Together_Centring%20Children%20and%20Their%20Protection%20in%20the%20Humanitarian%20Response%20in%20Gaza_1.pdf

Scaling parenting programs for early child development in four low- and middle-income countries
Planning for scale needs to be done at the start by considering facilitative design features, selection of a workforce, and ownership by the government. Ongoing implementation research conducted with different stakeholders is needed to provide feedback for course-correction during the process of scale. Eight indicators can be used to evaluate the level of successful scale achieved by programs.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1604308/full

Stimulating inclusive outdoor play: breaking the vicious circle between physical segregation and lack of social acceptance
Inclusive play is a critical catalyst for social inclusion and has developmental benefits for all children. This research explores barriers that adult stakeholders perceive towards inclusion of children with disabilities in ‘playing together’ with peers with and without disabilities.
https://experts.mcmaster.ca/scholarly-works/3782527