Effective Early Intervention: The Developmental Systems Approach

After decades of rapid evolution and groundbreaking research, the field of early intervention can be understood within a common framework: the Developmental Systems Approach (DSA). Created by a highly influential leader in the field, Michael Guralnick, this evidence-based, relationship-oriented, family-centered framework focuses on strengthening the quality of key family patterns of interaction that influence a child's development. The overall integration of developmental science, our knowledge of risk and disability, intervention science, and practice provides the structure for the DSA.

In this important volume, Guralnick organizes and analyzes the most current research and developments in early intervention through the lens of the DSA. Starting with a clear explanation of the foundations of early intervention, the book then applies the DSA to four vulnerable populations: children at risk due to biological factors, specifically preterm birth, children at environmental risk, children with developmental delays, and children with autism spectrum disorder. Readers will discover how the DSA can guide the development of effective services and supports for diverse young children and families, and they’ll come away with insights on how to use this framework to improve early intervention programs in their own communities. An invaluable reference for early childhood researchers, faculty, and policy makers, this forward-thinking book is the key to establishing inclusive community-based early intervention systems that nurture each family's strengths and promote child development.

READERS WILL:

• Understand the developmental science that applies to all children


• Learn how child development is influenced by three critical family patterns of interaction—parent–child transactions, family-orchestrated child experiences, and parent promotion of child health and safety


• Explore the influence of family resources as well as child-specific risk and protective factors on a child’s health and development in the context of early intervention


• Discover ways to select interventions that are most effective for children and families based on intervention science and the DSA conceptual framework


• Learn the fundamentals of applying the DSA framework to designing and implementing inclusive community-based systems of early intervention

Michael J. Guralnick, Ph.D., is Director of the Center on Human Development and Disability (CHDD) and Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics at the University of Washington. Comprised of both a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and a Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, the CHDD is one of the largest interdisciplinary research and training centers in the United States addressing issues directly related to developmental disabilities. More than 600 faculty, staff, and doctoral and postdoctoral students operate within the four CHDD buildings on the campus of the University of Washington and in other university and community sites to conduct basic and translational research, to provide clinical services to individuals and their families, to provide interdisciplinary clinical and research training, and to provide technical assistance and outreach training to practitioners and community agencies.

Dr. Guralnick has directed numerous research, professional training, and development projects in the fields of early childhood development and intervention, with a special interest in the design and effectiveness of early intervention programs, peer-related social competence, and early childhood inclusion. He has published more than 150 articles and book chapters (including eight edited volumes), and his publications have appeared in a diverse group of well-respected journals spanning a range of disciplines. Major research has included a randomized clinical trial to determine the effectiveness of a comprehensive early intervention program in promoting the peer-related social competence of young children with developmental delays and a multi-context investigation of the factors influencing the peer interactions and peer social networks of children with Down syndrome. Current projects focus on the peer relationships of children with autism, the further development and application of the Developmental Systems Approach to early intervention, and international activities designed to integrate research and practice in the field of early intervention.

Dr. Guralnick received the 1994 Research Award from the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the 1997 Distinguished Research Award from the Arc of the United States, and the Edgar A. Doll Award in 2008 from Division 33 of the American Psychological Association for outstanding scientific contributions to the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. He is a past President of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, the Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood, and the Academy on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and a former Chair of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center Directors. He served as editor of the journal Infants and Young Children from 2003 to 2009 and is the founder and Chair of the International Society on Early Intervention.