Eleanor W. Lynch

Honoring the Cultural Diversity of Families When Gathering Data.

The cultural histories, values, and beliefs of families who are among the growing and diverse, non-white, non-Anglo population must be recognized and valued by early intervention specialists who provide family services. This article describes these concerns and suggests strategies for gathering information from these families.

Family Diversity: Implications for Policy and Practice

Families are as diverse as the individuals within them. This article explores the many facets of the contemporary family in the United States, including how families are defined and the variation among families on dimensions such as structure, size, and ethnic and linguistic characteristics. Further, the impact of sociohistorical factors, such as poverty, are discussed in terms of their influence on family functioning and life-style. The implications of models of child development also are examined and policy recommendations are considered in light of these diverse family characteristics and family needs.

Psychological intensities in gifted adults

This study investigated affective characteristics of academically gifted adults using two models: Clarks (1983) notion of concomitant problems and Dabrowskis (Piechowski, 1979) construct of overexcitabilities, concepts collectively referred to as “intensities.” The population studied was adults who had demonstrated high academic achievement by successfully competing for admission to a doctoral program in Education. Thirty‐one doctoral students responded to a researcher‐developed questionnaire designed to measure intensity characteristics. A subset of 11 students participated in focus groups conducted to investigate qualitatively their perceptions of the concept of psychological intensities. Focus group data supported the constructs of intellectual and emotional overexcitabilities and concomitant problems. Factor analysis of questionnaire responses produced five factors. Subjects perceived themselves as different from typical persons on factors reflecting internal motivation, positive aspects of overexci...

Changing demographics: Implications for training in early intervention

Programs and services for young children and their families are serving increasingly diverse populations. Many families are from ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups that are not represented among staff members. At the same time, programs and services are attempting to be family centered or family guided in their practice. Until training in cross-cultural competence is incorporated in an ongoing way into preservice and inservice training, the mismatch between staff and families may interfere with effective service delivery. The article establishes a rationale for cross-cultural competence, provides examples of cultural conflicts that can occur, and discusses the essential training components in cross-cultural competence.

A Preliminary Study of Inclusive Special Education Services for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children in California

A sample of early childhood special education (ECSE) administrators in California was surveyed to gather information about the structure and organizational components of inclusive services for infants, toddlers and preschool-age children. The results indicate that the availability of inclusive services and type of service delivery models vary according to the childs age and disability. Programs for infants tend to be home based, and many infants have no opportunities for educational services in settings with typically developing peers. Services for preschoolers tend to fall into two configurations: children with mild disabilities who are frequently fully included and children with severe disabilities and low-incidence disabilities who are more often partially included or placed in special day classes only. The services provided most frequently in inclusive programs are related services and consultation to families, community preschools, and other agencies. In many programs, special education teachers do not work with children on-site in the inclusive setting. Family services other than consultation are offered much less often, especially by preschool programs. The results suggest that although inclusive services are available in many local education agencies (LEAs) service delivery models may not be conducive to the implementation of interventions needed to support optimal social and developmental outcomes for children.

Interdisciplinary Training in the Community: A Survey of University-Affiliated Facilities.

To determine the extent to which University-Affiliated Facilities (UAFs) were directing training activities toward groups other than registered college and university students, data were collected from 23 interdisciplinary centers located in various areas of the country. During a 3-month study period, 822 inservice training programs were conducted involving over 1,100 professionals as presenters and over 23,000 persons as receivers of these inservice activities. Presentations which addressed essentials of appropriate programming for the handicapped occurred most frequently, with parents of handicapped children being a primary audience for these inservice training efforts. Findings also indicated the emergence of a broader professional role for the special educator.

Public school satisfaction with interdisciplinary services

Representatives from local, regional, and state educational agencies throughout the country were surveyed to determine their satisfaction with services provided by University Affiliated Programs (UAPs). Sixty-eight respondents from 26 states and the District of Columbia returned questionnaires indicating their assessment of UAP services. Overall results showed highly positive ratings regarding access to UAP services, interdisciplinary evaluations, comprehensiveness, and relevancy of written reports and in-service training activities.

Interdisciplinary services used by public schools

A questionnaire to survey interagency cooperation was developed and sent to public school educational agencies throughout the country. Respondents included: special education supervisors and principals, school psychologists, and administrators at the local, regional, and state level. It was found that children with specific learning disabilities were referred more frequently than children with mental retardation and identification and assessment were the interdisciplinary services most requested in terms of evaluation and inservice training for public school staffs.