Young children with special needs and their families often experience transitions across multiple environments in the early childhood years. Many transitions are identified as stressful for children and families. In the present study, a series of focus groups involving administrators, practitioners, and family members were held around the United States to identify transition practices that have been implemented effectively for children, families, staff, administrators, and communities. Two major themes emerged from the data: critical interagency variables, defined as strategies that support an interagency process involving multiple parties; and transition practices and activities, defined as practices that address child, family, staff, program, and community-specific activities. Outcomes from these focus groups included identification of transition strategies for young children with special needs that are considered valuable by parents, providers, and administrators and that are consistent with theoretical frameworks described in the transition literature.

OBJECTIVE. We sought to identify strategies and practices that school-based occupational therapy practitioners use in addressing social participation, their perceptions of competence, and factors influencing their strategies and practices. METHOD. Surveys were sent to 500 randomly selected members of the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Early Intervention and School Special Interest Section; 112 usable surveys were received from 36 states. RESULTS. Respondents reported focusing on internal client factors when addressing social participation. Fewer than half (46.5%) indicated that they understood their role (mean [M] = 4.23, standard deviation [SD] = 1.22), and 57.1% desired greater understanding or ability (M = 4.64, SD = 1.29). Differences were found based on years of experience, service delivery model used, and services provided by diagnosis category. CONCLUSION. School-based occupational therapy practitioners may need to expand their current practices in addressing student social participation. Findings may be used to develop interventions to address this area of practice.

The purpose of this integrative review was to examine the evidence-based practice (EBP) training literature for occupational therapy practitioners in order to describe the relationships between EBP use in practice and practitioner training for EBP. A systematic search of literature related to EBP training in occupational therapy was followed by a research evaluation, review of case examples, and qualitative content analysis. Findings suggest that comprehensive, contextually-relevant, and collaborative training approaches are necessary for practitioners to address implementation of EBP. Research investigating the mechanisms of practitioner training and ways to measure the relationships between training, changes in how practitioners use evidence-based practices, and client outcomes and other quality indicators is recommended.

The attitudes of peers towards fellow students with disabilities impacts social participation and the development of relationships within the school context. This systematic review examined the effect of duration of a disability-awareness education program on the attitudes of peers towards students with disabilities. Sources such as the Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson), ERIC, and Teacher Reference Center were searched, and yielded thirty studies with a combined sample size of 7,346 students that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. These were critically appraised for quality using the Downs and Black Quality Index (1998). Implications for disability-awareness program development emerged, as well as an expanded role for occupational therapy practitioners to assess the social context in inclusionary settings. Future research should address other program elements to determine best practice in facilitating positive peer attitudes towards students with disabilities in order to promote social inclusion.

OBJECTIVE. The study describes the current role of occupational therapists in the transition of young children with special needs from early intervention to preschool and from preschool to kindergarten. METHOD. Questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of 500 pediatric occupational therapists who are members of the American Occupational Therapy Association’s School System Special Interest Section. RESULTS. The response rate was 44.3%, with 173 usable surveys. Approximately 40% of therapists working in the early-intervention-to-preschool transition and 32% of therapists working in the preschool-to-kindergarten transition reported not participating fully in the process. The primary barrier to full participation was “not enough time.” Evaluation was identified as the most frequently used strategy for participation. Only 23% of respondents reported receiving specialized transition training. CONCLUSIONS. Although limited by a small sample, the study provides an initial description of occupational therapists’ participation in early childhood transitions.

OBJECTIVE . The study provides a substantive description of infant and toddler play with everyday objects and independent negotiation of home space. METHOD . A grounded theory approach was used to study 18 typically developing children longitudinally from ages 1 to 18 months. Data from 133 home visits included videotaped self-directed play sessions with usual objects, maternal interviews, and observation records. RESULTS . Infant Space Theory is a substantive theory of infant–toddler interactions with the spaces and objects of the home. This contextualized view of the infant–toddler describes progressions in gaze and visual play, in mapping and ranging home space, in stationary object play, and in the little-described development of mobile object play. CONCLUSION . Therapists providing early intervention services within the home environment may benefit from the theory in their creation and modeling of naturalistic interventions with infants and families.