Autism spectrum disorder affects about 1 in 31 children in the United States, and that number continues to grow.
Autistic youth experience the world in diverse ways, including differences in social communication, sensory experiences, and patterns of interests and behavior. Like all children, autistic children develop different ways of understanding, expressing and regulating their emotions.
Birth to age 3 are critical years for development, especially for children with disabilities who need extra support. Early interventionists meet with families and provide services such as occupational, speech or physical therapy to help children learn and grow.
For the nearly 7 million American children who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and have not developed functional vocal speech, communication can be difficult — and frustrating.
One promising option is augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), including speech-generating devices that support, supplement or replace vocal speech. Research suggests that using AAC in early interventions through play and other everyday activities may enhance language, social communication and play skills in children with autism.
Michaela Schenkelberg, associate professor of health and kinesiology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is collaborating with MAP Academy personnel to make it easier to evaluate young children’s gross motor skills — the basic, whole-body movements that lay the foundation for lifelong physical activity.
For many, work-related stress is often seen as part of the job, with emotional exhaustion, burnout and turnover reported across nearly every industry in the U.S.
For the early childhood workforce, however, such stress can reach beyond teachers’ well-being and into the classroom. Research shows that when educators are navigating ongoing stress and emotional exhaustion, it can affect how they respond to children and families, shaping the tone of interactions and the overall learning environment.
Family dynamics among caregivers tend to be complicated. They can become even more complex when grandparents take on co-parenting roles.
Weiman Xu, postdoctoral fellow at the Nebraska Academy for Methodology, Analytics and Psychometrics (MAP Academy), recently explored the association between intergenerational co-parenting and children’s social-emotional development. Funded by a graduate scholars grant from the Buffett Early Childhood Institute, Xu investigated the role grandparents play in raising children and how co-parenting between grandparents and parents relate to children’s well-being.
Deafblindness is a combination of vision loss and hearing difference that makes accessing the environment, language and communication more complex. It varies in severity and type and can be present at birth or acquired at any age.
With both vision and hearing impacted, access to the world often requires individualized supports for independent living, education and social interaction.
A large proportion of children with autism spectrum disorder often struggle with irritability and behavior challenges stemming from emotional dysregulation — the inability to manage emotional responses. These struggles can include intense, prolonged anger, anxiety, sadness that are disproportionate to situations.
