Prelinguistic Communication Intervention: Birth-to-2

The discrepancy between the knowledge base of early communication development and the implementation of effective communication interventions for infants and young children with severe handicaps is discussed. Recent advances in our understanding of the process of caregiver-child interactions and the nature of prelinguistic communication provide a basis for more effective strategies for facilitating emerging language development. Adaptive strategies for increasing positive interactions with infants exhibiting severe cognitive, sensory, and motor impairments are proposed. An argument is made for the need for early education preservice and inservice training programs to better address translating the knowledge base to a skill base, and finally to the implementation of effective communication intervention programs.