Research Interests & Abilities (Keywords)

• early childhood educators
• day care
• language development
• language impairment
• preschool children
• language intervention
• teacher training
• parent-child interaction
• parent training
• peer interactions
• autism

Major Research Activities

My colleague, Elaine Weitzman, and I are interested in examining how early childhood educators stimulate language development of young children in day care settings. We are exploring the interactions of caregivers and young children with language impairment, and ways to train the caregivers how to stimulate language development effectively and efficiently. In addition, we are interested in early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and are investigating the effects of a parent-focused language intervention program for families with children who have ASD.

Network Research Projects

• Language Stimulation and Intervention in the Home and in Day Care Centres  (Project Leader)