Early Services for Children with Special Needs: Transactions for Family Support, ed. 2.

Early Services for Children with Special Needs: Transactions for Family Support, ed 2 The second edition of this book focuses on the mission and mandates of Public Law 99-457, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986. It is not a "how to" text. Instead, it is a readable, basic presentation of important issues in early intervention, with an emphasis on parent-child-professional relationships.

The framework and orientation of the book is set in the first chapter, "Themes for Services." This chapter briefly and simply describes early intervention and the current focus on family support and empowerment. The chapter that follows, on early development, provides a capsular view of important issues in child development. The strength of the book lies in the next section, on parent-professional interactions. The authors obviously have had vast experience in early services to young children and the professional relationships involved. Their free use of quotations from parents and professionals enables the reader to quickly understand the problems presented. The authors discuss a redefinition of professional competence, parent participation in decision making, parents' early experience with professionals, differing perceptions, communication skills, and shared problem solving. The chapter on developmental programs alerts the reader to issues important in programming; however, it does not review types of programs. An important addition to this book is the material on social attitudes and social policy. Policy information is of vital importance in understanding the provision of services to children with special needs and their families. The mandatory information on Public Law 99-457 also is presented.

The final third of the book contains the Categorized Annotated Bibliography of the University of Iowa's Birth to Three Project. Reviewed are major works related to topics such as child development, families, identification, assessment, intervention, and efficacy. No annotations are provided that relate specifically to physical therapy or motor development.

The authors present an overview of important issues and concerns related to early services for young children with special needs. The emphasis on working with families is especially apparent in the chapter on interactions between parents and professionals. The physical therapy practitioner with little or no experience working with young children with special needs will find this a valuable source of general orientation information. Although practitioners experienced in early intervention might find the presentation too superficial, they would still benefit from this gentle reminder of the importance of the parent-professional relationship.