The central role of family support in programs serving young children with disabilities was emphasized in Public Law 99-457. In the ensuing 25 years, much work has been done to describe the principles and practices that characterize effective family support. Less clear is whether and how programs serving infants, toddlers, and preschoolers promote family outcomes. This article describes the components of family-centered practice and summarizes the data in support of the use of such practices. The authors show that early intervention and preschool programs are not held accountable for family outcomes; instead, they are limited only to showing that families are satisfied with services. The authors predict that family outcomes will not be part of any national accountability effort in the near future until research clearly shows that such outcomes ultimately will benefit children, and they suggest several lines of work needed to advance the field toward making an informed policy decision about documenting family benefit.

To generate an evidence-based understanding of longitudinal predictors of social outcomes (i.e., employment, social relationships/participation, independent living) of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we conducted a systematic literature review of publications since 2000. Twelve publications deriving from eight study samples fit inclusion/exclusion criteria for the review. In these publications, statistically significant predictors of social outcomes fell into five categories: (a) personal characteristics, (b) individual functioning, (c) family context, (d) services, and (e) other factors (i.e., peer influence, health status). However, only two studies demonstrated high methodological quality, and only one category of predictors-individual functioning-was identified across multiple study samples. To inform practices for youth with ASD, there remains a need for high-quality outcome research related to adults with ASD to better understand predictors, especially related to environmental factors such as related to the family and services received.

As the reading difficulties experienced by students with emotional-behavioral disorders (EBD) receive more attention, the corresponding call for evidence-based practices has become more pronounced. We conducted a systematic review of comprehension and fluency interventions for middle and high school students with EBD served outside of the general education classroom in the years since the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004). This literature synthesis represents a response to previous reviews to provide an updated state of the field regarding reading intervention research for students with EBD. The nine studies meeting inclusion criteria, all of which employed a single-subject design, contained a variety of intervention procedures and practices. Results indicated an increased amount of research involving middle and high school students with EBD. Effect sizes are reported, in addition to implications and recommendations for school-based practitioners and directions for future research.

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